We crossed the Mackenzie River entering Fort Providence. It was amazing to see the ice flow that was happening.I took this photo from the motorhome (while driving slowly).After dodging a bison entering town, Cathy got a chance to see the ice flow up close and personal. The river was flowing the ice from Great Slave Lake. I hiked down to the shoreline and was amazed at the size of the chunks. Some were taller than me and some were flat, about the size of a house. Fort Providence is a First Nations community and bison roam freely. Upon entering the town, we had to wait for one of the big guys to cross the street and I got a little queasy when I noticed I was stepping in bison tracks along the shoreline.Of course I HAD to eat some of the ice.There is a plaque at this Catholic church to honor the memory of the first Grey Nuns of Montreal who arrived at Fort Providence in 1867 and opened the first school and hospital in the far north. Next stop: Yellowknife.Our destination of Yellowknife was reached, and after we set up in the Fred Henne Territorial Park, we drove down to the old section of town to photograph some of their famous houseboats.There were all types of houses built on boats, mostly just across the channel from Yellowknife. If you live on one of these, you have to boat across the Yellowknife River for supplies.Here are three more houseboats. These boats were strung out along the shore opposite the city.We tried to go on this ice road but were a little too late. It was closed for the season.It is closed for good reason. We passed the ice flowing out of this lake at the Mackenzie crossing.The next three images are what is represented at “Painted Rock” in Old Town. This is a carving done directly on the rock face.This is a cast statue.And this is the rock, with hundreds of handprints and other types of messaging. The handprints and messaging are carved into the rock itself before being painted.We strolled along the lakeside city park and came across this sculpture. The park was landscaped beautifully and had a good amount of local history documented on placards along the route. Frame Lake is in the background.At the Legislative Assembly building there was a display of the National Flags of the First Nations peoples.I missed this roadside monument while entering town for the first time, I was looking for our campground. This is the “Bristol Freighter”, the first wheeled aircraft to land at the North Pole. In retrospect, it must have been kind of hard to miss this!We took a ride out of town on the 69km Ingram Trail and decided to hike to the Cameron waterfall just a little ways off the road on a very level path. The Ingram Trail leads to a diamond mine which has replaced gold as the mine of choice here.About half way in I figured I may have mistaken the description of the trail. Cathy is developing scrambling abilities.Sometimes the trail was hard to find but we did manage to continue.While we stopped to watch some real rock climbers I found this ice under a rock. It may have been a little cooler that it looked.We made it to the waterfall. The white to the right of the falls is snow. You can just see the portage trail above the falls. The lakes above and below the falls are part of a canoe trail.While Cathy relaxed, I continued hiking up to the lake that was feeding the falls. I met a group of people that were taking the canoe route down the river. They portaged this spot.That is the group portaging their canoes and supplies to the next lake, below the falls.We spotted this guy watching us.After we noticed him, he just continued foraging for food. I had Cathy hold all my candy.After a few wrong turns we asked directions to the Bush Pilot’s Monument. This is a memorial to bush pilots and engineers whose lives were lost while taming the Northwest Territories skies. We climbed up “the rock” to take in the spectacular view, considered the best viewpoint for the city.This view is looking down at the wharf and “houseboat alley” from the top. Jolliffe Island is across the waterway.The city of Yellowknife was built on the hill. This is the capital of Northwest Territories and a city that is pretty much self contained. (It is a very long drive to Edmonton, the nearest large city). The rock at the bottom of the photo is an extension of the rock the monument is built on. The next big rock (mid-frame) is known as Painted Rock.
Travelling with the Schinglers 
I blew up some pictures but couldn’t tell if either one had bear spray on hand. Sure hope so!
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