Day 18 Gophers and Grizzlies


What do you associate with the Yukon wilderness, gophers or grizzlies? There are supposed to be 7000-8000 of the bears in the Yukon. Today, the cheeky gophers were in abundance along our way but I thought more about the bear warnings in the Mileposts guide. As a result, I looked for them, worried that Bryan was too far behind me and sat in the sunshine at noon with one ear listening. However, with the exception of one large fox, all we saw today were gophers poking up among the purple, yellow and blue flowers that line the ditches.

Meanwhile, Bryan enjoyed a tailwind, level ground and, at the first rest stop, reported that he had actually been in the big ring of his gears. That had not yet happened in about 2800 km but he rode for 18 km as if he were on the prairies, averaging about 40 km per hour. 


Then near Pelly Crossing at about noon, the sun came out! By then he had been climbing again, but warm sunshine and a wind at your back can make all the difference. The cold may have kept the mosquitoes, horse flies and black flies at bay but we will gladly take them over the rainy days.  For now at least, no complaint!

One sweet surprise was seeing Murray and Hellen Gress from Arborfield, Sk. Helen was my vice-principal /mentor/friend at Tisdale Middle and Secondary School before I retired. They are also on a northern adventure but we had not managed to connect with them until today at Stewart Crossing just before I left but after Bryan had already gone on his way.



We have been in the forest most of the day with large treed mountains visible from time to time. Frost motorcycles than RV’s now.  Bryan had legs for another 20 km when we reached our stop for the night at Moose Creek Campground. This gives him a head start in the morning that he appreciates.
Hats off to the Yukon Government campsites! Their cozy yet spacious lots are well planned, with plenty of free wood to cook a delicious supper and enjoy a campfire into the evening. All for $12 a night! With safety in numbers, we also went for a walk but didn’t see any signs of either gophers or grizzlies.



Today’s total: 180 km…..tomorrow we reach Dawson city! 

Comments

  1. UnknownJune 18, 2017 at 9:58 PM

    Way to go BA and Janet. Thanks for sharing the adventure. Breakfast in bed for Father's Day?? Haha. More like 60km before ,oust are even up for breakfast. Keep on Rollin'

    ReplyDelete

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