Just Another Roadside Bear

Mile 3943. Hi Country R.V. Park in Whitehorse, Yukon Territory. Daylight hours 18.

Here, in the capital of the Yukon Territory, we rest for a few days. A fire near Dawson City (north of us) blanketed the sky and scented the air with smoke when we arrived. But today both the clouds and the haze have cleared and it’s supposed to be 81 degrees.

Mark is a happy camper. He’s going on a guided fishing trip this afternoon. I’m a happy camper too. After working on this blog I’m taking the truck into town and visiting a local independent bookstore, a gallery, and a museum. Every now and then we have to spend time apart doing the things we love. It’s kind of like me initiating conversation with campground neighbors or people I run into at the laundromat; I keep telling Mark I have to talk to someone other than him for a few minutes every day. This must be what retirement is like.

I mentioned earlier how far apart the towns are on the highway (and what little there is in between). You have to see population numbers to really get a sense for what’s out here. 2016 numbers for the towns we’ve driven through:

Dawson Creek (Mile 0), BC 11,800
Fort St. John, BC 18,000
Fort Nelson, BC 6,147
Watson Lake, YT 1,563
Teslin, YT 450
Whitehorse, YT 26,418

The Yukon Territory has a different feel. Obvious differences include the ribbons along the road and road signs. The ribbons are not neatly groomed like in BC which makes animal spotting a little challenging. The signs have to be read because they have letters and words instead of pictures and are few and far between. Does this mean we are intended to take on more responsibility for ourselves? That we are capable of discerning a situation such as an icy bridge when it is freezing out? That if we see a bear on the side of the road we can deduce there are bear in the area and should slow down?

Another more significant difference is the First Nations. There are 14 Yukon First Nations, many centered in the towns in which we pass through. In Teslin we visited the cultural center for the Tlingit people and watched a movie about an annual ceremony in which the Tlingit from all over attend. They also had on display beautifully crafted wood masks, beaded clothes, handbags made from the foot of a Beaver (including claws), and a knife stand (that sits on the floor more than likely) made of the lower half of a Moose leg and the foot. I feel for the poor Moose, but like the idea that all parts of an animal are used; nothing goes to waste. Since 1993 the Yukon nations have been negotiating with the Government of Canada and the Yukon for individual land claim and self-government agreements. Three nations are still negotiating.

Watson Lake was the first Yukon town we visited. It is home of the world-famous sign post forest, started in 1942 by a homesick U.S. Army G.I. While working on the Alaska Highway, he erected a sign pointing the way and stating the mileage to his hometown. Others followed his lead and are still doing so to this day with license plates, wood placards, stolen city signs, and objects such as hats/skiis/toasters/shoes. The forest is literally that – a large area, perhaps a block long and wide, filled with closely spaced posts instead of tree trunks. Posts are full of signs instead of branches. Mark made us a sign from a cookie sheet using a drill and lots of love and hung it on a post with an Oregon Duck hat.

The most notable thing about the drive so far, other than the absence of anything in between these towns except the occasional respite with “world famous cinnamon buns”, is the abundance of wildlife, which I’m sure I mentioned in my last post. Each of the past six days we’ve seen at least one Black Bear grazing on the side of the road. One was a cinnamon black bear, though at first we thought it was a grizzly. LOL, we pulled out our handy guide from Jasper to study the anatomical differences and googled whether or not a black bear can be any color other than black. As much as we wanted it to be a grizzly we concluded it was not.

There is an abundance of smaller life here too – Swallowtail butterflies, Robins, and Ravens which have been with us since the beginning it seems. Turns out the Raven is Yukon’s official bird. I read in an exhibit that they are incredibly intelligent birds and have been observed detaching windshield wiper blades with ease. I have never seen as many Dandelions as I have here in Canada. Most have gone to seed and often you see seeds float through the air like snowflakes. Fireweed, the pink flower in the photo, is Yukon’s official flower, and it along with many other flowers line the highway.

Those photography courses I took didn’t really prepare me for the type of photography required here. Car photography is an art onto itself. Maybe you can stop the car or slow down or pull over and maybe you can’t. The side mirror takes up 1/2 of the real estate and the windshield is always splattered with dead bugs and bird shit. The sun is not always where you want it to be. The subject can be too close or too far away and is usually facing away from you. But we’re managing.

I’m amazed at the number of cats traveling the highway. A neighbor at Liard had an orange cat who hung out outside the trailer. I first saw it in the middle of the road in front of their campsite and thought wow, this is the last place I’d expect to see a cat. Mark thought bear bait. The couple later walked their cat on a leash. Our neighbor here in Whitehorse has a beautiful black cat. It’s a scaredy cat and apparently not enjoying the trip much. She’s been on the road for six weeks, in a small Airstream (Bambi model), won’t go outside, and often sleeps in the corner with its back to its owners (“the authorities”).