Boreal Forests

The vast unbroken Boreal Forests stretch to the horizon for hundreds of miles in all directions, it’s one of the last untouched northern forests in the world, true wilderness. The forests begin in British Columbia and continue up into the Yukon Territory to the treeless Tundra of the North. The arctic weather prevents the tree from getting much bigger than a 12″ diameter . The forest floor is pure,soft moss, sprinkled with lichen, a beautiful palette. These stunted dense forests abound in wildlife, On any given day, I will see Caribou, woodland Bison, bear, Big Horn Sheep plus numerous smaller creatures, including Arctic Fox, otter, porcupine, etc. The Caribou is a big animal, the cow I almost hit was the size of a moose.

The large animals ( bear, bison….) seem oddly perplexed by my presence, they don’t seem to recognize me as a threat, only an oddity, they show no fear. I’m so used to animals running at the sight of me in Vermont, it’s odd to see them stand their ground and gazing at me. The brazen bears are a bit scary, not sure what they will do.

There is next to no traffic on the Alaska Highway, I will see perhaps a half dozen cars go by per hour. This allows me to stop in the middle

of the road to admire wildlife, we both just sort stare at each other. I noticed the bear in the video grazing on wildflowers across the road from me when I stopped for a bathroom break. I whistled at him, he stopped eating and we just starred at each other for a minute. As I pulled out my phone to video him, he decided to come over to investigate me. I ran to the truck as he ambled over. I departed with him gazing at me and my departing truck. He didn’t seem threatening, just curious.