June 8^th – “Wildlife”

As I made my way to Tim Horton’s to get a coffee this morning, I heard the most unusual announcement on the radio.  The local elementary school in Whitehorse was in lock-down because a couple of grizzly bears were hanging out in the playground.  So I tried to make my way over there to check it out, but the RCMP wouldn’t let me down the road. 

Instead I made my way about 30kms out of town to a Wildlife Preserve.  The guy who ran it looked like he came straight out the bush.  I figured he was born and bred in the Yukon.  Nope, he grew up in Richmond Hill. 

The Reserve was beautiful.  It was a 5km trek around a huge compound with wildlife behind electric fences.  But it wasn’t a zoo.  These animals had forests, lakes, and fields in which to live.  That also made them hard to find.  But I did see mountain goats, moose, lynx, long horn sheep, muskox, bison, and the cutest little arctic foxes I have ever seen.  But no bears!!

I then stopped at the local grocery store in Whitehorse to get something to eat for lunch, when I recognized someone. I had to do a double take, but it was Marjorie Beardsall’s daughter Jane-Anne (she was a member at Northwest Barrie United Church).  She was in Whitehorse to visit her daughter who is a pilot and is based in the Yukon.  It just goes to show, it is indeed a small, small world.

In the afternoon I ventured to Miles Canyon, a beautiful area of cliffs, rapids and limitless wilderness.  There were trails that wound themselves along the canyon, so I took one that was about 3kms long.  About a kilometre in I realized that I was the only human being anywhere around.  Then I started thinking about the grizzly bears at the school.  AND then I heard something walking in the trees.  AND then I turned around and walked (ran) back to the car.  AND then I took several deep breaths to get my heart beating again. 

The only other thing I did today was go to CrossFit.  If you are a member at a CrossFit gym you are allowed to go to any other affiliate around the world. So I went for a class at CorssFit Whitehorse.  It was very difficult and very tiring, but then again, I had wasted a lot of energy running away from “bears”.

All in all, a very good day.

The pictures are of Miles Canyon and the guy who ran the Wildlife Preserve (just kidding, it’s a Mountain Goat)