Hello friends,
Todays post is going to be explaining the beginning of my adventures on the Winter Road. This is the road that we took to get from Fort McMurray, AB to Fort Chipewyan, AB and then further north to Fort Smith, NWT. It ends up being around a 9 hour drive one way. If you were to go at normal highway speed obviously it would be a lot quicker, but this road was not meant for racing haha
Since this is a winter road only, it does close down in the Spring of each year. Right now you would not be able to do this trip because the roads are mostly, if not all, melted. There is a list of things that you must have to drive on this road, just in case anything happens. Here is a couple for examples:
- Good snow tires
- Shovel and road flares
- A good/complete tool kit and tow rope
- Spare heavy duty winter clothing and footwear
- Extra food and at least a 24 hour supply of fuel
If you want to see the whole list you can click here.
For the first little while you are actually driving on sand dunes. Last year when my parents went, there wasn’t much snow so they could actually see them. When we went this year, there was quite a bit of snow but you could still see the sand along the banks and on the road.
The picture up above shows the sand in the snow, but it is also the first body of water that we drove across! I was terrified haha I know it is just a little stretch and obviously other vehicles have gone across it, but it is still scary! I found the road more active then I was anticipating. We saw other vehicles often enough that if you broke down, someone would eventually come along. Unless it happened at night, they recommend you don’t drive on this road at night due to it being unsafe.
There is also lots of wildlife on this road – I wish we would have seen more haha and caught more of what we did see on camera! This area is home to many Wood Bison which you can see in herds throughout the day if you are lucky or if you are out wandering the road at night you may run into one! Literally. They sometimes sleep standing up in the middle of the road and if it is snowing their coat will get covered in snow and they will blend right in! And these aren’t little guys, they will do some serious damage to your vehicle! The only way you can really spot them at night is if you see their eyes reflect the light from your vehicle. We were not lucky enough to see any living Wood Bison in their natural habitat. Actually according to a few locals, we just missed the herd!
We saw lots of owls and ptarmigan on the trip though.
Our first stop on day one was Fort Chip for some lunch – just a little reminder, if you ever do decide to do this trip, bring lots of food because the farther North you go, the more expensive it gets!
To get into Fort Chip, you drive across a very long frozen body of water and as soon as you get to the other side, you are in the Canadian Shield and the forest is so different! I thought that was pretty cool haha anyways, on this stretch of ice road only one vehicle is allowed to go at a time and I believe the speed limit was 15 km/h. So very slow! My dad rolled down the windows because the last time they came they could hear the ice cracking under them! That terrified me and luckily I didn’t hear anything this trip!
Up above is all pictures of Fort Chip. Very snowy when we went and it is just a little place! Such a tiny community and when we were in one of the two restaurants in the town, everyone knew each other haha small communities are cool like that.
So once we ate lunch, and looked around a bit we headed back out to get to our final destination!
Side note: I thought this sign was pretty cool … more stories attached to this in later posts! 😉
So off to the Fort Smith we went….ready for another slow (extremely bumpy) drive!
Have you ever driven on an Ice Road before? If so where was it and did you enjoy the experience?! Keep an eye out for future blog posts continuing the story of this trip!
Until next time,
xoxo
Phoenix's Life 
Phoenix, that is amazing! I loved your pictures, and the descriptions. Are you going to post more about the rest of your trip?
So here is a question? Is there no way to get to Fort Chipewyan when the ice melts?
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Yes I will be posting more about the trip. I have some pretty cool pictures to share 🙂 and when the ice melts people have boats they take across the water!
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Wow! So then in the summer there are no roads up that way?
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No road to Fort Chip in the summer months, you either can fly in or boat in. There is a road to get to Fort Smith, NWT in the summer although it will take longer then the ice road in the winter!
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Oh my gosh! That’s amazing. I need to tell you a short funny story so you can laugh at your American friend.
A few years ago, the first time that my wife and I were in Brandon, Manitoba, I got a brainy idea to drive up to Churchill, Manitoba to see the polar bears.
