We arrived in the late afternoon and exited the ferry to encounter Bella Coola, British Columbia.  There is no "Terminal", as such, just a ramp, which is a mile or so out of the "Town". The weather was poor again when we arrived so I don't think we saw the town at it's best. It just left you with an impression that the best thing to do was to keep on driving....which we did!. 

We drove a short distance to Hagensborg, where we found the "Rip Rap" camp.

Nice and open, surrounded by mountains, with grass underfoot, nice clean buildings for laundry, games and reading etc, along with communal fire pits, and a very clean toilet and shower.                               An added bonus was a log built, open viewing platform, by the side of the Bella Coola river, from which to watch for wildlife. We were not booked in but they made room for us for two nights.

Our main reason for being here to go on a Rafting boat trip looking for Grizzly Bears. Kynoch Adventures, who run the rafting trip, meet just a few hundred yards up the road next to the Bella Coola Mountain Lodge. So we were well placed for meeting there the following day.

Before night fell, we walked to the river platform (two to three minutes walk from the front of the campsite where we were pitched) where the owner said that bears had been seen earlier in the day. We didn't see any bears but a couple of hundred yards away on the stony sides of the river, we could see four bald eagles on the ground. Someone told us that bears had been seen eating fish there earlier and we supposed that the eagles were cleaning up after them. The weather was still very cloudy, and at times drizzly. There were mountains all around us but we couldn't see the tops of the because of the clouds. in fact we couldn't even see very far up them! You would just get tantalising glimpses every now and again.

We met people on the platform and had been told of a place where the Bears can be seen from a public viewing platform about 35 minutes away. We knew that this was where the rafting trip was taking place tomorrow. So tomorrow, we would have a morning of rest and just go down to the platform and wait to see what appeared. 
Eventually, as it went dark, we made our way back to the Camper, had a meal and went to sleep. 

Next morning, I was up early and on the platform before breakfast. The mountains were still clouded over, which was a shame! I had woken Stef and left her with a cup of tea in bed. As I walked up to the platform I was met by an American Red Squirrel who was eating pine nuts from the trees that were next to the platform. He was not frightened and would stay there on the floor almost as you walked over him, up the stairs to the platform!

He gave me something to photograph for a while. There were Bald eagles in roughly the same area as last night. One of them flew past on the river. I missed him on the first pass but a few minutes later he came back downstream and flew right over the top of me. Managed a few shots but once again, high ISO's.

Shortly after, I spotted something on the opposite bank....A bear!.... too far away to see if he was a grizzly or a black bear. I watched him for a few minutes more until I was sure he was heading his way up the river towards the platform. Then I scooted back to the camper, just as Stef appeared from it!  Great timing. I grabbed this shot of a Canadian Robin on the way back!

We headed back to the platform but the bear was nowhere to be seen.  We stayed there for three hours or so, being entertained again by the antics of the red squirrel, who would sit next to the trunk of the pine tree and then dash to the end of the branch and dangle upside down, as he bit through the ends of the leaves which held the pine nuts and then shoot off back to the tree trunk to eat! All of this took about three seconds.... incredibly hard to photograph because of its speed and because it was half hidden by the pine leaves.  We persisted and were rewarded with some half decent images, considering the available light, the speed of the subject and the fact that he was hidden virtually all of the time.

Eventually though, we had to leave for the Rafting trip. For this trip, we could take no food, wear no deodorants, no drinks were allowed, except water and we also were told to wear muted clothing. We had a little lunch and made our way up to meet at the Kynoch Adventures rendezvous. We deliberately got there 30 minutes early. As we kind of wanted to establish the fact that we were first there. We still thought it was essential that we be at the front of the boat.
Fraser Koroluk, co-founder and our guide for the day drove us the 35 minutes or so to the place where we started our rafting experience on the Atnarko River. Fraser, also a biologist, has been operating these "Bear Adventures" for 17 years and states on their website that "Our goal is to ensure a sustainable experience for visitors, with protection of the natural environment and consideration for the animals and people that call Bella Coola Valley home".   This "goal" was openly apparent during the whole of our trip. At no time did we make any unnecessary advances toward the bears in order to improve our experience. Whenever we saw a bear, we stayed put on the water and whatever happened, happened.... then we continued our journey downstream.

We put on our life jackets and boarded the boat. As we did, it quickly became apparent that we had company straight away.

