Day 13 – Inuvik

Until the road to Tuktoyaktuk was completed in 2017, Inuvik was the furthest north you could drive on a public road. This community too, is laid back and life’s activities are tied to the land and the seasons. The locals are very friendly smiling, waving, and saying things like, "Welcome to Inuvik”, or “Are you looking for…?” I wish I could say it was the same back home.

The population is a bit over 3,000, which seems like quite a large community when compared to Tuktoyaktuk or Dawson City.  However, there are definitely differences between Inuvik and similar size towns back home. For example, Inuvik has 56 days a year with 24-hours of sun! In addition, the coldest temperature recorded in Inuvik was -70 degrees F and the hottest temperature recorded was 91 degrees F.

The general store in Inuvik is a destination to experience. It is kind of like a Fred Meyer store with clothing, toys, and household items. However, the store in Inuvik has a few variations that were interesting… snowmobiles, sleds (not the ones for kids to play on, but the working ones to carry heavy things over snow), fur mittens, heavy duty snow boots, seal skins, and other furs. 

There are some unique structures in Inuvik. For example, the Catholic Igloo building is on the main street. Also, there are a number of log buildings. The best food place we ate at was an old yellow school bus that was converted to a food truck. It’s called Alistine’s. If you ever make the trek up to Inuvik, we would recommend the fish & chips… no, the BBQ’d pulled pork poutine (you may have to look that one up, we had to ask what it was)… hmmmm, well, whatever you get, save room for the Eskimo doughnut. Rats, I didn’t get a picture of that! Guess we’ll have to go back up sometime to do so 😊

The cost of things here at the end of the road are very expensive. Much of that cost arises from the fact that there is a very difficult road for semi-trucks to navigate, so getting supplies here is challenging. This was the cost for “topping off” our fuel tank after we filled the pickup in Eagle Plain. If you are wondering 2.65 per liter equates to $10.04/gallon. 

 Of course, that is Canadian currency, so in American dollars it is closer to $7/gallon.  We knew fuel would cost a lot, but still, ouch!

The milk, cheese, and eggs aren’t too bad, but boy the meat and fresh produce are crazy! Hamburger was about $10/ pound, chicken was $20/ pound, and steak was $21/ pound (not fancy steak either), but a honeydew melon was almost $11 each. We’re not quite sure how the locals can pay those exorbitant prices year-round. On the other hand, their campgrounds only cost $26 for sites with electric hook up which is pretty good. 

The prices with inflation back home are looking pretty good comparatively!