Dempster Highway road trip rekindled my taste for adventure in my 60s

A 62-year-old recently widowed traveller joined a friend on a northerly trip, learned to boondock and drove the Dempster Highway, and later swam in the Arctic at Tuktoyaktuk.

At 62 and recently widowed, the author joined a friend's northern cross-Canada trip and travelled the Dempster Highway. She had said she was not a camper but learned about boondocking, which is camping while fully self-sufficient. They left Whitehorse, detoured near the Alaska border using the iOverlander app, and spent nights with wide views and, on at least one night, the Northern Lights. The Dempster Highway, noted as Canada's only road crossing the Arctic Circle, formed the central stretch of the journey. Trip highlights: - The author is 62, near retirement and recently widowed, and joined a friend's northern journey. - The travelling partner had a fully outfitted truck camper, two dogs, ex-military weapons training, and skills in solar power and carpentry. - They used the iOverlander app to find boondocking sites, camped with wide views and saw the Northern Lights. - Road conditions on the Dempster were rutted, bumpy and dusty; the author experienced bodily soreness and used Advil, and they passed abandoned vehicles in ditches. - The visit included wildlife sightings (ptarmigan, black bears, lynx, moose and tundra swans), visible burn scars from recent and past fires, and a stop at Tuktoyaktuk where the author swam in the Arctic. Summary: The trip pushed the author beyond familiar comfort zones and offered striking landscapes, wildlife and shared moments with other travellers. She describes the experience as renewing her willingness to pursue more adventures and mentions planning — even if informally — for future travel such as gorilla trekking in Uganda.