Day 14: Tuk - Fort McPherson

I sleep well until about 10, it did not rain and was not very windy. After the tent dismantling and packing I looked around a bit in Tuk, there is even a tourist information, but there is not much else here. Since the weather does not look really good in my riding direction and the road does not get any better in the rain, I decide to start soon. The two Americans, Tom and Luke, make the same decision and we will meet in Inuvik for dinner.

The return trip is better than expected and better than the outward journey, because the wind dries up the wet spots quickly, and except for a short range with a fogged visor it runs quite well. The soft gravel parts are a bit tricky. When I want to evade an oncoming motorhome, I'm getting into such a loose gravel and the bike starts to skid. With throttling up I get the situation under control - and a nice shot of adrenaline.

I do some errands in Inuvik (food and a cap, the latter very important!). While refueling, I meet the two Americans, Tom and Luke, and we clean our bikes from the worst dirt. So it is 5 pm finally and the snack in the yellow bus opens. I eat White Fish with chips. Another young Canadian (Matt from Calgary) and another Canadian of my age (Ian) join us and so we have a funny and entertaining round table.

From the restaurant, I call Juri and ask if his invitation to Fort McPherson is still valid. He confirms and so I set off to not arrive late at Fort McPherson. I'm making good progress, it's only wet in a few places, and I'm there shortly after 9pm. The two help me to carry in my stuff. Juri cooks something for me, I have a hot shower - hurray! - and can wash my clothes. My clothes smell really good again! It's fun to talk to the two and very fast it's midnight. I get a mattress in Murphy's room and my sleeping bag, everything's fine.

In the morning, Juri prepares breakfast for me, then the two of them have to go, as Murphy today starts a course about how to operate a sawmill for members of the First Nations. As it turns out, only 3 out of 6 people show up and Juri has to go to find the others - how frustrating when people do not care about anything.

Let's see how far I'm going today, if I can make it all the way to Dawson City.