When I first awoke, it was to the sight of sunlight, lighting up the walls, and water droplets on the outside of the fly of my tent. However, I didn't want to chance it, so I shook out the tent, packed up, had breakfast and rode to the shower building for a quick shower before heading out. After all, I had really figured out yesterday that I'm beginning to carry an odour, likely from all of the sweating I've done in the heat and dancing.
After showering I chatted with another traveller, who mentioned that it was beginning to spit and that there were dark clouds coming in. I quickly donned rain layers, glad I had not slept in, and took off in the start of the rain.
I made good time to the North end of the lake and took the tower maintenance road the chief had mentioned to me on Friday. The view was outstanding and I spent a while drinking it in and trying to catch it on
my camera.
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| KLR by the tower |
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| View North from beside the tower |
Then, it was off again, taking breaks mainly just to peel off layers until taking a break at Big River Services for lunch and to chat with Patty, at which point I was down to a t-shirt and pants under the riding gear.
Getting back on Highway #1, I mentally checked off another highway ridden, but aware that there were so many side tracks and trails passed by, but for now, I was on my way to Hay River.
I made a few stops along the way. First was Lady Evelyn Falls, which was phenomenal. Part of what made it great was having a roped scramble down to the base of the falls, seeing a couple of streaming seaps that I couldn't from the observation area, and getting a bit of a look behind the falls.
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| Lady Evelyn Falls |
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| Beside Lady Evelyn Falls this was found |
Here, I decided it was time to lose the shpant legs, which happened between furiously swatting at the mosquitoes that were swarming me.
The next stop was for the Slave Lowlands lookout, which had the wrong km marking in the info booklet, but turned out to be a great surprise. The view over the lowlands was neat, but what caught my eye were the deep fissures, cracks, and splits in the rock, making for tonnes of climbing potential.
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| LOVE the signs by the Slave River Lowlands Overlook |
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| Climbing potential at the Slave River Lowlands Overlook |
Next up, only a couple of km's down the road, was McNallie Creek Falls, which turned into a beautiful canyon, again with a tonne of climbing potential.
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| McNallie Creek Falls |
My last stop on the way was Paradise Valley Gardens, which actually lived up to its name. Riding to the end of the road, I immediately became a celebrity at the Bible camp there, chatting with Jim, one of the directors.
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| Paradise Valley Gardens |
Hay River seems like a neat place to explore, but I think I'll stick with the plan and head to Fort Smith still tomorrow, despite forecasts for rain for the Slave Lake area... Besides, I should be able to explore a bit on Wednesday when I head back through on my last full day in NWT.
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| Sunset in Hay River |
It's kind of funny, almost every rider I've talked to on this trip has a KLR stashed away, but is cruising on something else, although I have seen a couple of other KLR riders on this trip.
I'm starting to miss the security of a solid roof and walls, and not so many mosquitoes. It's amazing how much I've lost touch of things going on in the world beyond tomorrow and riding to the next point, or once more being taken by the wonders of the world around us. In some ways, it's fitting that I've made this journey to Denendeh, the lands of the Dene, who were traditionally nomadic people; when I think about it, I wonder if perhaps all of us have those who practice nomadism in our histories, and if this is where I've gotten this wanderlust, this desire to explore from so much as I also tie myself down in Fort St. John.
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