Fort McPherson, N.W.T., sisters cycle Dempster Highway

Two sisters from Fort McPherson, N.W.T., finished a bike ride this week more than 1,000 kilometre up the Dempster Highway from Whitehorse to their hometown.

It's been done before, but the two sisters’ feat is especially impressive given the fact they're only 17 and 15.

Annah Hanthorn, 17, and sister Ruth, 15, said they had travelled the road by vehicle many times before but had wanted to bike it for the last few years after hearing others talk about their bike trips on the highway and what an adventure it is.

The two siblings are from a family of 10 children and like to stay active.

"Our sport is cross-country skiing so we do a lot of training for it," said Annah.

The pair previously biked to Inuvik from Fort McPherson with an older sister, and trained for this trip by biking for full days and then getting picked up.

Ruth said they were prepared for bears and the trip in general.

"We were a little bit nervous about bears, but that actually wasn't a problem at all along the trip," she said. "We saw two black bears before Dawson but they were just sitting in the bushes and we just blew right by them actually."

They brought all the necessary camping gear, food, water bottles and a cellphone to communicate with their family when they could. 

When his daughters approached him with the plan, "My initial thought was no," said Paul Hanthorn. "I really had to give it a lot of consideration."

He said he only considered driving out to meet them once, when they were out of cellphone range for more than a day. Usually they talked to their family daily whenever they could get phone coverage.

Their family also asked everyone they knew who was driving the road to keep an eye out for them.

Annah said they met "quite a bit" of traffic "but they were all quite respectful and slowed down so we didn’t get dusted out."

Many motorists also stopped to check if the teens needed food or water.

Though the nearly seven-day ride had its highs and lows, and even its boring bits, the sisters said it was neat to take the highway slow and have a look around at the beauty they have previously roared past.

"Usually at the end of the day was one of the best parts because you look back at what you did and say ‘that was cool,’" said Annah.

As for their dad, he said "I’m bracing myself for what they’re going to think of next."