
Entrance to our Caledon, Ontario home and gallery.

The starting point of the 2.5 month long journey the western Canadian Arctic.

Our RV in the driveway waiting to go.

The studio in Caledon where I will be working some of my field studies into larger works.

Leaving Caledon for the summer.

Raining on the north shore of Lake Superior.

Family portrait at Old Woman Bay on Lake Superior.

Jan and the girls pause for a shot.

Andie and Sydney tossing rocks into Lake Superior at Old Woman Bay.

Taking an afternoon lunch break by an unnamed beautiful lake west of Kenora, Ontario on Hwy. 17.

River edge lily pads in the sunlight.

Andie makes a new friend.

Sydney in canoeing mode.

A new dragonfly bracelet for Sydney.

Parked for the night alongside the highway for the night just west of the Manitoba border.

A morning hike down an abandoned northwestern Ontario road in the lifting fog.

The long road across the prairies.

A couple young ones playing in an Alberta field.

More horses...I think we've reached the west.

Ever changing skies accompany us while we drive.

Jan's got a great eye and it caught this little shack in the field. I'm pretty used to the routine by now so I pulled a u-turn with the RV and made my way back to this spot.

Janet noticed the sky darkening as an impressive storm moved in over us, and this field of canola, while driving in Alberta.

This storm was so great I had to stop filming and just enjoy it.

A unique little church in the middle of the country somewhere.

Pulling over to enjoy another great prairie sunset.

Driving the last hours of the day, and starting to feel it.

Sydney helps me edit some of the Kid's Blogs videos while Janet drives.

Our budding photographer Andie sneaking in a self- portrait from the passenger seat off the RV.

Sydney taking a turn at the laptop writing on of her journals. I don't know what she enjoys most, writing, or just the chance to use Daddy's computer.

In Alberta, when they say "Go west young man", they really mean it!

Not all the signs of the prairies disappear right away when you enter B.C.

Colourful wildflower specimens grace the landscape.

A magpie hanging out.

Mule deer among the flowers. Janet had just commented while enjoying the flora how nice it would be to see a deer roaming through them A minute later, there she was!

The long road ahead.

One of many beautiful rivers in Northern B.C. The temptation is strong to just start painting many of them as we drive by, but then we would never actually get to the arctic.

A bit of sun lights up some roadside fireweed.

Heading off for an alpine hike in Stone Mountain Provincial Park in Northern British Columbia.

Andie calls me over to investigate some interesting plant life.

Stop hiking, get close to the ground, and you are often treated with these delicate rewards.

Do you like lichen...?

Janet and the girls pause for a photo before crossing a mountain stream.

Taking a minute for a shot with the girls.

Rich blue tones in an alpine meadow.

Several little brooks that we had to cross lead to this pretty alpine pond.

Hiking toward the alpine lake that we never did reach as time ticked along to quickly.

The girls at the end of the long hike out. Now we had to head back. Jan and I were pleased and relieved at how well our little troopers did.

A family portrait in the mountains.

A most scenic campsite at Stone Mountain Provincial Park in Northern British Columbia at about 11:00pm. This is where I start to lose sleep as the sun goes down later and later, and comes back up only a few hours later.

A few caribou along the way.

Little king of the road.

A moose wanders out for a mid morning snack.

TrepanierIntoTheArctic_2006_RoadTrip_054

Stone sheep blending in well with their surroundings.

TrepanierIntoTheArctic_2006_RoadTrip_056

TrepanierIntoTheArctic_2006_RoadTrip_058

The famed Liard Hot Springs live up to their name... an awesome break on the trail north.

TrepanierIntoTheArctic_2006_RoadTrip_059

TrepanierIntoTheArctic_2006_RoadTrip_060

TrepanierIntoTheArctic_2006_RoadTrip_061

TrepanierIntoTheArctic_2006_RoadTrip_062

TrepanierIntoTheArctic_2006_RoadTrip_063

Just as we pulled into Muncho Lake Provincial Park, the sun peaked out and caught the top of the mountains across the lake. If only we had shown up earlier, perhaps I would have had time to pull out my paints.

TrepanierIntoTheArctic_2006_RoadTrip_074

TrepanierIntoTheArctic_2006_RoadTrip_075

TrepanierIntoTheArctic_2006_RoadTrip_065

Sydney's awesome art, created while I myself was painting.

Sydney joins me on the roof of the RV as I paint the northern landscape.

TrepanierIntoTheArctic_2006_RoadTrip_068

TrepanierIntoTheArctic_2006_RoadTrip_069

TrepanierIntoTheArctic_2006_RoadTrip_070

TrepanierIntoTheArctic_2006_RoadTrip_071

TrepanierIntoTheArctic_2006_RoadTrip_073

TrepanierIntoTheArctic_2006_RoadTrip_072

TrepanierIntoTheArctic_2006_RoadTrip_076

TrepanierIntoTheArctic_2006_RoadTrip_077

TrepanierIntoTheArctic_2006_RoadTrip_101

TrepanierIntoTheArctic_2006_RoadTrip_078

TrepanierIntoTheArctic_2006_RoadTrip_106

TrepanierIntoTheArctic_2006_RoadTrip_105

A fox Janet spotted on the side of the road carrying what looks like a rabbit dinner for some young ones back home.

