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self-reliant, and proud of its past. Beyond the last fuel station and cell signal, the Dempster begins.
The Road Into the Wild
From the outset, the Dempster Highway makes its reputation clear. After a brief stretch of pavement, the surface turns to coarse gravel, often treated with calcium chloride that becomes treacherously slick when wet. Riders must navigate shifting surfaces, frost heaves, and washboard ridges, sometimes under the pressure of sudden weather changes or fierce Arctic winds.
The terrain is raw and expansive. In the south, the highway winds through boreal forest before climbing into the Tombstone Mountains, whose jagged black peaks dominate the skyline like the ruins of an ancient fortress. These mountains, sacred to the Tr’ ondëk Hwëch’ in First Nation, are one of the most photogenic regions in the Yukon. Autumn colours appear early, often by late August, when the tundra blazes in reds, oranges, and golds beneath a dome of shifting cloud.
Camping in this area is common, but not for the unprepared. Temperatures can drop below freezing even in summer. There is no mobile reception, and help may
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