Great Bear Rainforest (4 page)

As we came ashore, the skiff crunched over the barnacle-crusted rocks. I stepped from the boat, planted my foot on a slippery rock, and jumped onto the beach. When I landed, my boots sunk ankle deep into the muck. I pulled myself free and walked up a hill onto the grass flats. One by one we all came ashore without incident. The last to disembark, my dad gave the skiff a shove.

The view as we paddled ashore

Drifting away from the shore, Captain Colin watched us with an eerie smirk. I had the feeling he was quietly chuckling under his breath at the thought of our faces when we encountered our first grizzly. I waved and noticed my hand was trembling every so slightly. The captain tipped his hat, grabbed the oars, and paddled away.

Not a word was spoken.

I turned and looked into the dense forest, expecting to see something staring back at me. A cold wind swept down from the mountain. Alu motioned for us to follow close behind and started toward the forest. She is a calm, contemplative girl who, according to legend, has spent many years living among the bears. Now here’s the unbelievable part: She’s only fifteen years old!

Though we were assured Alu is as qualified as any bear guide in the rainforest, I’d feel more comfortable if Dr. Brezner had joined us on this expedition. This morning, however, the captain explained that Dr. Brezner was so busy preparing for the expedition on Princess Royal Island that he wouldn’t have time to partake in our bear viewing. I’m definitely disappointed, but at the moment I have other things to worry about—surviving the day being at the top of the list.

My heart is racing. Adrenaline is pulsing through my veins. My eyes and ears are on heightened alert. Inside this forest lurks some of the most ferocious creatures on earth. And we’re on a mission to find them!

SEPTEMBER 19
MID-MORNING


I’ll be honest, there are times when I question my family’s intelligence. Or should I say, lack thereof. True, I was up for this adventure in the beginning, but that’s before I knew what I was getting myself into.

Bear claw markings in the mud

Now, I know.

I mean, who in their right mind marches unarmed into a cold, mud-soaked rainforest in search of giant grizzly bears? The answer to that question is no one. At least no one with any sense. Now, these people, the kind without sense, they’re called crazy people. So, are we crazy? Well, if I were under oath and being questioned in a court of law, I’d have no choice but to clear my throat and say:

“Yes, your honor. We are crazy.”

I should clarify what I wrote about being “unarmed.” That’s not completely true. We have a gun. A cap gun!

The cap gun is called a bear banger and it looks a lot like the kind of cap gun you can buy at any old toy store, but makes a slightly louder “bang” when you pull the trigger. It’s supposed to scare the bear, causing it to turn and hightail it in the other direction. But, come on. Will a cap gun really scare an 800-pound grizzly? I have serious doubts. And what if the grizzly has a hearing impairment?

It all sounded great when the captain explained bear tracking over the phone, but now that I’m actually doing it … uh, not so much.

Since just after dawn, we’ve been seated on a slimy rock in the middle of a shallow river that stretches about a hundred feet from one side to the other. In the water, a few dozen Coho and Pink salmon thrust themselves upstream to spawn. On one side of the river there is a bear trail that leads to the water’s edge and on the other side of the river, that’s right, another bear trail! So, just to clarify, we’re seated dead smack in the middle of two clearly worn, frequently used bear trails!

Here’s the craziest part: we intentionally picked this spot because it’s here that we have the greatest chance of seeing one of these mighty beasts. Last September, we were told, it was common to see several grizzly bears pass by this very rock in a single day.

And did I mention that it’s cold and raining? Okay, that’s not totally true. It’s cold and pouring. Seriously, it’s like a monsoon out here. The rain hasn’t stopped coming down since we stepped ashore. Nature is leaving no question as to why they call this a rainforest.

On either side of the river, there are a handful of half-eaten salmon carcasses strewn about the rocks. Apparently, bears prefer to feast on salmon eggs, so they typically eat only the midsection of female salmon. Wolves, on the other hand, enjoy the head and brains of the salmon, so headless fish mean one thing—wolves are nearby!

Which leads me to another point. Not only are we potentially in the path of grizzlies, we might very well find ourselves surrounded by a pack of wolves! Wolves are the rainforest’s apex predator, which means that this animal sits at the top of the food chain. Or, in other words, against a pack of wolves, not even the most ferocious grizzly stands a chance. No joke, scientists have actually found adult grizzly claws in wolf scat, which means that a hungry pack of wolves can and will attack, kill, and eat a full-grown grizzly bear.

Come to think of it, this experience is a lot like jumping out of a boat in the middle of the ocean with a bucket of chum and waiting for a school of great white sharks to show up for lunch.

