Day 2 - Whitehorse 2011

Inner Pilot
Aug 4, 2011
3 min read

Updated: Dec 14, 2024

Erik, Mike, and BUDDY!

We love Buddy! Buddy loves us! Buddy has a new buddy (a she-Buddy)! See, every time we pass by Kluane Lake, Mike and I visit a big, happy, beautiful yellow lab whom we’ve dubbed “Buddy”. We first met Buddy by chance when we parked for the night nearby his home a few years back. At our first meeting, Buddy magically appeared from the wilderness, whimpering and squirming outside our car early the next morning. We reluctantly opened the door to this new strange-acting creature, and in he shot, pouncing on us with love, big tongue, and lots of saliva! We were instant life-long friends with this dog. Mike and I will be sad when one day Buddy doesn’t show as we whistle and call during yet another surprise visit in the future. But today, we were re-united. And this time Buddy had a girlfriend. Here are the videos: Buddy Video 1, Buddy Video 2

Grizzly Bear in Kluane Lake

We were blessed again a few miles down the road when a young, blonde grizzly bear appeared. He spent some time up on the road bed with us, and then dropped down to the shore of Kluane Lake. He was happy; playfully picking up a piece of drift wood and tossing it into the water just before frolicking in himself. Mike called that blessing number two for the day. Here are the videos: Bear Video 1, Bear Video 2

Kluane Mountains

We had to pee, and Mike ran off into the woods after pulling over. He’s a little more bashful than I. I didn’t run anywhere. Finally Mike came back, and I asked, ‘did everything come out ok’? Mike had a solemn look on his face. ‘I looked down, and I was peeing on an eagle feather’, he said. Mike told me how Native Americans believe that finding an eagle feather is a blessing. This might have counted as Mike’s third blessing of the day, but. I asked how peeing on one might affect the blessing, to which I don’t think Mike had a solid answer.

Kluane Mountains

Lodge pole pine trees don’t grow in Alaska. The northern edge of their range is the Whitehorse area, and Mike and I like to play a game to see who can spot the first one as we approach the city. The other person has to “verify” a sighting for it to count. I found a little one and called it, but Mike didn’t get a chance to see as we zipped past. Then there were no lodge pole pines among the black and white spruce forest for 15 minutes. Mike may have let his guard down, for soon we were in a thicket of them. I kept quiet. I wanted to point and say, ‘look Mike!” He soon saw them on his own and exclaimed, ‘over there!’ ‘Yep, good job’, I agreed and gave him “five”.

Bridge over Canyon Creek

Mike has almost earned two masters degrees in Forestry. He knows his trees, their ranges, what they need in terms of soils, temperatures, and moisture. He tells me the conifers here consist of lodge pole pine, white spruce, and black Spruce and the deciduous here consist of aspens, balsam, poplar, and willows. Apparently, it’s too dry for birch.

What’s a road trip without music? Here’s one from Mike’s library that I liked: Mark Knopfler – What It Is

I’ve been greeting people in French here, whom I think might be French Canadian. One obviously French Canadian young man even asked me if I was French! It was a great complement and gave me the opportunity to speak a few more words of French to him. I hear people speaking in French often in Whitehorse, and it makes me smile.

Mike with Photo of when He was age 2

Mike pulled out a book as we settled into our tent for the evening. He had three photos in it, which he always carries with him. They were images of his younger self. One was from 2 years old, another from his adolescence, and the third from young adulthood. I asked why he kept them, and his response was beautiful. ‘I look at them every night before I go to sleep so I remember when I was that age; so I remember what it was like to be that age’ he replied. Yes, absolutely. Keep that young, innocent you alive. Perhaps one of the secrets to never growing old.