As a commercial guide I never expected this!
Leading a group of 12 Brits, we snowshoed up the Marble Canyon trail and were marvelling at the frozen waterfall under the upper bridge. It was almost the end of the season: April 10. Someone calls out, "What's that?" I look to where they are pointing and see a massive grizzly bear 'swimming' through the deep snow - directly towards us. His 'stroke' was immensely powerful and he was approaching quickly. As I reassured my guests (and tried to formulate a plan!) his head came up from the wave of snow in front of him and his course adjusted to our left, just 100 feet from the bridge.
Over just a couple minutes we startled to see the unexpected, awed at this animals amazing power, left breathless as he quickly and silently disappeared over a small knoll.
That is wildlife viewing in the Rockies: unpredictable and no time for a photo!
I remember a trip to Yellowstone when I was about 8 years old. We discovered a garbage dump where the park also dumped the antlers they removed from 'visitor areas'. "look at them all" my brothers and I exclaimed as my dad slammed the car into park.
Just as my feet hit the ground, from behind a large barrier log, a huge grizzly bear stood up on his hind legs to see what all the commotion was! I was yanked back into the car and we tore out of there screaming in excitement, fear, and shock!
I will never forget that moment and I learned an important lesson or two from it. Nothing is ever as good as it looks. Don't rush in. National parks have bears. Bears always look at least twice their actual size.
I worked at the Kootenay Park Info Centre so knew where the bear reports indicated active bear sightings ... and being "bear smart" headed off to where they were NOT.
It was an evening hike-jog of 8 km to the pass. "Hey bear" is bellowed out every few minutes. I am well into an avalanche slope when movement off to the side catches my eye: a grizzly! He moves through the thick grass and wildflowers as he casts sideways glances at me; I talk to him gently. He drops onto the trail, behind me, sits down, and just stares at me! Crap! I now have a grizzly between me and 6 kms to my car. He is clearly upset at me or wouldn't be staring me down. So what do I do? Check my watch, thinking: time of death, 7:30 pm. Wake up man, you have to react, but calmly! I talk to the bear, suggesting he move off the trail so I can turn back and he can go on eating. Nothing but a cold stare. OK, I'll leave you for a bit to think about it. Check watch: 7:32; that was a long 2 minutes. And I slowly walk deeper into the wilderness.
Better to face the demons you know than to choose a much longer route back and face the dark as well. I return yodelling my "hey bear" at 30 second intervals, crossing the av path with my neck tingling. He is here, watching. I pass, sigh, and continue down the trail.
I was on a full day hike on the Saturday Night Lake Loop in Jasper two falls ago. I was a few hours in, so well away from all other people and traces of civilization. I had been making noise every so often, as I had been advised, to avoid any unwanted animal encounters. However, after a while I became absorbed in the forest, and forgot all about the possibility of seeing a living creature larger than myself.
I came over a small hill, and up ahead, probably no more than 10 meters, was something alive. I stopped dead in my tracks and held my breath. It only took me a few seconds to realize that it was a black bear, and I was immediately reassured. I clapped, and yelled a bit, and held my arms up. It looked at me, paused, and sauntered off into the woods in typical black bear fashion. I opened up my camera bag but it was too late - my furry friend had disappeared into the forest.
It was a great experience, and I was fortunate to have come across a black bear rather than a grizzly, especially since I was alone. It made my time in Jasper that much better, knowing that I had made the effort to get far enough away from developed areas to see wildlife, something that too many people these days are no longer willing to do.
My fiance and I were lucky enough to take our '78 tent trailer on a road trip from Edmonton to Prince George. Our reason for traveling was to attend my sister in law's graduation from UNBC, May 2008. We had a lovely drive out, as the weather was perfect. Being from central Alberta, I had never seen so many bears in the wild, in all my life!! It was so exciting to press my nose to the window like a child and be on the lookout for bears. They seemed to be around every corner. Lazily soaking up the sun, or grazing casually as if there were no one else existing. It was one of the best road trips I had been on. Just me and my beau, cruising music, and bears galore.
