We are riding the Dempster Highway, the only road in this remote region linking the Yukon with a portion of the Northwest Territories.  It is a rough gravel road that is open when the road quality is good enough. For about a month in the spring it is closed for “spring thaw” as well as a month in the fall for “freeze up” since there a a couple of river crossings by ferry in the summer and by ice road in the winter.We have camped in Provincial campgrounds, in the middle of remote villages, and bush camps.Luckily the rain has come mainly at night when we are snug in our cozy tent. The road conditions however have ranged from mud to dry and dusty, relatively smooth and hard-packed to loose, bumpy, challenging gravel. Sometimes I have to stop and chip the cement-like mud off the fork of my bike frame so that the wheel will continue to turn. Jim has already had four flat tires and Debbie our riding buddy has had one. Jim is out of spare tubes so we will have to go shopping when we hit Dawson City, the next town several hundred miles from Inuvik. The scenery has varied from treeless permafrost tundra to scrubby stunted black fir forest to majestic vistas.One glorious day we crossed over from the Northwest Territories to the Yukon after a tough climb.The journey so far has felt somewhat other worldly since the sun never sets and there are no reminders as to day of the week or time of day.2am inside the tent–never dark!  We left cell service behind in Inuvik and our next point of cell service or wifi will again be in Dawson City where I hope to send this off.  We had a rest day in Eagle Plains hotel which was an experience in itself. Before Eagle Plains we crossed the Arctic Circle.Eagle Plains is the only hotel, restaurant and gas station on the Dempster between Fort McPherson and Dawson City.Stan, pictured above with River, his 4 month old Husky/Malamute puppy, is the owner of Eagle Plains. He offered up a wealth of information about life in the middle of the Yukon. For example, the “Dempster Post” is an informal system to get packages of supplies and food to travelers on the road like solo distance cyclists who can’t carry everything that they need. They leave the supplies at the desk of the hotel with a destination up the road and a date needed. Then a traveler with a motorized vehicle agrees to carry it up the road and hand it off to that bicyclist.  Well, time to hit the hay. Will send this off at the next point of civilization. Bye for now.