Staff Trip Report: 5 - Chris Breen in Canada - Grizzly Bears, September 2008

I was gearing myself up to tell you that we didn’t see any Grizzlies from Tweedsmuir Lodge – it would have been disappointing but true. We had done one river ‘float’ on the Atnarko River, past all the best spots for bears, in fact we had seen one distant Grizzly (or ‘Grizz’ as the locals call them), and one good view of a Black Bear, but that was first thing in the morning.


We went back to the lodge to grab our lunch and headed straight out again, put the boat back in the river and paddled upstream. We stopped and had a picnic. The float began again in earnest. It was a slow and rather wonderful (second) journey down the same stretch of river, the sound of rushing water and the views of the gigantic mountains around us proved to be a somewhat mesmerising experience and I have to admit that I dozed off. A bad thing frankly as Simon’s spotting skills leave a little to be desired. Anyway, I can’t imagine a nicer place to doze!


We had to portage the boat over a few rocks so with a certain regret I woke up and jolted myself into action dragging the boat and re-floating it a little further downstream. Bald Eagles, Mergansers, Mew Gulls and Ring-billed Gulls we ever present but no Grizzlies.

We approached the final turn of the river before we had to jump out and return to the lodge…. And there they were, a mother and two cubs. They came striding out of the grass down to the riverside, they bowled into the water and started to catch fish right in front of us. They worked the river, gradually maing their way downstream to where we needed to get out. We watched them for 30 minutes or more, in the water, heads under pulling out fresh salmon and then sitting neck-high with salmon-in-paw as if it was a corn on the cob, tearing at the flesh until it was time to get a fresh one.
So, wildlife rewards the patient, our high hopes and low expectations were repaid many times by this encounter. We returned to the lodge and had a beer to celebrate our winnings.
There was an hour or so of light left and we toyed with the idea of going out again on foot to Old Smokehole, just about two minutes walk from the lodge. It was a good plan since who knows quite when we will be back. Was it worth it? Well, the first bear we saw there was a beautifully groomed Black Bear, strolling along the bank on the far side of the river, then there was the Black Bear a little closer slightly upstream. Then of course there was the Grizzly that made its way towards us from a distance of about 100 metres, working its way along the river bank until it was perhaps only 10 metres and the absence of a guide made us feel that it was probably time to retreat. The show was over and we began to head back to the lodge for a shower and dinner… but of course it wasn’t, we had to take time to look at yet another Black Bear and a brand new cub. What a day.

Can I top that? Probably not, but I did have a great morning today. Got up at 0630 to head out and have a quick look for bears before breakfast – failed miserably. Went back to the lodge for breakfast, packed and then headed out again, we were hoping to see just one more bear before we headed off to Vancouver. We stopped at various good bear spots along the river and at our final spot we were again rewarded. This time with a mother Grizzly and and young cub.
Superb end to a truly amazing trip….. bears live in Canada and you really need to get out here to see them!

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