two days of land-based bear viewing on
Gribbell Island. Here we were led by the
Gitga’ata People whose home is in nearby
Hartley Bay. I returned to the GBRF in late
summer 2017, staying at Spirit Bear Lodge
in Klemtu on Swindle Island, home to the
Kitasoo/Xai’xais People. As an amateur
photographer, I had two amazing trips.
Remember, to see a spirit bear, you are
on foot in an area about the same size as
Vancouver Island hoping to see one of per-
haps only 200 or so animals. What are the
chances? On my two trips to the GBRF, I
was lucky enough to catch glimpses of four
different spirit bears. Two were only for a
few brief seconds—not even long enough
for a single photograph. But in 2016, I had
one in my camera lens on Gribbell Island
for almost three hours and in 2017 anoth-
er one on Princess Royal Island for more
than an hour. How lucky is that? It’s hard
to put into words my feelings at that very
first moment when a spirit bear appeared
in front of me. We were at a bear viewing
station on Gribbell Island. We knew it was
there. Our Gitga’ata guides were track-
ing its movement as it headed upstream
toward us. Some 20 photographers from
two cruise-based adventure trips lined the
stream edge, cameras ready.
Suddenly, it appeared, several hundred
yards downstream from us, a spirit-like
white figure against the green forest back-
ground. Our already quiet group stopped
talking. The silence was broken only by
the sound of gurgling water and the
now-constant sound of clicking cameras.
For the next three hours or so, the spiritTop from left:
A kermode bear
at Riordan River on
Gribbell Island; a
spirit bear at Steep
Creek on Princess
Royal Island.11