Jun 4
We were looking forward to the final two nights of our trip in Whistler; Mike had a date with a bike and I would be catching up with a friend. The only thing standing in our way was a 700km drive and some unforeseen events. Read more
It was our last full day at the ranch and while we currently had a grand total of 0 bear sightings, some of our group had in fact seen three the day before – including one that strolled through the ranch grounds! (The resident dogs make great alarms.) So the pressure was on and we gritted our way through another early start. Read more
If you’ve followed this extremely drawn out trip write-up (apologies / don’t get me started) you’ll know that bear-watching was the main aim of the game. We went to Bella Coola near the BC coast to see grizzlies and black bears and to hedge our bets further, we looked for another bear viewing experience. Mike’s research led us to Grizzly Bear Ranch, 1000km inland in the Selkirk Mountains, and about an hour from Kaslo where we prepared ourselves for collection after breakfast. Read more
With a 400+km drive ahead there was no dilly dallying as we packed up and left Field. Our route would take us south-west, north-west, south-west then south-east and if we had the option of a straight line it would have been a mere 170km. Far less interesting though; this was a day crammed with fascinating stuff, and even better, fascinating OLD stuff. Read more
At a ridiculous time of night a few months out from our trip we sat poised over the keyboard and at the appointed hour, after a few tense minutes, managed to secure tickets to Lake O’Hara. Demand always outstrips supply so we were rapt that we’d be among the lucky few able to see one of Yoho’s most outstanding features. Read more
We left Alberta and crossed back into BC; Banff National Park became Yoho National Park. There were more lakes and mountains and general Rockies wonderment to behold from our new base in the village of Field. Read more
Now to the Hagensborg area and west. Read more
When we weren’t bear watching we explored Bella Coola and its surrounds. These endeavours were a little weather-impacted (the rainforest habitat shouldn’t make that a complete surprise) though the resulting cloud gave the place additional atmosphere and our trusty Jeep got us everywhere we wanted to go. I’ve divided this into two posts covering roughly west and east of where we stayed. Read more
tall tales 