Some years ago, I finished off the last of the 50 states in the U.S. Since then, I've been slowly but steadily knocking off the provinces in Canada. With a conference in Edmonton on my calendar, I decided to extend the trip to explore western Canada, and couldn't resist adding the Northwest Territories to my list of Canadian places before following the Alaska Highway from Dawson Creek to Whitehorse.

But to hit Northwest Territories, I had to go quite a bit out of my way, following the Mackenzie Highway through northern Alberta. I'd spend two nights in the town of High Level, Alberta, using that town as my gateway to the Northwest Territories.

I chose to go as far as the town of Hay River, as it was on the Great Slave Lake. But the highway pretty much follows the river itself. Although not that scenic overall, I did enjoy stops in Twin Falls Territorial Park, home to a couple interesting waterfalls in the Hay River Gorge.

Mark Wasson, http://www.markwasson.com > Trips has detailed summaries of my trips