Aug 29 2015: BC Adventure - Bears

We pack up our wet and salty clothes.

We say goodbye to our wonderful guides. 

We await the arrival of Sea Wolf Adventures.

And we shuttle from the island to the big boat.

Andrew and Hannah are waiting for us on Mayumi 2.0. This is their new boat, named after the oldest daughter, meaning truth and beauty.  And she is a beauty. 

We climb aboard to find coffee and (second) breakfast. This is my kind of day! 

And we head towards Thompson Sound and the Great Bear Rainforest. 

With twin 450 engines - we are practically flying. 

We are on Day 4 and having a blast. Fun people, travelling with purpose.  While we didn't all know each other a week ago, we are close friends now.

It was fun to see so much more of the geography. The mountains, the trees and the ocean. Our otter came to wave goodbye, and the dolphins did too. 

The boat was carefully crafted with important Kwakwaka'wakw messages.

While the bear watching tour can be done entirely on the boat, our choice was to go ashore. We headed to Thompson Sound. Pulling into the dock, we found the "side by sides", basically an ATV with 6 seats (3+3). Great. Two vehicles = 12 seats. 

Oops, did I mention the other couple on this outing? A couple from The Netherlands, here to see the bears too. 

Hmmm how does this math work? 14 of us, 12 seats. 

The "very back" (as we said in the Smith family) was when we got to ride behind the back seats. Yes! I volunteered for that seat immediately. Talk about a view! 

And Arnold volunteered too

The one lane road took us to a small hiking path. 

We hike to the next crossing, feeling energized and a bit cautious. We are after all, hiking in bear territory. 

Down a mud slick creek bank to a small Zodiak, all 14 of us climb aboard for a very short ride to another trail. 

And then another hike. Shhhhh we are asked to be silent as we come closer to the river and bear viewing spot. Mind the bear poop in the path 😳

The owner of Sea Wolf Adventures is a member of the people whose land we are on. He has the privilege to have his tours stop at a perfect location for viewing. We stop. Andrew points. I squint. I see nothing. I am stuck to Andrew's side as he says "there she is beside the big rock" ....

And then my eyes land on her, and I am frozen. Frozen with excitement. Frozen with disbelief. Frozen with joy. This is my moment. I am watching a Mumma grizzly bear fish the salmon running upstream to spawn. 

And she catches one. 

Another moment. Never to be forgotten. I could stay all day. 

We all watch, in silence and wonder. 

After about 90 minutes (of pure joy), Andrew and Hannah quietly gather us and lead us back up the path. We visit the fish ladder and old cabin and take in the splendid views. 

And back we go - hike - Zodiak - hike - ATV - boat.  Marc got the "very bacl" on the way back.

Our guides now radio other boats to gain intel about bear and whale sightings. First stop, Mumma black bear and two cubs, turning the shoreline rocks to feast on the hiding crabs.

Off again to another bay. 

And a grizzly is spotted. He gives us quite a show as we silently float in the bay and he wanders the shoreline and stops to sniff and stare more than once. 

He even gave us a laugh as he walked into the woods, but stopped to poop, back to us, basically as his own little special good bye to us. 

We do note a couple of fish farms. We are told they used to number more than 20. Farming Atlantic salmon because they grow faster, brought infection and sea lice to the area, causing the Pacific, local salmon to die off. After much data gathering and protesting, the local activists have succeeded in lowering the number of active fish farms in this area down to three. The Pacific salmon are back to health and back in record numbers. A very good environmental story. 

Back to full throttle on Mayumi 2.0 we were thrilled to see more Orcas, more humpbacks, and even one minky whale (not close enough to photograph). 

Back to land we were headed. Another extraordinary day on the ocean. 

Aug 28 2025: BC Adventure - Circumnavigators

Decisions decisions. 

Suddenly it is our "last day of kayaking". 

Where to go? We discuss over pancakes...

We head out into (you guessed it) fog..  

And who do we find but the SEA OTTER. This guy is travelling alone. There is a "float" of male sea otters near Port Hardy we are told, and this guy is out doing reconnaissance. They are coming back, after being hunted to a zero population in the 1890's here, 70+ otters were relocated from Alaska about 10 year ago, and they are making a comeback. The women travel together, without the men, which means the toilet seat is never left up, so that makes life easy. 

So adorable, looking at us and then rolling around and giving us another good look. 

Our lunch stop is on the beach at Orca Lab (they have live streaming at their website explore.org). We have decided to circumnavigate the island today, so we have a lunch break and a short hike to use some different muscles and make sure the legs are still working. 

Yet another magic moment is upon us as Declan leads us into the woods to find the Grandmother tree. And there she is, in all her splendour. Once again my heart pounds with astonishment and pure joyful love. 

She is a Western Red Cedar, and is over 1,300 years old, her stories date back to a time before plastic.

The sun came out, the tide and currents changed in our favour and we paddled quietly along. Until we heard the splashes. Dolphins. Coming up behind us, over our right shoulders, closer and closer. We stop. Memorized by the sound and the energy and the synchronicity.  They are upon us, they rise up and we can practically feel the water splashing us. And then they are gone. 

Another moment of everlasting magic, for all of us. Not captured on our cameras but captured in our hearts and minds forever. 

We reflect on how fortunate we are to be experiencing these moments, and we enjoy the sunset on our last night on Hanson island. 

Our group, old friends, new friends and I think perhaps forever friends.