Here's the good part...We stopped at the Ancient forest, just outside PG, on our way home. It was magnificent!! The interpretive trail we took through the forest was amazing. It felt as if we were transported back in time, thousands of years ago. I was nattering the entire time, to put my mind at ease thinking that any bears that could hear me would turn and run the other way. I felt fairly safe... until... Jason calmly told me to stop. I was warned before hand if we spotted any bears not to run, just stand still. Yeah right!! I was about to turn and bolt when Jason grabbed my hand. My knees went limp and it took all my might just to stand there. There, about 60 ft away was a mama bear and her cub. Holy crap! She had grunted and snorted to make us aware of her presence, which I had missed because of my grunting and snorting (I was a little out of breath). Jason quickly grabbed a couple of branches and started banging them together while yelling like a madman. The black bear stared us down, not willing to give up her grazing spot. The cub stood on two legs interested in what all the commotion was about. The only other option was for us to retreat, finding a new path to continue our walk. Wow!! Now I was terrified to finish the rest of the trail in fear of running into more bears. We had to have a "break", so that my knees and heart had time to return to normal. The rest of the trail turned out to be incredible, and well worth the hike.
I will never forget my near death experience, at least in my mind, of coming upon a mama and her cub. Although the experience was terrifying it was also exhilarating. To witness the beauty of the black bear and her young in their true surroundings. It made me appreciate the true wild in wildlife.
I consider myself fortunate to live in the Canadian Rockies and have learnt over the years about wildlife safety. I have also been fortunate to have had several encounters while exploring the land. One particular encounter, (better said encounters) was this summer (’09) while mountain biking on the G8 trail on Grotto mountain in Canmore AB, This trail has a lot of bear movement all throughout the summer and encounters are easily avoided by following the standard safety measures so the bears can hear you and move off the trail.
But this time was a little different and as i came flying around a technical corner i found myself pulling on both breaks to try and avoid the inevitable collision with the black bear, finally coming to a skidding stop I am looking the bear in the face about 1-2 feet away… we are both curious and he decides to stand on his/her hind legs, seemingly unfazed by my rapid approach and braking. A wave of adrenaline/ fear slapped me in the face but was quickly turned a into confident “avoid being attacked” emotion and all the thoughts of how to act rushed in and I began to think about the right way to get out of this situation and seeing as i was only 1 -2 feet from this big black bear standing so tall and i was on my bike not willing to get off and lift it over my head, i was thinking quickly, yelling only seemed to have him back away slightly but he wasn’t going anywhere as I am sure he was really enjoying those berries only moments ago, it ended up with me slowly backing away while yelling and keeping my contact towards the bear so it didn’t appear that i was running away, this worked only to find out that backing down the trail took me to a mother grizzly with three cubs, not a better place to be by any means, I ran into them just as the mother was crossing the trail to catch up with the young cubs, i don’t want to imagine how it would have went down if i was a few minutes earlier and was in between the mother and cubs. This second encounter was beautiful, there was no fear (maybe because I still had some adrenaline pumping through me) and I just watched as the mother and cubs continued through the bush, the cubs wrestling with each other as though there was nothing different about me being there, I did receive a good stare down by the mother grizzly before she gave a grunt to the younglings to move on and disappeared over the hill.
After both encounters i had let go of almost all fear of bears i was feeling before, and gained a lot of respect for these majestic animals. We always forget that when we are hiking or biking through the mountains we are doing so in their homes, their living rooms, bedrooms & dining rooms. These experiences have completely changed my opinion about bears and I often find myself adding positive encounter stories with the so often heard horror stories…
Humpback whales in Alaska.
Humpback whale about to dive.
In July 2009 my wife, Dorothy and I spent seven days on the Alaska Adventurer sailing out of Petersburg, Alaska.
We spent the night at Scandia House Hotel and next morning walked around town. We met Adam Pack (whale researcher from Hawaii) outside the hotel. We were picked up at 1.30 pm along with twin sisters (Lou and Laurie) also staying in the hotel and taken to the M/V Alaska Adventurer down in the harbour. After being introduced to the skipper and crew and the other two ladies (Denise and Gloria, also sisters) on the trip we set sail. The first item of business was to find a lump of glacier ice in Frederick Sound and break off a supply of ice to last us the week. We found humpbacks in the Sound and got tail fluke photos. We anchored for the night in Fanshaw Bay. Next day we sailed across Frederick Sound and later in the day Adam, Carrie, Dorothy and Eric were ferried ashore by Todd, the mate, in the skiff to visit Kake, a native village which boasts the tallest totem pole in the world. We also walked down to a river where we watched two black bears. We anchored for the night in a bay on the southern tip of Admiralty Island after dropping prawn traps. Adam held a research permit which allowed the boat to approach whales more closely than regular whale watching boats thus we were able to get better photographs than would normally be allowed.
