The new green shoots along the Alaska Highway are an attractive nuisance–for bears emerging from hibernation. This is the fresh salad that the bears are craving. Yesterday we saw about eight black bears, two grizzlies, and another eight or ten giant woodland bison. Oh, yeah, and a couple of caribou. This time of year, everybody’s up and moving, and there’s little traffic on the road. Basically, unless you honk or make other obnoxious people noises, they don’t care if you’re there–over there, in your metal shell. So yeah, we always stay in the vehicle to take the pictures and give them the right of way.
There are exceptions, of course. Some people have bad judgment. We came over the rise of one hill and saw two Stone sheep frozen in place, wondering which direction to run, because a young guy was approaching them on foot. He had a guitar slung over his back. Had he been serenading? Engaged in a musical experiment?
Bottom line, he had no business walking closer to the wildlife. That’s harassment. I took his picture for later. Let’s see if he shows up in the next edition of the book.
Stay in your car, man!
Everybody’s going somewhere!
We had a nice respite from the road yesterday at Liard Hotsprings–a must for any time of year. But this is a holiday weekend in Canada. Monday is Victoria Day, and while a dear young Canadian mother at the hot springs couldn’t say what her country does to honor Victoria, she told me people do make family camping an emphasis on this weekend. (She also sweetly suggested that maybe Victoria Day was when they named Victoria the capitol?)
Okay, we’re off to Whitehorse, Yukon, and places beyond today.
