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Our approximate route from Burnaby to Yellowknife. Harsh!

Greetings again, this time from north of 60. We made it into Yellowknife a week and a half ago now after a grueling three day drive through B.C. and Alberta. The scenery through mountainous B.C. was wonderful, but made for challenging driving conditions. I was happy to see the flat, boreal forests of Alberta, with the monotony broken up by continual hawk sightings.

Once we were across the NWT border, bird sightings increased, flocks of snow buntings (sign of spring in the north – yeay) and the ponds by the side of the road were a gathering spot for various ducks headed north for the summer. We even spotted an incongruous-looking sandhill crane by the side of Highway 3 (road to Yellowknife).

Below is the promised bison photo, he was lurking in the shadows and tough to shoot, but I had to get the obligatory shot anyhow.

Strangely, he was the only bison we spotted, though there was plenty of bison droppings along the way so I assume they were all lurking in the nearby forest.

It is great to be back in the north, Yellowknife is a welcoming community. I am going to Yellowknife’s first Tweetup this Saturday to meet some Yk tweeple. The temperatures are still cold here, hovering around/below freezing (it’s been well below average!), but the people are warm so it’s all good

Bison seen by the road to Yellowkife

Merv Hardie ferry opening, May 2003. Plenty of 'bergs still in the Mackenzie River.

I am just writing a quick post to let you know it may be a couple of weeks until I blog again as we are in the midst of moving to Yellowknife, NT. The journey is more than 2,000 km so we are packing light, whatever we can fit in the car or send through Canada Post.

In the meantime, I will tweet our progress from my twitter account as we head north.

Not sure of our exact arrival date as we are waiting for enough ice to melt on the Mackenzie River for the ferry to resume operations. Strangely, this was the same situation the first time we moved to Yellowknife (view as pictured above). I was advised not to wear a seatbelt on the ferry as it slowed down escape – yikes! There was a lookout guy on a hill with a radio to warn the ferry operator about impending icebergs. That’s why ferry service can be erratic first few days open, until the river clears of ice.

So my next blog will be from Yellowknife, probably with an accompanying bison photo

Back with you once I’m north of 60!