Next morning we picked up the prawn traps – lots of large prawns (which served several meals), a red octopus, a sunflower sea star and some crabs. We then sailed up Chatham Strait where we came across a group of sea otters. We found and followed more feeding whales. Steller’s sea lions were often seen when humpbacks were feeding on herring. Baranov Island is on the west side of the Strait and has the highest mountains in the area with snow fields on the tops. Shortly after passing Angoon we turned back and anchored for the night in Wilson Cove, another bay on Admiralty Island.
On July 8th we sailed across Frederick Sound where we found whales bubble net feeding. A Japanese photographer, Norio, came over in his small Zodiac and stayed with us for a while. In the afternoon while watching whales the Kona Rose, a fishing boat, joined us and we transferred Carrie, who works in the Petersburg whale museum, so she could get back to Petersburg quickly. We then went to Five Fingers Lighthouse where Adam, Dorothy & Eric were ferried ashore by Dennis, the skipper. We visited the lighthouse and walked around the island where we saw eagles and their nest and oyster catchers. Bald eagles were common throughout the area. While we were on the island Gloria caught a halibut which we had for supper. In this area we saw the mirage-like effect known as ‘Feta Morgana’ in which, at a distance, small islands appear as if castles were built upon them. As you got closer they returned to their proper size. This is an optical effect caused by layers of warm and cold air above the water. Bruce, the cook, baked a birthday cake for Dorothy and she also received presents of macadamia nut chocolates and a cap autographed by the crew and group. After supper we went back across the sound and watched whales bubble feeding while the sun was setting. Our Japanese friend rejoined us before heading back to his camp site. Another great day with Adam and the crew and we anchored for the night on the south side of Frederick Strait.
Next morning, another sunny day, and we moved offshore on Frederick Strait to await the whales coming to feed. Rods were set off the stern and halibut caught. We went inshore and followed some whales for much of the day and we were rewarded with displays of bubble feeding by a group of four whales. We had a hydrophone over the side and heard feeding calls. The bubbles formed right alongside the boat and the whales came up very close on one occasion. After supper we got a call from Dennis, the skipper, telling us that a whale was breaching - so we all rushed out on to the deck and were able to watch it pectoral slapping and then it breached four times and returned to slapping. It almost slapped the boat! Heading across the strait we came across a single whale lunge feeding very close to an island. We then proceeded to find an anchorage for the night after planning the next day’s schedule; we anchored in Fanshaw Bay again. Another great day which produced some of the activities we had come all this way to see.
Next morning it was a little misty first thing but again it cleared out into a sunny day. We sailed north up Stephens Passage. We came across some humpbacks in Holkham Bay. A strange whale swam by and was duly photographed. This was subsequently determined to be a small minke whale – an unusual species for this area. We motored down Endicott Arm. We stopped in front of a fairly large piece of floating ice to take photos of all members of the group. We headed down Endicott Arm past many pieces of ice right up to the Dawes Glacier. There were many harbour seals on the pieces of ice near the glacier. We waited there for a while and a submarine calving took place when a block the size of a four-storey building shot up to the surface and broke into pieces – some were clear blue ice and others full of dirt. This was followed by a number of smaller calvings. Another great day. On the way back up the Arm we stopped to photograph icebergs in the setting sun and also a wolf obliged by posing on the shore. We anchored for the night in Holkham Bay.
Next morning we headed south passing a large group of Steller sea lions hauled out on a rocky ledge. Surf birds were on the rocks below the seals. Shortly thereafter a pod of Dall’s porpoises came over and romped around the boat for a while. Near Fanshaw Bay we came across many very active whales – some breaching, others pectoral slapping. We then headed across Frederick Sound to find whales bubble netting. We went back to Fanshaw Bay for the night.