About 50 yards down stream, there was a Sow and three cubs.

Almost immediately, they started to make their way up the bank towards our position. The sow in front and the cubs following behind, camel fashion!

We were in the middle of the stream being held in position by Fraser with the other guide on the other boat doing the same. When they were about twenty yards away, the mother suddenly turned away from the river and entered the trees that lined the bank. At the back of the trees, there was an access road that we had used to get to the river. They never appeared on the road, and even though we had binoculars we could see nothing in the trees. Fraser said that this was a place where they could get their heads down after eating and have a good sleep for a while.

Before, we moved on. I noticed that a First Nation Ranger who was keeping an eye on us, was looking up-stream.

I pointed this out Fraser and with a major bit of "oar-work" he managed to get us "up-river" a little and sure enough there was a Grizzly in the water, up stream. He told us that it was the biggest bear for miles around (that he had christened "Bent Ear" 17 years ago) - but he also suddenly disappeared a few seconds later.  Stef managed this long distance shot of him (approx 900mm). He looks a "big fella" even from this distance

He told us that, a few weeks ago, they had come across him in the middle of the river, in a narrow stretch, and he never moved. They were there in the boat for nearly a couple of hours before he moved off and let them pass. He just wouldn't get out of the way.

Now it seemed that we couldn't keep the bears in sight!. They were all disappearing almost as soon as we found them.

We drifted past the public wildlife observation post at Belarko. It was now beginning to pour it down. On the way down river, Fraser made us aware of the importance of the salmon to the environment.... and to the bear.

We saw a few Mergansers and kingfishers on the way down river. Didn't get a shot of the kingfishers though.

We were now around about half way through our "voyage", the second boat (which was now in front) had stopped in the water and was making its way to the side (an indication that they had seen something). They were about a hundred yards in front of us. As we neared them a Grizzly went from the trees on the left bank, over the stoney beach and grabbed a fish. Turning quickly, it made its way back to the trees and shrubs and disappeared. Stef and myself only managed a few distant shots of it. 

When we caught up to the other boat, the other guide told Fraser that the same thing had happened on the right bank just in front of them. The only problem was that they were looking at the right bank trying to see the other bear, as the bear on the left bank ran out to the shore and back. So they didn't really get a good look at that one either! Fraser said that it was a bit unusual for the bears to exhibit this kind of behaviour and that they are normally a bit more laid back than that.

We carried on downriver, overtaking the other boat again, pulling in shortly afterwards for a bit of "Granola Bar", or "flapjack" or something like that and tea. We saw very little wildlife for the rest of the trip, and the lighting was poor, as it was still throwing it down. The weather was awful but the scenery was still stunning.

We did drift very slowly past a Bald Eagle that was perched in a tree, the guide was slowing our passage so we managed some shots before moving too far away.

As we approached the penultimate bend. Fraser was saying that he was disappointed for the lack of "good" contact with the Grizzlies, although we had seen 5 bears and the other boat had seen 6. He did go on to say that there was still one more bend in the river and that it wasn't over til it was over! We weren't really convince but had to admit that we had seen half a dozen bears, even if they hadn't wanted to stay around.

We were now coming to the lower observation site at Fisheries Pool, where we were to finish our rafting trip.  Here, the river sweeps around in a large left hand bend and, as we approach, we can see that the current has deposited many tree trunks and branches in the slack water on the outside of the bend. It must have also deposited some dead salmon too, as there was a Grizzly walking upstream on the right hand bank.

Fraser stopped us in the water on just off the river bank on the right hand side, near to where the trees and branches had accumulated. The bear was walking upstream towards us and with any luck he might come closer. After about 10 yards, it stopped and took a fish from the waters edge.

Although it was a good fifty or sixty yards away and the light was far from great, (although it had almost stopped raining) we had quite a good view and started taking pictures. Being at the front was a massive boost to us, if we had been in the second or third seats, we would have struggled to get good shots. We had the front seats and I was thankful that we had had the foresight to get to them in the first place! 

He took the fish out of the water and ate it right there! right in front of us!  Unfortunately, he turned his back as soon as he had the fish in his mouth!.... we couldn't see a thing except his backside! Wasn't anything going to go right for us today! After a few of minutes, he turned round and, as he turned, he stopped, dropped the fish and turned to look downstream, raised his head in the air and bellowed.