Andie finding some gold in the Klondike River. Turns out there really was some gold amongst the mica!

Taking a break from the long drive and breaking in my new fly rod on a nice little grayling.

These grayling are really pretty.

Couldn't resist one more fish photo.

Downtown Dawson City.

Love the roof ladder to the chimney on this originals home in Dawson. Should do this at our place; would make cleaning the chimney much easier!

A neat old building in Dawson City.

New friends Tanja and Dede (Dieter), joined our journey for a day and a half as we gave them a lift to Dawson City. They are spending their summer here exploring western Canada for the first time.

The view from above Dawson City on the Dome Rd. provided a beautiful a sunset panorama over the Yukon River.

Rain moves in along the Dempster while we were in the Tombstone mountain range. Once it settled in, it stayed about a day and a half solid!

Filming one of the many great views off the Dempster Highway.

One of Janet's floral findings.

A stunning setting from any perspective. Although the view is great from the road, even better than I expected, we hiked in a ways one afternoon and stayed until dark while the rain came and went lightly.

Andie, Sydney and Janet taking a snack break. Though we were out for only the afternoon, we still took the precaution of bringing the snacks in a bear/scent proof container. With the Yukon being the home to over a quarter of the world's grizzly bears, why take a chance?

The sun peaks out momentarily through the rain to catch the top of a nearby mountain.

A Ptarmigan family (did I spell that right?)

A young Ptarmigan by trying to give me the slip. They are quite a beautiful bird.

Jan caught this bee ducking in and out of this lady slipper.

Andie and Sydney swimming in a permafrost lake. How cool is that!

A couple of beautiful loons we came across while paddling in Chapman Lake, beside the Dempster Highway.

Loon portrait.

Plying the waters for the grayling that were supposed to lurk below. At this point I think that the girls had already given up, and I was to shortly after.

The red stone made this river pretty unique.

I am truly amazed at the variety of mountains that one encounters along the Dempster.

Sketching with Sydney by Engineer Creek.

The Dempster Highway: at times, most times actually, you wouldn't really know that you were on a "highway".

The wildflowers line the roadside for kilometres at a time on the Dempster near Eagle Plains.

The RV looking pretty tiny in this vast land.

TrepanierIntoTheArctic_2006_RoadTrip_112

Crossing the famous arctic circle, we just had to stop and get a family photo.

The girls with some fresh handfuls of wild blueberries.

A tasty treat!

Heading back down the Dempster Highway and taking a short break at the Yukon border. Perpetual rains turned the Dempter into a muddy mess, and in the worst stretches, our RV's back end slipped around a bit while only doing 10 or 15km/hr. Quite the ride!

The back of our RV as we made our way back down the wet, muddy Dempster Highway. Kind of looks like an old World War I photo, don't you think?

The Richardson mountains catching the a bit of evening light.

Spectacular fall colours on of the Yukon tundra.

A herd of caribou in the tundra.

The caribou had begun moving in earnest while we travelled back down the Dempster. Though we didn't see any of the legendary multi-thousand herds, we did get an eye full with numerous smaller groups of around 40 or 50.

A nice big caribou on the tundra.

A inquisitive arctic ground squirrel that joined me as I painted on the tundra. I turned around from my easel to find him munching down on a nearby mushroom.

My same little buddy from the previous photo. Just couldn't resist another pose.

Arctic ground cover changing into fall shades along the Dempster.

The Ogilvie mountains along the Dempster in the fall.

Another Yukon river lined with fall colours.

One of the Ogilvie mountains backdrop these great mushrooms that look like little houses.. We looked around for little inhabitants but couldn't find any.

Momma moose at Two Moose Lake with the company of the duck at her feet. Little moose was hid in the shrubbery behind her. This was the second time we passed the lake (first time was on the way up the Dempster), and on both occasion, there were two moose. Go figure?!

A nice vantage point that allowed me to paint the fall tundra colours.

Working up a piece in Tombstone Territorial Park. We had spent a couple of days here earlier this summer as we drove north to Inuvik. Now, coming back down the highway on our way back home, the tundra was in peak fall colours, making worth another stop. Though rain persisted on our way south, the beauty that surrounded us was still incredible.

Trying to catch the incredible variety of fall colours in the tundra in Tombstone Territorial Park.

Earlier this day we encountered 2 grizzlies while hiking a kilometre or so away from the Dempster. It was a first time experience for all of us, being in the wilderness and feeling the vulnerability of having such impressive creatures, at the very top of the food chain out there, staring back at us. At the same time it was also exhilarating seeing them in their natural environment. This photo was taken after we had resumed driving, and this fella showed up near the road.

Young grizzly bear.

This big grizzly showed up along the side of the Dempster only a couple of miles after the previous one. Later down the road a ways, we saw a cub, bringing the day's total to 5 bears.