I don't know if I'm exceptionally cursed or talented, but I do seem to manage to get myself to unusual places. Scratch that, I'm just going to take the credit for being talented! I did, for some random reason, end up in the lovely town of Burwash Landing last week. Burwash is a town of about 100 people on the shore of Kluane Lake in the Yukon. This was my first time in the Yukon and I was pretty pleased with my experience. After the first day I said that Burwash was my favorite town in the Yukon but by the end of the trip I declared it my favorite town in all of Canada.

I had just about everybody warn me about the grizzly bear that was hanging out in the area and was like, "yeah, yeah, I'm from Alaska, I know about bears, I'll leave the ipod off and keep my eyes open." Then on one of my runs I found the bear's prints and seriously thought about going back to the Burwash and just doing lunges outside the hotel. My entire hand fit inside the hind foot pad. And it took the width of my other hand to reach to the top of the claw marks. And I don't have small hands either. In fact, let me get a tape measure...

Laura Valaas on the shore of Kluane Lake with Burwash Landing in the background.

...okay, that's 7 1/4" long for the foot pad and just under 11" from heel to the end of the claw marks. Not that I go around measuring bear tracks, but that seemed like it must have come from a large bear.

I never actually saw the griz, and on one of my other runs I found a random dog who was eager to come with me.

There's a gorilla face in this mountain that was pointed out to me by one of the friendly Burwash residents. Maybe you can find it?

It was interesting to experience a different mode of life... when we walked into the hotel's cafe everyone would say hi and by the end of the stay we knew tons of people by their first name as well as parts of their life story. I haven't been in a place for awhile that's so small that you acknowledge everyone else as a matter of course. It's a nice change from being in the city where it's normal to avoid making eye contact with strangers.

Mode of transportation for Kluane Lake

The km marker just down the road from Burwash. That AlCan highway covers some serious distance.

I'd probably go back to Burwash at some point... I have to try and catch one of their giant lake trout!