Grizzly Bears and more – Knight Inlet, Canada
December 2, 2022
From the moment we arrived in Campbell River I knew this was going to be a slick operation. Seamless transportation and hotel room check-in, an excellent dinner recommendation and detailed information on the morning plans to catch the sea-plane (Float Plane in the USA). The Grizzly bears trip is the jewel in the crown of our North America journey.
The adventure begins - Getting to Knight Inlet
We took-off around 9am in a very small sea-plane (this was a first for all of us) and we flew up the west coast of Canada, skirting the mountain tops, until finally the plane swooped down to land very smoothly in front of Knight Inlet lodge. I didn’t know beforehand that this was a floating lodge, so we will see how my sea-legs are over the next 5 days.
With no time to waste and after an introduction and tour of the lodge, it was straight out on our first Grizzly Bear excursion. Did we see Grizzly Bears on the first day? Yes we did and it was a fine start to the next 5 days. So much to see, explore and photograph.
The day to day activities
The structure of the day has four slots of activity, two in the morning and two in the afternoon. It’s an early start with breakfast at 6.30am and the first activity at 7.30am and there isn’t a great deal of downtime in between. We finished back at the lodge by 6pm just in time for beer o’clock and dinner at 7pm. Go to bed, repeat. It may sound strange, but I loved the packed schedule and it meant our time at the lodge was maximized, which is the most important thing at the end of the day.
Each evening we sat with the lodge manager and decided on the activities for the next day. There are several “stands” from which to watch bears, but also other excursions that take in different flora, fauna and scenery of the area:
Grizzly Bears from the Stands
There were a choice of 6 stands for bear viewing. Once on a stand the task is to wait quietly and patiently whilst looking around for grizzly bears to appear from any possible angle (or no bears at all, this did happen on a couple of occasions). Mostly we were there for a couple of hours. It’s actually quite exciting looking around and waiting to see if a bear appears…even when it doesn’t happen. And there are always a few bird sightings to entertain while you wait.
Hiking in the Great Bear Forest
There are a couple of easy/medium hikes into the forest. It’s possible to come across bears on these hikes so it’s actually very exciting. As we were there a while and love hiking we took several of the walking options; a waterfall, a giant sequoia, bear dens, and the lodge arranged some “Bush Whacking” just for us too.
Bushwhacking is basically hiking off-trail. In this case walking through thick, thorny forest where the ground under our feet was decomposing forest floor which often gave way
Although slow-going and we all ended up rather scratched, it was a great experience and very authentic. I just can’t imagine the first explorers doing this for months on end.
All the walks were very informative, showing us different plants and insects while we walked, as well as tracks and signs of previous bear activity.
Kayaking the Inlet
We don’t get many opportunities to kayak. The inlet was a great experience on a misty early morning with really calm waters, birds flitting about and so much peace. Join us:
Grizzly Bears from the water
Everything at the lodge starts on the water as all activities involve a boat trip to their starting points. We also enjoyed a boat trip along the inlet to a waterfall and a few beautiful and peaceful trips into the narrow waterways of the inlet. We had a few Grizzly bear spots from the boat, including a mother with 2 cubs. Mostly we enjoyed the peace and tranquility of being out on the water.
The Bear Necessities - What did we learn?
The most important aspect about the lodge is that the bears welfare is paramount, and so there are numerous safety rules in place to ensure the safety of the bears and the guests. Most bear issues are as a result of humans being associated with food.
- When you walk in bear country you need to make a noise to ensure bears know you are coming. Most attacks in the wild are bears that are startled, (the bear-bells that people wear are not loud enough and a local told me they are only good for your cat to play with). Guides here will shout “Hey bear” or something similar at repeated intervals to announce their presence.
- If you see a bear, make sure they have seen you by holding up your arms and saying Hey Bear loudly in an even voice, but do not shout or act aggressively.
- Never run. I know the impulse will be strong.
- Never turn your back on a bear.
- Never look a bear in the eyes (a sign of aggression).
- Back slowly away (don’t turn that back!)
- If a bear has seen you and is still walking your way, you are probably on the path it wants to take. You do not have to get far off the path for it to just pass you by, enjoy the experience.
- Bears are actually animals of convenience and mostly eat berries and vegetation, they do not want to fight.
- In the unlikely event of an attack, the only option is to fight back. They can run, climb and swim much better than we can!
- Bears can smell 6 times better than a hound dog. So do not carry anything that has a scent, including chewing gum, lip-balms and even sweet wrappers.
- Carry bear spray, and use as a last resort. But they have to get pretty close to be effective (see the below video on how to use. And for all you “know-it-alls”, yes the safety is on, it is only a demonstration).
The last chance for Grizzly Bears..
On the last slot of the last day we had the chance to use the Bridge Stand. This was a platform suspended from a road bridge that was built for the filming of the Disney film “Bears”. We were standing right above the river, really close to the water. We willed a bear to walk under us. It would have been the experience of a life time. However, luck deserted us on this occasion, but hey that’s the thrill of wildlife viewing. You win some, you lose some. And we were lucky enough to see quite a few bears through the week.
I loved my time at the lodge. We were lucky enough to be there for 5 nights and I would recommend a minimum stay of 3 nights if anyone is inspired to visit the Great Bear Forest. Everything worked for me, from the accommodations, the setting, the activities, and the amazing staff running it. I had a permanent smile on my face for 5 days, and if that isn’t a reason to go, then I don’t know what is!!
Love Jackie talking to herself whilst kayaking. And I would be afraid of Clark if I were a bear. :o)