The. Best. Trip. Ever.

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We were at the southern part of the Great Bear Rainforest, a huge area that stretches along the coast of mainland British Columbia – an area of mountains and fiords and islands and rivers and trees and… bears. Literally on Smith Inlet near the estuary of the Nekite River the floating Great Bear Lodge was our home for 4 days – to get up close and personal (well not too close) to the Grizzly bears whose home it was, or who were starting to move on in to the area, as the salmon were beginning to return to the river to spawn.

The 40 minute float plane took us over some spectacular scenery to deliver us to the lodge.

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Twice a day we would suit up and go out in the boats, 5 guests per boat plus guide. A warm camo one piece thing that was like wearing a sleeping bag, rubber overalls, jacket, boots, rain hat, gloves, life vest – trying to shuffle down the dock wearing all this stuff, let alone manoeuver in and out of the boat was hilarious. But worth it. In this temperate rainforest, there is, well, rain, and this all kept me warm and snug for our twice-daily 3 1/2 hour trips around the estuary and river in the open boat.

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The estuary was teeming with all kinds of wildlife to keep us amused while waiting to catch a glimpse of the main attraction…

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These two bears above were walking along the river’s edge in opposite directions. From the boat I was watching them both and at one point could see when they became aware of each other. Blondie, on the right, picked up speed and chased the other bear off the bank and into the forest.

So what’s cuter than the babies? Watching these two keeping up with Mom, trying to scramble over the falling logs and brush was smile inducing.

Earlier, we had seen another Mom with cubs, grazing on the sedge of the open estuary, when suddenly she became aware of a male, way too close for comfort. She quickly rounded up the babies – chop chop little ones – and ran across the shallow river, moving quickly into the shelter of the forest.

This bear was heading up the river at quite a pace, on a mission to see if the salmon were arriving upstream yet. He appears to be noticing something not far ahead. (By “notice” I may mean smelling. Those nostrils are bigger than the eyes as is the sense of smell much stronger than a bear’s eyesight.)

Two people in the river walking towards him.

These are two Fisheries Officers doing exactly the same thing as the Grizzly. Counting salmon. And keeping a close eye or two on the bear.

While we were in the boats the guides would communicate by radio. When they had a sighting they would contact the other saying something like “We have an eagle on the west slough by the crabapples heading south.” Eventually I asked one of them why they used the phrase “eagle” for a Grizzly sighting. The reason? It’s an open frequency and the practice began because they did not want to mention bears in case hunters could overhear them. They had similar codes for wolves and cougars.

After only 3 days hanging out on the river watching them eating their greens, minding their young, interacting with each other, waiting for the salmon to arrive I tried to imagine what it could be like to sit in a boat like I was doing and instead of a camera, holding a gun. Sickening. It was mind numbing to think that anyone could possibly think it was all right to murder one of these magnificent creatures. For what? “Sport”? What kind of sport is it that you can shoot, from a distance, a completely defenseless animal. Why? To mount a dead body part in a rec room? Two years ago the current BC government FINALLY outlawed the Grizzly bear hunt in the province. Thank you, thank you. About time.

This is the gate leading from the Lodge’s floats to the ramp to land. No it is not to keep bears out. As if. It is to keep the tourists in! A reminder that the rule is we are not to leave at any time without a guide.

We did get opportunities to leave though. The schedule was as follows:

• 7:00 “Gentle” wake up reminder
• 7:15 Breakfast
• 8:00 Bear Viewing in the Boats
• 11:30 Return to Lodge
• 12:00 Lunch
• 1:00 “Mystery Activity” (in our case land based – hike)
• 4:00 Return to Lodge
• 5:00 Dinner
• 6:00 Bear Viewing in the Boats
• 9:30 Return to Lodge
• Socialize – or not
• Go to bed – get up and repeat

Of course anyone could skip any of the events for any reason and just bliss out at the Lodge, enjoying the scenery, munching on the endless supply of freshly baked cookies or raiding the beverages – a help yourself station of all day fresh coffee, tea, juice, soft drinks, beer and wine. The Lodge itself was beautiful, windows everywhere and the food was wonderful – fresh, healthy, catering to all preferences, vegetarian, gluten-free, dairy free, vegan, you name it. It was also interesting to see how they operated such a top notch place in such a quiet location. They made their own hydro power harnessing a waterfall on land that was also the water source which was then purified and made tap drinkable. No water problems given that this area has over 3 meters of water annually. They also had some solar and wind source power as well as generator. They had a processing system for grey and black water. Of course everything had to come in by plane or boat or barge. No cell service or internet for guests.

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One afternoon we hiked up the old logging road getting a botany lesson along the way, identifying the trees in this forest (Western Red Cedar, Sitka Spruce, Red Alder, Western Hemlock, Amabilis Fir) and the other plants and berry bushes. We were shown the identifying evidence that we were in the home of the Grizzly – the wallowing hole (aka bear hot tub) where the bears climb in and, well, wallow, no doubt enjoying a rub as they make sure their scent is spread liberally to communicate with other bears.

Our guide showed us the contents of the fresh bear scat – traces of sedge and undigested Western Crabapple fruits, a fruit smaller than a cherry. We went down a bear path to the river’s edge and saw a scratching post tree where the bears rub their backs on, again leaving scent to communicate. Hollows under trees were pointed out where bears curl up to have a rest, sometimes in the mid-day heat of summer.I should point out that as we hiked and checked out all this, one guide walked in front and one walked in back. Every now and then they would call out loud “Hey Bear” to signal our presence and were constantly checking out our surroundings.

On another land trip, we piled into an old school bus and headed further down the old logging road to where the Lodge maintains viewing stations at the river’s edge. Above, the guide is giving us a lesson on salmon and the coastal ecosystem. Every year the salmon return from the ocean by the millions to the rivers where they were born, spawning the new generation and then dying. They provide food for 200 species of animals and birds and fertilize the plants and trees all along the coast.

When we were there there were 10 guests at the Lodge. Two from Australia, one from the UK, one from France and four Americans, two from Seattle and two from San Diego. We were the only Canadians. Not only that, we were told that visitors from Vancouver Island are rare. Interesting. It took us only 4 hours to drive from our house up to Port Hardy to catch the float plane. In comparison to the others’ travel, this is our own backyard!

After four blissed out days, time to leave. Late afternoon we were back in Port Hardy to stay the night. An evening on the hotel balcony watching the action in the working harbour and sunset, and the next day we were on our drive home.

But the bears weren’t finished with us. Ten minutes outside of Port Hardy another bear, this time a black bear, crossed the highway ahead of us.

Can life get any better than this?

By the way, last year the Great Bear Lodge had special visitors. Humpback whales swam right up to the dock at the Lodge, breaching and blowing. The video went viral. That was how we first heard about the place and booked our trip immediately!

Check out the humpback video here. Note the guests in bathrobes. It was very early in the morning and the staff tried to wake everybody up to come and witness.