Your odds of getting eaten by a Bear

If you haven't guessed by now, I'm scared of bears.

It's because if a bear decides he or she wants to eat you... theres not a lot you can do about it. Grizzly Bears are huge. They can weigh 1500 lbs and run 35 mph for long distances. Up hill... down hill, you're not going to out run a Brown Bear. Climb a tree. Probably won't matter... they can climb too. The good news is that they mostly don't see people as food. OTOH, there's a reason their scienctific name is "Ursus arctos horribilis". Never fight back aganist a Grizzly... just try and protect vital organs, be still, and pray.

Black bears are more common, and are less dangerous. They only stand 6' tall and weigh up to 800 lbs. (~300 lbs is more normal). They can only run about 30 mph... but that's faster than most non-olympic athletes. Black bear attacks are pretty rare and usually not fatal. OTOH, the attacks are more likly to be predation (unless there are cubs), so you should fight back if attacked.

There are polar bears too... but not as far south as I'll be traveling. They are very dangerous and are know to stalk humans.

The odds of a bear attack in Alaska are pretty low... ~10-20 attacks per year... or 2-3 per 100,000: http://www.absc.usgs.gov/research/brownbears/attacks/bear-human_conflicts.htm. I couldn't find the odds in the Yukon, but an interesting fact is that with ~31,000 people in the Yukon, there are >16,000 bears. More bears, so I would guess your odds of encounter are higher in the Yukon.

BTW, I weigh less than 130 and can run less than 20 mph for not very far. My scooter weighs ~250 lbs and goes 62 mph on a good road. I'm guessing under 45 mph will be top speed in the Yukon.

Maybe Bears aren't so scary...

A couple friend have been pointing out that Alaska/TheYukon are the kinds of places were "Men are Men... and Women are Victims". Specifically, they have been talking about the high incidence of rape in Alaska.

Naturally, I was skeptical. I heard that in the North, a person's repuation was important... and people were pretty much to their word. After all, people in small towns tend to be pretty honest.

Apparently, I'm naive. Forcible rape is 30/100,000 for the whole US. Alaska has been in the top 5 worst rates for the past 25 years. For the past years the rate has been around 80 per 100,000 people: http://www.fbi.gov/ucr/cius2006/data/table_05.html.

Canada can't be worse? Well... yes it can. Overall rates show that rape in Canada is even more common than in the US. I couldn't find current rates for the Yukon, but the 1999 rate was ~240 per 100,000. ( 1995-1999 Canada Crime Statistics).

Wow. Your odds of getting attacked by a bear are a lot less.

Solo or Team?

One of the open issues I need to resolve is if I want to go alone, with a small private group, or as part of an large open group.

There's a lot of advantages in each; more people more safety. (I'm scared of bears). More people also limits travel possiblities and slows down the trip.

It's also going to find other people who might be interested. It'll be a hard, long ride whichever route I take. Also, depending on the route, it could cost a bit of money.

I think the best idea is to research routes first... get an estimate for the cost and time of the trip... then see who might be interested.

...The chores. ... the stores. ...fresh air. ...Times Square.

New York is where I’d rather stay.
I get allergic smelling hay.
I just adore a penthouse view.
Dah-ling I love you but give me Park Avenue.

Eva Gabor was right. It's the city life for me. I love living downtown... walking distance to everything I need. There's always something happpening in my neighborhood.

I'm not really an outdoors kinda gal. I don't really like camping (especailly without running water!), and I'm always cold. Most of all, I'm terrified of bears.

I don't know why I'm so interested in the north.

I think I might just be intrepid. In 2002, I decided to go on a 4 day horseback riding trip through the Candaian Rockies. I had never really rode a horse before... but then, how hard could it be? I drove 12 hours from Seattle to Banff by myself. The scenery was so pretty... and I saw big horn sheep, mountain goats, martins, and lots of elk. It was peacefull.... (While there were bears all aound us, I never saw one.)

I'm also fascinated by the men and women of the Klondike Gold Rush. They risked everything on a crazy adventure. They were reckless, bold... foolish. I admire them, much in the same way I admire Christopher McCandless, the protagnist from Into the Wild.

