June 8th – “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)
