18.05.2010

I am amazed about the soft weather we have experienced in the northern regions of Canada, I expected it to be colder, frostier and snowing more . It's spring time and summer starts next month.

We had once again joined the Highway 1and rode towards Beaver Creek. We passed a sign warning us of elk in the area, and true to form, several kilometers along we saw a tall brown elk, its face is smaller than a moose, otherwise I couldn’t pick the difference while riding along. It quickly disappeared into the woods. It doesn’t always happen that way, to see the animals which are displayed on the warning signs. I haven’t sighted any beavers, although Lou and Lynn have seen one, and the dam it was building.

It is easy to see the darker wildlife like the black bears, as they stand out against the yellow grass which has been under snow all winter. The green shoots and flowers are also visible now. I could see a bobbing, jogging motion of a creature heading back into the woods from the roadside, and saw that it was a porcupine with its quills tucked flat to get more running speed . My motorbike noise must have given him a fright. A little further along, I saw another one, with the brown tips of his spines sticking up, he was a lot closer to the road, as I was riding in front, he hadn’t got away yet. Porcupine quills can make a mess of an inquisitive dog’s nose, and create an infection. I was listening to a radio programme in Whitehorse about it. The only real answer is to take the animal to a vet, as the quills are very difficult to remove from a fussing dog. Horses sometimes get stuck by porcupines too. Not cats however, they’re too clever!

We lunched by a lovely old log bridge which was under renovation and still had snow banks on either side of the rushing river water.

We were fortunate enough to spot two more black bears before riding into Beaver Creek. When we arrived, we rode the motel merry-go-round around the town and settled on a cheap cabin at $64 plus tax, which brought it up to $69 .25 (Canadian). It was very rudimentary. The sign in the kitchen said we would be charged $25 if we left the kitchen in a mess. However, there were only 2 plates and 1 saucer. No cutlery, no other crockery, no stove, microwave, oven or cooking facilities of any description, just a range hood, with only the light working. I couldn’t think how we were going to make a mess with 2 plates and a saucer.

Des went out to scout around outside for a piece of timber to prop up the bed. A wheel was missing from under the bed and it tilted to one side at the head end by about 4 or 5 centimeters. We lifted the bed and chocked it up to make it level.

We had to close the windows in the cabin, not for the cold night, but for the bugs. The biggest mozzies in the world are up here in the Yukon and Alaska, they are known for their big bugs and mosquitoes. We couldn’t get to sleep because the fluttering bugs were landing on us, we could feel them. We must have let a few in while we were unpacking the bikes. I had to get up for the insect repellant. It was still light at 11pm.