There, I think I’ve made my case. It’s pretty obvious we’re not of sound mind, but over time we’ve gotten a taste for adventure and that makes you do lots of things that most people would consider insane. What can I say, it’s addicting.

SEPTEMBER 19, 11:29 AM
13° CELSIUS, 55° FAHRENHEIT
CLOUDY SKIES, WINDS 5-10 MPH


Waiting for bears to feed in the stream

Bear viewing, to be completely honest, can be pretty darn boring. At least, that’s the case when there aren’t any bears around. There are bugs around, that’s for sure. Whenever the rain lets up, mosquitoes appear in small swarms. Dozens have made their way under the hood of my jacket. I hear them buzzing in my ear and feel them biting my cheeks. We’re constantly swatting them away. Watching my parents is especially entertaining. They look like a couple of klutzy karate students practicing their chops.

The upside to all of this sitting around is that it gives us time to work on our journals. Of course, writing in a rainforest is a bit tricky. I’ve draped a tarp over my head, creating a small area that’s protected when the rain comes so I can write without getting my pages wet. So far, it’s working pretty well.

I always wondered how the great explorers like Ernest Shackleton and Sir Richard Francis Burton or Captain James Cook had the time to take such detailed notes during their epic journeys. But it’s pretty obvious now. Even in the midst of the most thrilling adventures, you spend lots of time waiting. Waiting for a boat or plane, waiting for the weather to clear, or in this case, for a bear to appear. For an explorer, waiting is just part of the job.

Which leads me to the SECOND LAW OF EXPLORATION: Always maintain a healthy curiosity.

When things get boring, curiosity is what drives you forward and right now I’m as anxious as I could be to see a grizzly!

AFTERNOON, PROBABLY


Now, aside from the fact that this excursion is crazy, I have to admit that I do appreciate being here, sitting in the cold drizzle, on this rock among all these humongous trees. This place is beautiful in any light, but when the sun comes out and sends beams of light through the forest’s canopy, it’s just magic—with mist rising up through the trees and raindrops sparkling like gems atop the leaves and the stream shimmering in the bright spots. Even the rocks have come alive, glistening under the sun’s warm glow.

Trees covered in moss are a common sight

The forests of the Great Bear are dense and high and ancient, and I’m not using the term “ancient” loosely. This morning, the captain told us there are trees in this rainforest that are more than 1,500 years old. That means some of these trees around me were already 1,000 years old when Christopher Columbus sailed to America and that’s just totally mind-blowing!

As impressive to me as the forest itself is our bear guide, Alu. When we were told that we’d have a bear guide leading us through the rainforest, I sure as heck didn’t picture someone like Alu. I pictured a big, burly guy with a bushy gray beard, bad teeth, and worse breath. The bear guide I imagined wore faded overalls, a coat made of wolf fur, and had a rope of grizzly claws hanging around his neck.

When Alu walked into the galley last night with Captain Colin, I thought she was a schoolgirl from a nearby village who had come aboard for a visit. Then Captain Colin put his arm on her shoulder and said something that just about knocked me out of my chair.

“I’d like you to meet your bear guide, Alu.”

My mom actually laughed out loud. She thought the captain was joking. I mean, we all did.

“I assure you,” Captain Colin continued, “you’re in good hands. She may be young according to the calendar, but when it comes to wisdom she’s a tribal elder.”

“I am from the Gitga’tt tribe and have grown up in this forest,” Alu said. “Over the years my father and mother taught me how to be one with nature so I am perfectly at ease in the Great Bear. This is my home and I promise you, I know the forest and all of its inhabitants as well as anybody.”

“That’s wonderful,” my mom said and pulled Captain Colin into the hallway to discuss the matter in private and make sure he hadn’t completely lost his mind.

My mother needed to be totally convinced that Alu knew what she was doing and I can’t blame her. I mean, I wasn’t thrilled about a fifteen-year-old leading us into grizzly territory either. I wanted the big, burly, bearded guy I described earlier.

As we stood around waiting for the whole thing to be sorted out, I felt like I needed to say something just to break the awkward silence.

“Nda wila waalu?” I asked Alu.

A beautiful smile came over her face.

“Aam wila waalu,” she said. “Very impressive. It is not often that I can speak Gitga’tt with anyone outside my tribe. How much of our language do you know?”

“Unfortunately, that’s about it. I learned it from a book I found on the boat last night.”

My mom returned to the galley. Whatever Captain Colin had said completely settled her down.