We Stop for Bears - Notes from Bear Camp #3

 

Buzzing with my first encounter of a grizzly in the wild, I was eager to go out after lunch to search for more bears. I climbed aboard the drift boat with three companions and Brian, our guide and man at the oars. The Chilko river gains speed as it flows downstream. The jet boats could handle stretches of rapids from Bear Camp to where government researchers set traps for monitoring the salmon run but, the drift boat was more like a dory. With no propeller and Brian at the helm, we were able to travel 13 kms further downriver on faster water into the Chilcotin wilderness.

It was an exhilarating ride; fast water and fast talking from Brian, an epic storyteller. He steered the boat with skill and entertained us the whole way. If we’d come across a bear, it would have been a quick sighting because there was no place to pause or slowdown in the rapids. We did not see any bears. Nor did we see any salmon fighting their way upstream.

We landed at a camp Brian and Ashley recently set up for their white-water rafting trips. Brain waded ashore in his rubber boots to secure the boat. We were about 10 feet from the shore stuck on some rocks. None of us had boots on so I was prepared to get wet when he said, “Give me your hand.” I complied and he swung me up on his shoulders in a fireman’s carry! I was mortified and completely caught off guard. There’s a photo but it’s not for public viewing. The next person in line quickly jumped into the water declaring she’d handle the trip home with wet feet rather than be carried.

Michelle, the camp manager, met us at the landing with a boat trailer. The drive back to camp wound through the stunning landscape of the river valley. We were almost home when Michelle exclaimed “There’s a bear swimming!” Brian stopped immediately and let us out. By the time I had reassembled my camera and braced my body with the long lens the bear had emerged on the far shore.

Was this the same bear we’d seen in the morning? He sure looked the same but maybe he was his cousin….

Grizzlies are great swimmers. They have been recently sighted on Vancouver Island showing they can migrate across Johnstone Strait from the mainland, over a 3 km swim.  These big bears are also fast, they can sprint faster than 55 kph. Take note - a grizzly will easily outrun, outclimb, and outswim you - so don’t swim with bears!

The bear returned to the water and swam upstream, dipping his head underwater looking for fish just like the bear we’d seen in the morning. Finally, he headed in and splashed along the shoreline for a short distance before leaving the water and disappearing into the forest.

The whole event was over before we knew it. A second bear sighting, it was the icing on a great afternoon on the Chilko. The bears were out there just as impatient as we were. The only difference was they were eager for salmon, and we were eager for the bears who were eager for the salmon.

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