On Our Way to the Dempster

We stayed for two nights at Watson Lake Government Campground. Then the beautiful sunny weather changed, we awoke to heavy rain and the forecast called for 7 days of rain and Thunderstorms in Southern Yukon.

We checked the weather in Northern Yukon and it is in a different weather pattern, so we made an epic drive north toward the Dempster Highway in one day. We camped on 07/22/2023 at Moose Creek Government Campground and now (the morning of 07/23/2023) we’re off for Dempster Junction, the start of the Dempster Highway to Inuvik and then we’ll take the road from Inuvik to Tuktoyaktuk.

I caught my very first Arctic Grayling in Moose Creek. I caught it on a 4 weight fly rod with a red humpy dry fly, it could not have been a more perfect moment. Olive & Petra were with me and we were all awestruck by the beauty of these strange fish.

Grayling are not quite a trout and not quite a salmon nor a char, but they’re in the same Family, just on their own branch of the family tree. The olive brown sides with subtle cream stripes and incandescent blue spots on body and the sail-like dorsal fin make it a beautiful fish.

The water of Moose Creek was a little turbid from recent rains, and the big, intense eyes of the Grayling made it clear that they are adapted to being able to find food in water that can be clouded by runoff, spring flood or even the dark of Arctic winter.

The fish had also hit the fly with such ferocity that it had been hooked somewhat deeply in its mouth, so any extra time that would have been spent taking photographs was spent making sure the hook came out efficiently and the fish went back alive and healthy into the creek.

Our next update will be from the Dempster Highway, a 575 mile long dirt/gravel road to the Arctic Ocean and Tuktoyaktuk.

Sorry for the lack of pictures here, but when you’re running 4 cameras, sometimes it’s hard to capture all the splendor for each communication outlet.

I’ll be posting more video shorts on our YouTube channel shortly: Umingmaq Paddle Touring Center

Thanks for following our adventures. We appreciate everyone back home.

Here’s a small teaser photo from our first day on the Dempster:

Be well,
~ Umingmaq