At the beginning of last week we took advantage of the ice road still being in good condition and went back to Aklavik (which I've been told means "place of black bear") to meet with a few people. The first night we parked the van at the airport and when to do some shooting in the night sun.

Below you see the shore line of Aklavik which at that time was, and probably is still now, covered in deep drifts of blown snow. We were standing where the river ice road rises to enter the town. Here you see the boats of townspeople nestled in their winter blankets that bury them to the gunnels. However, you know spring must be near as many people were out digging the snow out of the boats and preparing for break-up. Far beyond this boat that looks as it's just in the trough of some frozen and snowy wave, you can see the hazy silhouette of the northern end of the Richardson Mountain range, which we passed through on our journey up the Dempster Highway.What is this? Why, it's the rare giant northern iron moth.
Actually, it's an old snow plough that overlooks the river road it probably helped to clear at one time in the past.
Dan and I drove out from Aklavik the next day to get a better look at the Richardson Range. The ice road went on, but in the last 20-odd kilometres we got a little worried because, as you can see below, the road narrowed to bearly the width of the van and provided no places where we could turn around. This is one of the dangers of having a heavy load and no four wheel drive up here. As the ice road wound on through the arms of the Mackenzie Delta, we considered our options: to attempt to turn around, get stuck, and dig ourselves out with the "Oscar" shovel or shift into reverse and back up the whole way to where the road was wide. After a few stops where we half-heartedly tried to turn around, we decided to just keep driving. Eventually our "courage" was rewarded when the road ended and there was a turn around.