Day 6 – Manitoba – Seeing North America

When packing for this trip we made a last minute decision to include our bicycles. We had brought them to Alaska in 2018, but there are few options on how to carry them on our setup. In 2018 we had them mounted on a rack above the propane housing which presented several issues. The bike located above the propane housing made it a labor-intensive task to check propane levels. It involved taking the bikes down then unmounting part of the bike rack then checking the propane supply. It took about 10 minutes each time while without the bike rack it was a 20 second task. The rack and where the bikes were positioned also made difficult backing up and turning. The rack or bikes would touch the tailgate or propane housing. After that trip we ditched the rack. Our Airstream has no rear bumper and is not designed to carry bikes at the rear end. So where to consider next? Placing them on the truck body, above our bed cover or on the truck roof involves many hundreds of dollars of rack equipment. In packing we decide to remove the wheels and stuff them under the cover along with the other truck bed stuff. This resulted in the need to place several things in the back of the cab the would be best carried in the truck bed. The bottom line is to assemble the bikes takes a bit of effort. When we stay at one location for more than a night it’s worth the effort to put them together. This being the first location where we are spending a couple of night the bikes get pulled out. We forgot a couple of tools to fully assemble them, so we have yet to ride the bikes. Wells did swear a couple of times this morning then got over it. Along the route in the next several days we’ll get the right tool.

Instead of bicycling today we headed out looking for wildlife. We did spot a couple of white-tail deer (just like in our backyard at home), a black bear, and several bison enjoying the deepshaded woods. This evening we hope to explore a local marsh.

There are a few different forests here. This is an Aspen Forest. There are also Boral Forests, and Temperate Forests.

Black Bear – Some black bears are brown in color. Don’t confuse them with actual Brown Bears of Grizzles. At this point one could talk about how to tell the difference between a black bear and a grizzle. It’s sometimes hard based on color such as with the bear above. Next, look for a hump at the shoulder. Has one? Then it’s a grizzle. Not sure yet? Annoy the bear enough to get it to chase you. If it does pursue you, then try to judge the speed the bear can run. 30 mph, it’s a black bear. 50 mph, it’s a grizzle. Not good at judging speed? Better climb the nearest tree. If it climbs up after you, it’s a black bear. If it knocks the tree over, it’s a grizzle. Oh, yeah, grizzles have little silver bells in their scat.