Russ and Aaron's NWT Winter Road Trip: 4 then 5 then 6....

Few AC. Temp -23C. No AURBO this morning.

4 then 5 then 6 am, that's what time the hotel guests get going here in 'the wells'. Each one gets their turn at waking up the floor. Russ and I want to be at the ESSO first thing so we forgo breakfast for some chocolate covered granola bars and check out. Today's drive will take us North to Ft. Good Hope.
The roads we've been travelling since yesterday consist of frozen snow covered tundra. Bladed with the grader, it makes a sometimes smooth, sometimes potholed surface. Picture a green ski run at your local hill in a low snow year (grass popping through the snow etc.) The mornings are the worst when flat lighting makes it a challenge to drive while avoiding the worst of the obstacles. We have both sets of eyes glued to the road on this task when we flush out a ptarmigan of some sort.
The route takes us across a land of rapidly diminishing tree cover. It's a land of contrasts. The white ground giving way to the grey cliffs of the Franklin Mts to the blue skies above. For most of the morning, it's like being in a snow globe with flurries of ice crystals falling from the thinnest of clouds.
Around 15km from Ft. Good Hope the road straightens out while heading perfectly North. I can imagine the surveyor and the bulldozer operator were out on a smoke break for this part of the route.
At noon we pull into town. Finding the Little Dipper B&B takes us about an hour in which we meet (in no particular order) the cashiers at both the Northern Store and the CO-OP, two locals, the gas station attendant and the RCMP.
The church heren(our Lady of Good Hope) dates from 1865 and is one of the oldest examples of the Oblate mission churches in NW Canada. It is a national heritage site, though the snow blowing in through the crack in the front door shows it's still in use.