I asked a waitress at our restaurant if she thought I could make it in one day. She nearly fell over as she was laughing so hard. I got, “Sweetie, it’s over a thousand kilometers and there are no roads to Churchill”, with lots more laughing. It is hard to conceive of how large your provinces really are. I have since done my geography homework. Have a laugh on me, Phoenix. 😂😂😂
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Yes our provinces are huge haha a lot of people don’t understand that 😂 thanks for the laugh 😂
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You are welcome. Glad I could give you a smile; we all need that. And thanks for the geography and insights. 🙂
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I learned a little about the Canadian Shield last summer when we were in Brandon, Manitoba. Your country is amazing and fascinating.
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I love Canada
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How very haunting in deed, the silence – hello darkness my old friend… the abyss…. antique vehicles rediscovered – the Mail post truck and the sudden sound’ a haunting crack, followed by many cracks. the letter that never arrived — the ice reforming…
…and for a side note – Ice skates make for lousy scuba flippers.
You my deer friend are a brave soul indeed.
I would get so freaked out when I would Watch Ice Road Truckers traversing over frozen seas. Talk about ‘Vertigo’ and a racing heart.
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Ice Road Truckers is a scary show! They could do things a lot safer haha
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Ice Road Truckers was in more than one way scary. What those womanizing boneheads did to Trucker Lisa Kelly was just so wrong. Lisa pulled her weight and far out shined in class, inner strength, determination and heart than all those lady womanizing jerks. But then the directors paired Lisa up with that creepy Tim Zackuhr in South America, I felt so bad for Lisa, She skin must have crawled having to drive with him. And then after the Show Zichuhr goes to Los Vegas Nevada and kidnaps a prostitute trying to extort money from her um’ ‘bus’ to put it politely. I don’t know which was more terrifying for Lisa driving that sheer drop off cliff sides in the mountain passes of India and South America or having to drive beside that creepy testosterone Neanderthal. Barf. Lisa disserves a huge cash prize and trophy for having to endure those episodes. I think she was and is a lady true and through and what strength and character. I would have loved driving those roads but like I said, coming to the part where they had to drive over the sea ice, that’s where I No’ No Nope’ it right out of there. I know that’s Lisa line of work, but man there are better high paying jobs. So could you do it? Drive Super loaded big rigs and high ball the frozen North? Think of all the Money…
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I could definitely never do that for a living, but props to the people who can eh!
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Hey that’s so cool! I’ve always wanted to go on a road trip when it snows. Also, lovely pictures! Looking forward to more of your holiday posts. 🙂
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Thanks! haha I have been on lots of snowy trips!
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Before children, my husband & I used to ice race, which took place on frozen bodies of water. It taught me a lot about maneuvering on ice – skills that have served through a lifetime of Canadian winters. Great pics!
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Thanks! You gotta know how to maneuver on ice if you’re Canadian! That sounds really cool haha
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HAve never driven on a winer road but plenty of snow covered paved and dirt roads. This looks like quite an adventure. I must remember it for a future trip up there. Thanks for sharing.
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Definitely go on this trip! It’s worth the drive ☺️
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Lol, first time I ever drove on snow and Ice… it was another white knuckler… same car same young lady beside me, we were on a winter road trip, driving from our home in Coeur d’Alene Idaho and drove north to Newport, Idaho, just below the Canadian border and crossing over the Pend Oreille River over the bridge, that tiny two lane stone bridge that was built and opened in 1927. There was snow over the bridge and a laying of thick sheet ice under that top layer of fresh snow, middle of the bridge and the car goes into a fast spin around and around and stops front bumper facing over the edge. It was another no sleep soaked trousers moment. I married the young women, and we that 1962 dodge Lacer GT we ran it to the end. Once I learned how to drive in the snow, I use to put my little first daughter in the upper back bench seat of my 1976 4×4 Chevy Blacker K5, and me and her would go four wheeling, a little baby girl, rosy red cheeks and her little buffed winter coat, and kited ski cap with a top yarn puff ball. Top of the mountains and bouncing the muddy rut roads, and she would just laugh and laugh having the most fun of it. I have a lot of fun stories of my past, but some I cannot tell yah or post of 😉
🙂
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What beautiful pictures! I do have to say though that many of them made me want to grab a nice warm fuzzy blanket.
I was amazed by the pictures of the owls. It is usually so hard to capture them on film here in my area.
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The whole trip looks a little frozen! haha warm, comfy clothes were a must! Thank you, we actually seen quite a few owls. Such beautiful creatures 🙂
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