Whirlpool River

We saw bears!!!!!

My eyes are sore. They've been straining relentlessly for the last five days to spot wildlife, in particular the elusive bear. And we found him. Or her. On our way back from a delicious dinner in Jasper (I got the meat platter to really spoil my definitely-not-already-spoilt-self), in the dwindling twighlight we saw her. She was deep in the woods and I was so astounded that I'd a) seen a bear and b) seen it at such great distance with such poor eyes, that I screamed some what now seem very inappropriate words at Cat who was driving. Pandemonium ensued as we argued over stopping, reversing, turning around and how best not to get hit by a car or eaten by a bear.

Luck was on our side that day. The black bear was with two tiny and playful cubs! She meandered right up to the roadside, within spitting distance of the car. We could hear her sniffing and grunting and watched the playful cubs jump around, climb trees and annoy each other. It was my Canadian dream come true. Too bad I stuffed up all the photos. We also saw an elk in the drive but who cares about her when you got a black bear! The sighting was also only two km from our campsite which made us a little nervous but we observed the number of tents between her and us and deemed ourselves safe. You don't have to outrun the bear, you only have to outrun the slowest human. In this part of the world where you can order soft drink by the gallon and eat fries for breakfast - I'd back myself. I'm also quite confident the bears would find the aforementioned stereotype tastier than the boney me (or Cat). What an evening!Read more