Day 21

From the beginning.

A score days ago I left my quaint little state and proceeded along a rather meandering path that has led me to the southern areas of Yukon. Here I shall remain... for the next couple of days... Until the great Alaskan wilderness consumes me.

Lets see, today I saw a few caribou, a passel full of mountain goats, (forgot to mention a couple days ago that I almost got my arm taken off by a bald eagle) one large ram, a couple herds of bison (or are they buffalo?) and... you've waited for it... my first bear. However, I did not rush out to fight this bear, after all it was raining when I saw it. Oh, then there's the fact that it was a cub black bear. I mean, it wouldn't be fair for me to fight a cub black bear I have to give nature some kind of advantage, so I proceeded on my way.

On one of the CBC stations, really the only stations that come in up here it turns out, I heard part of a program that stated that the average person, man and woman, says roughly eighteen hundred words per day. Then the station faded out, so I didn't get to find out what the point of that tidbit was, however, that didn't stop me from thinking about it today and deciding that I doubt that I've spoken that many words in a week. Comparatively, I'm sure that I've typed that many as I had to do some mental math while I was driving, which is rather relaxing I have found. Generally I figure that I type roughly eighty words per minute, but since I'm not typing in the usual comfort of a nice chair and instead typing while inside my small tent, or cramped between the steering wheel and my keyboard, I'll give myself a math break and say that I can only type sixty words per minute. That would mean that if I type for a half hour that I have typed the required eighteen hundred words that I am alloted to speak per day. Now I have typed... less than 400 words. Something tells me I have a long way to go.

This wonderful train of thought was interrupted by my arrival at a little town called Watson Lake, which is the town that has all the sign posts... well... posted. Now, I knew that this was a large collection of signs, but I didn't realize that it covered about three acres of land with poles roughly twenty feet tall. One could spend all day looking at the signs, which I was not about to do. I snapped a few photos and then remembered that this was also the town with a planetarium, which I had to see for myself.

It just so happened to be right across the street from the sign posts and the show on the Aurora's was just about to begin. I purchased a ticket and started preparing my brain for all the data it was about to receive by running through as much of the information I could remember before the show started. Lets see, the Earth is 92.8 million miles from the sun, it has magnetic poles produced by an iron core with a rotating molten mass that protects us from solar and other forms of radiation, this magnetic field can be excited by ions ejected from the sun through Coronal Mass Ejections which can also play havoc on communications equipment, when the magnetic field receives a strong enough push from these ions it sparks a reaction at the poles which becomes the Auroras. OK, I think I'm ready to receive more information... begin movie.

The lights darken... the music begins... and we see... Animals? Wait, what? There were actually two presentations: one was on wild life of the Yukon (I'd already seen everything in the movie except a grizzly) and the other was on the Auroras. Fine, but at least talk about the wild life... No? I've learned more watching Animal Planet, and that's just in the second or two it takes to flip past it when channel surfing.

Ok, finally, let the Aurora's presentation is beginning. More music... lots of the same Aurora with different backgrounds... Oh that one's diff-no... no it's just a different background. Now that one is green instead of red. Here's one that's kinda blue with yellow tips. Me thinks I've been had. Of the twenty minuet presentation, I think there were about five minutes of actual dialog, and about half of that was telling you to buy some movie in the lobby. After the presentations were over I had a chance to talk to the guy in charge, well in charge tonight anyway. He said that they used to have a presentation that was science heavy, but their main audience, the retired folks traveling in their RV's, couldn't relate to it and absolutely despised the show, so they dumbed it down and just have pretty pictures now so they have fewer complaints.

But I think I did learn something today, even though it didn't come directly from the show: Don't do stuff that old people are inclined to do. If they dumb down a simple presentation on the Aurora's, the must dumb down lots of other information in these touristy places, which probably explains why I've started avoiding the "Information Center" type places, they really aren't much help.

Tonight I've found another campsite just off the main highway. I haven't decided when to get up tomorrow, but as it's now ten at night and looks like it's about seven in the afternoon, I can tell it's going to be difficult to get some shuteye.

Day 21 Distance: 453, Elevation: 994 -> 4285

More.