Northman's Fury

On Tuesday, our group went out to the Kluane National Park. Landscape in this area is beautiful as alwys.



We also did a short hike in the woods just outside Haines Junction, and saw a bit of bear sign, though not too fresh. It became far more interesting when I noticed this story.

Two grizzly bears caused quite a stir in Haines Junction, with one even causing a woman to scramble for a gun as the animal pushed on her door Tuesday night.

"It went right up on one of the Champagne Aishihik elders' porches and was pushing on her door. And when this lady looked and saw the bear, she went and got her gun," Haines Junction conservation officer Dan Drummond told CBC News on Wednesday.

Yukon conservation officers had to kill the prowling grizzly.

Almost sorry we missed seeing them, almost. Coming across a grizzly in the woods isn't really a good thing.

I'm actually in Whitehorse this week. While the last few days will be work related, I took the first couple as leave to do the tourist thing. Yesterday we drove out to Skagway, Alaska.



The town is now little more than a tourist trap for cruise ships, but was originally important for its use as the port where those heading to the Yukon for the Klondike Gold Rush would be dropped off to head over the mountains into Canada.

Anyway, I snapped off dozens of photos of the beautiful landscapes between Whitehorse and Skagway of which I thought I would post a few examples.





Unfortunately, the pass itself lived up to its name and was white with fog and snow which reduced visibility to a few dozen feet, blocking what I was told were some truly spectacular views. Also made me quite glad I wasn't the one driving. Today we're heading out to a National Park of some sort, so I should have several more photos by the end of the day to post.

Also, what might just be an eerie coincidence. In the Gold Rush Graveyard outside of Skagway, I stumbled across a grave marker for the Reverend Archibald Campbell. I don't know if that has anything to do with this guy, but the odds of finding such a thing within a couple of days of finding his site just struck me as weird.

Fantasy author Robert Jordan, whose Wheel of Time series captivated millions, has died of a rare blood disorder at the age of 58.

Sad news. Losing a good author like Jordan is always a blow. I got into reading the Wheel of Time series a few years ago, and although around the sixth to eighth books there was some head-bashing wondering whether or not the series was ever going to end or just drag on indefinitely, it picked back up and overall it was well worth the read. Hopefully he had enough the 12th and final book completed that it can be finished and published.

One of those amusing examples of unintended consequences. I would probably never watch the Emmy’s and who really gives two shits about what Sally Field says anyway? Allowing her little line to be broadcast would have probably been mostly ignored by everybody, but censoring it has given it far greater coverage than it likely deserves, probably helped by the fact that it comes so closely after the Kathy Griffith incident