Fraser told us that he thought that there was another bear on the other side of the river. We couldn't see because of the rise of the river bank. However, within a couple of minutes, another Grizzly appeared in the water on the left of the river. At this time, he was about 30 or 40 yards away.

He found a bit of fish and was sat down in the water half-heartedly picking at it.

After a few minutes, he started to walk through the water towards us. Heart beating faster, because he was still coming towards us!, we continued to take some shots.
He left the water and started to walk up the side of the river. He was now almost behind the boat about 20 yards away. Fraser, in his waders, was still in the water holding the raft steady.
The Grizzly turned and walked back down the bank for a few steps and then entered the water and started swimming parallel to the boat, across the river, towards the right hand bank, where all the trees and branches were banked up on the water. He was now about 15 to 20 yards away.

He entered the area which was strewn with trunks and branches and began to search around. Then, he stopped, no more than 15 yards away, took a fish from the water.... and promptly turned around to eat it! Once more, nothing that we could photograph, other than the bear's back as he ate the fish. What do we have to do to get an image of the bears eating salmon?.... the answer is to wait a while!  

A few minutes later, the bear dropped the fish and turned toward us searching....
and searching....                                                                     

and searching....

Until he came within 8 yards or so and took up a fish. Then, instead of turning around, he just sat down, facing the cameras and proceeded to rip into the salmon!  

He just sat there whilst he ate the fish, idly looking around, not bothered at all by two boat loads of people watching him! 
 After he finished the first fish, he found another and started to tear it apart!

He was now sat in the water five or six metres away, right in front of the boat!.... Incredible! That an animal of this stature would feel so at ease as to sit there, so close, and just be! Outstanding!

We watched and photographed for what seemed an eternity, but more likely no more than four or five minutes. Then after he had fed himself enough salmon, he washed his face, had a drink and then he stood in the water and walked along the trunks and branches, to get to the bank.

When he was on the bank, he walked past the two boats. As he walked past, he just tilted his head, as if in acknowledgement, looked us in the eye and carried on, upstream. 

Wow, what an experience. This magnificent beast had passed the boats less than 5 metres away and had just accepted that we her there! No threat, no worries, just normal bear behaviour. He carried on past us up the river. He stopped again, after twenty yards or so, looking backwards the rafts, then he turned, and carried on up the river!

All of the people in the boat had really silly grins on their faces.... ourselves included probably! The Grizzly could, at any time have launched at us, and I dare say that it had crossed everyone's mind. Fraser and the other guide had had bear Spray on them. I asked if he had had it ready to use at any time. He shook his head and said, no!  

He explained that we had been stationary in the water the whole time the bear had been around. He had moved from coming into sight around the bend about 40 yards away, to being within 5 or 6 metres from us in the boat. He also said that he had been doing this for 17 years and knew from the bears behaviour that it wasn't a problem.  

We carried on downstream for about 50 metres until we passed the observation post at Fishermans Pool, then we pulled over to the side and proceeded to disembark. At this time, I took Fraser's hand, and shook it! What an experience!  As he had said, the last corner of the river had given us the experience of a lifetime! 

We all clambered out of the boat, and in a bit of a fugue. We got back into the Mini bus and before we knew it, we were back at the meeting place.... all slightly stunned by the experience we had just had. The image of the Grizzly as he walked past the boats looking into our eyes will stay with me forever.

We sat in the camper and thought that we had to celebrate the experience we had just had. So we went into the Bella Coola Mountain Lodge a few yards away, and booked a celebratory meal.  We then drove the 400 yards or so back to the Rip Rap Camp.

Walking back up the road to the lodge where we had booked our meal was a little worrisome. The night before, a black bear had been seen climbing the trees at the side of the road for berries! So, as we walked, Stef kept speaking VERY LOUDLY, so as to put off any stray bears!

As a celebration of the day, the meal did not let us down. Lamb Shanks!  Very nice. On the way back home, Stef talked even louder!

A good nights sleep was ahead of us. I/we had a 388 km drive to Chilcoton Lodge for our next nights stay. From now on, we had no wildlife trips booked. What we saw on the road from now on is what we got. There was no "extra's".

The internet was strewn with reports of bears and elk and moose, all seen by the road.... all the way from Bella Coola to Banff.... was it really that good for wildlife sightings?.... 

We'll see what happens in Part 4.