McCandless, after reading too much Jack London, decided to adventure north. Like the southlanders in Call of the Wild or To Build a Fire, he challenges nature... and dies. Most people think that he was just a weird kid and that his death was pointless.

I think he was heroic... and there is also a little something heroic about riding a scooter to Dawson.

Lt Orr and Tires

There's a scene in Catch-22, where Orr's plane is shot down over the water and his crew has to use their life raft. Orr's giggling with glee while testing out all the survial equipment. He uses every single piece, including the shark repelent, fishing gear, and little plastic oar. His crew, including Yossarian, thinks he's crazy. You all know how it ends....

Everyone has been telling me how bad the roads in the Yukon are and how I should not only carry a spare, but spare tubes as well. Flats do happen. I know since I just got one 2 weeks ago. My scooter had a spare so I wasn't stuck on the side of the road, but now I have a flat spare.

A new tube costs $9. A tube patch kit is $5. I went for the patch kit just for the experence.

I needed the pratice... you need soap/water to find the holes. The first patch I put on upside down. Thank goodness for split rims too... I couldn't break the bead on the tire. Patching a tube is not something I would want to do on the side of the road. In a motel room or at camp, though it would be eazy to fix my spare.

If you're in a city and can buy a tube.. save yourself the trouble and buy a new tube. However, a patch kit weighs next to nothing, is tiny, and can patch 5+ holes... something I'll have with me in the Yukon.

Speaking of tires, I found some knobbie off-road scooter tires. Even though most of the roads will be 'paved' knobbies might not be a bad idea. I think I'll get a pair.

Once I get the knobbies I might try a logging road or two to get a feel for them.... Orr style.

Why would anyone want to go to the Klondike?

There are strange things done in the midnight sun,
By the men who moil for gold;
The Arctic trails have their secret tales
That would make your blood run cold;
The Northern Lights have seen queer sights,
But the queerest they ever did see
Was the night on the marge of Lake Lebarge
I cremated Sam McGee.
— The Cremation of Sam McGee, Robert W. Service

The Klondike is on the edge of the artic, in the middle of one of the largest wilderness areas... well.. in the world. About 30,000 people live in the 180,000 sq/miles of the Yukon wilderness. It's one of the least densely populated places in one of the least densely populated countries.

Dawson City had a population of 1327 in 2006. More people than this that use my cafeteria at work each day. The city has one paved road... front street.... aka the Klondike Highway. Miles and miles and mile of taiga forest... to reach a city that just can't be measured by it's population alone. You have to weigh the mettle men and women who went there 100 years ago.

On July 17, 1897 the S.S. Portland arived in Seattle with 'a ton' of Klondike gold on board. At the time, the country was in a economic depression and the news tranfigured the city. The mayor, hearing the news, immediatly resigned and booked passage to Alaska.

In the year after the Portland arrived, over 100,000 men and women 'Stampeders' risked everything to reach the klondike. Their fortunes... their lives. Their stories, many forgotten, are full of heroism and villany... of hope and dispair. Mostly, they are full of disillusionment... only one in four made it to the klondike. Few got rich.

The push to the klondike was hard. There were no good routes, and most were quickly clogged... rivers were frozen or mountain passes clogged with desperate men and dying aminals.

Jack London was there during the first push over white pass. He's the one who named it the 'dead horse trail'. What he saw changed him... and scared him. His stories are full of his personal experences. He's not the only writer or poet to document the human condition that followed the gold madness.

The news of the gold strike in the north transfigured Seattle... quintupling it's population in the next 20 years. (It's population has yet to quintuple again.) Of the few fortunes that were made, help launch Seattle.... Nordstrom and Bartell. Seattle old money is Klondike money.

The Klondike gold rush not only changed Seattle, but defined it... as the gateway to Alaska; the gateway to the north.

So, why do I want to ride my scooter to Dawson City?

Welcome!

I decided to start a blog to document my planned summer 2009 Klondike adventure.

Right now I'm still deciding what kind of trip I should take; how many days, proposed route, solo or group, hotel or camp... ect.

All I know for certain right now is that next summer, I will ride my 150cc 2T scooter into Dawson City, Yukon. Everything else is minor details ;)