WOW! We have been having a phenomenal Grizzly Bear Viewing season here in the Great Bear Rainforest.
The number of grizzlies we have been seeing is unprecedented. Long time locals haven’t seen this many bears in a long time. Guests from all over the world have been seeing 10-15 bears a day and 2 days ago guests saw 18 bears in 1 day! We believe there are about 4-5 sows with cubs (including triplets) in the vicinity of Tweedsmuir Park Lodge.
Dano Pendygrasse, the Photo/Video Department Manager at Arc’tryx, posted a fantastic blog with some phenomenal images from his recent trip! There are some super cute photos of cubs, as well as a cool photo showing bears on the lodge lawn. This is just one of the many advantages of grizzly bear watching at Tweedsmuir Park Lodge!
Hello friends,
I've been planning my trip to Bella Coola to see the grizzly bears for over a year. It finally happened last week and I'm here to share some photos and stories. I had to take a couple of vacation days to make the whole thing work, so at 7 AM on Wednesday morning, about an hour later than planned, we aimed the trusty Xterra north, destination; Tweedsmuir Park Lodge. We were staring down the barrel of a long drive and a lousy weather forecast but the thought of a bear encounter helped the miles fly by.
We arrived at the lodge around noon on Thursday after an overnight at the Nimpo Lake Resort. (Pretty nice, wish we had more time there) and after a delicious lunch, we set off on our first activity, a 3-hour drift down the Atnarko River. We heard from all the staff about the dozens of sightings in the last 24 hours so I was half expecting to be greeted by grizzlies at the boat launch. As it turns out, we didn't see any for the first 2 and a half hours. But then, just as the rain started and we pulled out the Gore-tex pants, I heard a twig crack off on the left bank of the river, turned, and saw a sow and three cubs emerge from the forest. Thus began a 45-minute encounter that saw two sows facing off across the river while we sat in between.
The drift provided our first glimpse at these huge animals and set the tone for the entire trip. At some point, we stopped counting the bear sightings.
By far though, the highlight of the trip was a nature walk with Ellie Lamb where we spent about a dozen heart-pounding minutes within a car length of a perfect grizzly.
Thanks so much to Swede, Beat, Ellie, Rebecca, Tim, Amelie, and all the staff who took good care of us. And remember folks, a long lens doesn't make you a photographer any more than a laptop makes you an author. Getting the shot is never more important than being present in the experience and respecting the people that you're sharing it with.
If you like the shots, leave a comment, and if you want to have a great bear encounter, get your ass to Tweedsmuir Park Lodge.
D.