It’s the end of the road for Don McIntyre.
At least, that’s the plan.
The 82-year-old Langley man is preparing to head out on a northern adventure that will take him all the way to Tuktoyaktuk, NWT, where the highway gives way to the rocky shore of the Arctic Ocean.
McIntyre plans to leave on Feb. 1 for the roughly 8,000-km round-trip journey through B.C., the Yukon and Northwest Territories — one that will take him across some of Canada’s most remote and challenging wilderness.
He expects to encounter plenty of wildlife, as well as dangerous ice and blowing snow on the long — and, no doubt, lonely — stretch of the Dempster Highway. But it’s not just McIntyre’s sense of adventure that is prompting him to make the solo journey in the dead of winter.
The reason he must go soon is that the town of fewer than 1,000 people at the tip of the continent is only accessible by an ice road for a few months each year. In between freeze-ups, the highway ends at Inuvik, and the only way to travel the final 194 kilometres to Tuktoyaktuk is by air.
McIntyre is planning the trip as a fundraiser for the Canadian Cancer Society in memory of his wife, Dorothy, who passed away a year and a half ago. Appropriately, he’s calling his journey On the Road Again for Dorothy.
During their more than 55 years of marriage, the Langley couple put thousands of miles on their vehicles, driving all over the continent when they weren’t flying to more exotic locales, from Panama to Argentina.
The morning after they danced the night away at their 50th anniversary party in 2007, the couple hooked up their trailer and towed it across the country to St. John’s, Nfld., before turning and heading south to Atlantic City.
They spent about 16 weeks on the road during that trip.
Whenever they pulled out of a campsite, they’d play On the Road Again by Willie Nelson.
“We’d roll down the windows so everyone knew we were leaving,” said McIntyre.
“We did everything together,” he said, acknowledging that long-distance driving is a way to both feel closer to his late wife and to keep him from dwelling on her absence.
After Dorothy passed away from cancer in July 2013, McIntyre took to the road by himself, following a winding route from Mesa, Ariz. to Key West, Fla.
It was a somewhat lonely trip, he said, but one of the most difficult parts of the journey was navigating his way through large U.S. cities — Corpus Christi, Dallas, Miami, Fort Lauderdale — without Dorothy directing him from the passenger seat.
His next trip will, of course, present a whole different set of challenges.
The farther north he gets, McIntyre expects to encounter increasingly dangerous driving conditions along miles of wilderness offering nothing but trees, blowing snow and the occasional frozen waterway to break the monotony.
And he expects sightings of other vehicles will be few and far between.
“I’ll probably try to tailgate a semi,” he laughed.
And, if he happens to meet any truck drivers at remote stops along the way, he plans to buy them a drink so that they’re more inclined to keep an eye out for him.
He also has a son in Prince Rupert and a granddaughter in Whitehorse who will be kept apprised of his progress.
McIntyre said his three children have had mixed reactions to his plans.
His daughter is worried, he said. And while one son likes to brag to his friends about his adventurous dad, the “practical” one is doing whatever he can to make sure McIntyre is well prepared.
“The only thing I’m really worried about is getting in trouble and having my children have to come and bail me out,” he said.
When it comes to his own safety, McIntyre isn’t leaving anything to chance, outfitting his car — a Honda Crosstour — to ensure it can handle the snow and ice. It will have a block heater, battery blanket, antifreeze rated for exceptionally cold temperatures and good quality snow tires, he said.
The vehicle is white, so he will put a black bra on the front to ensure that he’s visible to other traffic.
Other safety measures he’s considering include bringing a cellphone amplifier and a satellite locator that will send a signal to his daughter’s computer or a panic button that will contact police.
He’ll pack an extra rim, chains, blankets, water and “probably a big box of granola bars.”
He also plans to mount a camera on his dashboard to record his adventure.
“If a moose charges my car, I can send you a picture,” he chuckled.
“I think it’s kind of a neat story,” McIntyre said. “I don’t know anyone my age who would do this. It will be a hard drive.
“I’ve got Forrest Gump syndrome, except he ran for three years and I’m driving,” he quipped.
The retired insurance adjuster expects the trip will cost him about $7,000 out of pocket.
He plans to pay his own way, but is accepting donations on behalf of the Canadian Cancer Society.
His goal is to reach $25,000 through per-kilometre pledges or lump sum donations.
Although he’s happy to help raise money for a good cause, McIntyre has ulterior motives for making the journey.
“I see these old men sitting around in the mall . . . and I can’t do that,” he said.
“You can’t just sit there watching the world go by.”
“People will probably get sick of hearing me talk about my trip, but at least I won’t be telling stories of ‘I remember when.’
“It should be kind of fun,” he said.
“I’m 82. I hope it’s not the last hurrah, but it’s a hurrah near the end.”
To contribute to McIntyre’s fundraising effort, click here.