On the morning of our final day we rounded an island after seeing six Sitka black tailed deer on the shore, and came across an active whale. We followed whales there for a while and then went into Farragut Bay where we found a pair of whales bubble netting for herring. One, Stumpy, in spite of having lost much of one fluke appeared to be the leader. Dennis noticed some feathers in the debris left after feeding – a marbled murrelet must have got caught in the feeding. Pigeon guillemots were also often seen around the whales catching any scraps left over. Harbour seals were also hauled out on a sandy beach in the bay. After lunch we motored back towards Petersburg. On the way in we diverted from our route to go over to a pod of orca – the eighth marine mammal species of the trip! We were all called into the saloon and presented with ‘Official Alaska Adventurers’ certificates - each certificate was personalized reflecting our contributions to the voyage.
Our cabin was quite small with double bed and an upper bunk – the latter we used for storage. Eric spent much of his time on the flying bridge taking photographs (some 2000 frames on this part of the trip and nearly two hours of video) and Dorothy eventually found that this was the best place for recording. In addition to being recorder Dorothy spent a lot of time matching flukes. The weather was sunny throughout the week – we were told to bring rain gear and clothing for cool weather – these have not been needed. The food (often freshly caught) was great as was the company – both crew and passengers.
Back on shore after taking photos of the group beside the boat our luggage was taken back to the hotel and we walked there.
ERIC MARSHALL
While conducting my master's research north of Fort St. James, my assistant and I found ourselves at the side of a very small stream sampling insects at 5 in the morning. While sampling, we heard the sound of an animal approaching up the stream and thought it might be a mink. We stepped out of the stream and waited for it to appear. What popped up was not a mink, but a small beaver who was making his way up the stream. He made his way right through the pool beside us, seemingly oblivious of our existence until he was about halfway through the pool (and about 3 feet from both of us) - at that point there was a flicker of recognition in his eyes that he knew he wasn't alone, but with what must have been a herculean effort, he attempted to ignore us and continue up the stream. Unfortunately, our sample net was blocking the entire channel upstream. The beaver looked at the net, looked over the gravel bar to see how far he'd have to walk, looked back at us, then back at the net. Then slooooowwwly, ever so slowwwly, he turned around and swam right back past us and downstream again. The look in his eyes this whole time was one of ^%$! ^&%^%$^! %^$^%! *%*%*! but we didn't move for fear of really freaking him out. Once he was out of sight, we collapsed on the bank in laughter. It was a great experience.
Went for a walk at the lodge and after a while a Grizzly came up on the trail, so I went back, but from the other side came 2 grizzlies, I assumed 2 older young.
One side lake, one side woods, 2 sides grizzlies coming closer. I Climbed on to a big log and then the mother grizzly stood on the hindlegs. And let me tell you that's big.
I was getting scared. There was no attack or anything, but they kept getting closer. Then I saw a tree which I could may be climb.
As I left the log walking slowly backwarts to that tree the bear hopped onto the log I was on. Before I knew it I was in the tree.
From there I took a picture as the bear came sniffing me out. The earlier pictures where black as the cap was still on! I waited out while the bears returned to berrie eating.
Lesson learned don't go out on your own in area's with frequent grizzly sightings.
Picture can be mailed.
Lots of cool wildlife viewing but one of the most surprising and fun was in Jasper National Park in Alberta where at night on the way out of the outhouse a porcupine was presumably scared by the closing of the door and fell out of the tree beside the outhouse. It nearly fell on me and both of us ran in opposite directions. Somewhat of a Monty Python moment (sheep plummeting from the trees).
But beyond this humorous note -- here is a shot of last years summer visitor -- a young Lynx in my yard just about 30 minutes from the city. It stayed for about 30 minutes and at one point fell asleep in the tree so i figured it wasn't too stressed. What an incredible experience however -- i've seen lynx before when they are running across the snow or something but I've never had the opportunity to really study one for a while. I did take a picture and then quickly backed off to give it space to leave (in fact we retreated to the house). How did it make me feel? Amazing but what a ridiculous word to describe what it meant to see this up close -- I'm not sure how to put this into words -- it was one of those over stated "life" experiences -- and perhaps even more valuable because it was right in my backyard.