BC to NWT to BC to Yukon...or bears, bears, bears

I slept pretty soundly for a guy who was basically in the "feeding trough" for the bears last night.  

I was definitely tired and I didn't really have a plan to combat them, seriously, anyway.

So, I woke at 4:00.  It was really, really bright out.  It was not as cool as I had hoped it would 

be...to knock the bugs back.  They came on with a vengeance.  I got the water boiling for my instant 

Starbucks (first of the trip...with UHT milk swiped several mornings ago).

I sipped my coffee while I packed and was ready to hit the road real early...in the a.m.  That's not so 

bad, it's probably 7:30 at home.  I wasn't bitten too bad and I managed to get onto the bike and riding by 

4:45 or so.

God smiles on each one of us, some how (sunrise with a lens in the clouds):

Back to the bears...there weren't any last night...BUT, within minutes of leaving the campsite, there 
were two small blacks.  I hit them with the airhorn and they took off.  Why didn't they come and eat 
me last night?  Are wild strawberries that good?
My plan was to ride to the NWT...Liaird Highway.  That would be about 150 km north of my campsite.  If I'm this far north, why not check off the other territory, at least.  Sorry, Nunavut.  The roads to you 
are lame.

I had one apple left from home.  It's a Howell's apple.  Jay Howell is my high-school friend and I
see him every Saturday at the Guelph market.  So, for Jay, here's his apple being eaten at 60 deg 
north, the NWT.

Crossing the Nelson river was a one-lane, wooden bridge.

Again, all the traffic is basically

service-industry for the energy sector.  I got passed by one guy in an F-350 who had a welding rig on 
the back.  He was doing about a buck-fifty (150 km/hr).  I passed him when he had to pull over and 
change a blown, rear tire.

I made it back to Ft. Nelson (balancing fuel availability and the desire to have brekky in NWT...I
came south).  I had my "closed Denver" at the Fort Nelson hotel...mile 300 of the Alaska Highway.

Lunch was beside a glacial, melt-water river.

I had fruit from the night before, some milk, and a
few handfuls of trail-mix from the bulk store in Guelph.

Oh, I promised bears, didn't I?

I lost count of how many blacks I saw.  I may have seen a Grizz...are they kind of tawny in colour?
The wierdest thing was the bison who was hanging out with one of the blacks.  No photo, sorry.  The 
scariest thing was the little black who caused me to paint a rear tire on the highway.  He was on the 
left shoulder as I approached.  I had seen him for a km or so.  I started honking from that point and 
he didn't respond.  Only when I was nearly there, did he dart across the road...not to safety, but 
across in front of the motorcycle...and then proceeded to run down the highway in front of me.  Not a 
good move for his longevity...nor potentially, for mine.  Collision averted.  Bear scared.  Me too.

Lunch was taken beside a glacier-fed river, the Petitot, I believe.  It was fast-flowing, creamy in
colour, and very cold.  It was refreshing.

There were mountain sheep, bison, and I think I saw a moose.  The most surreal image was of the bison
following the black bear through the road-side turf.  From a distance, I thought he was a grizz, 
because of his down-on-all-fours buddy.  Nope, just a lumbering buffalo.

Pulling into Watson Lake (Yukon Territory...yay!) I made it to the sign forest.

I'll try and get
more on this for tomorrow's blog.  And the little Inukshuk made it too!


In the meantime, will you please admire this shot?  

It's typical of everything on this part of the 
Alaska Highway.  I've never seen such stark beauty.  The mountains are literally at the side of the 
road (washouts a-plenty) and just rocket up to the sky from the shoulder.  This ain't no Icefields 
Parkway...it's a highway in the mountains.