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Metro
28-05-2025
- Metro
In a Canadian region tourists often miss, I went in search of grizzly bears
A wild grizzly bear stands 40 metres away as I crouch behind a fallen tree, watching it chow down on some grass. Am I to be the next course? Or merely a Brit abroad, irritating this magnificent animal as it tries to concentrate on a post-hibernation meal? I'm in the heart of the Great Bear Rainforest, deep in the wilderness of British Columbia. As the name suggests, bears take up residence in the shadows of Canada's mountains and live off the dark waters of the estuary. And I'm here to find one. It's one of Canada's lesser-visited destinations, with none of Quebec's culture or Toronto's culinary wow factor. But there's more to Northern British Columbia than bear spotting; the area is steeped in a bloody colonial history I imagine few in the UK are aware of. Fuel your wanderlust with our curated newsletter of travel deals, guides and inspiration. Sign up here. Plus, with snowcapped mountains, chocolate box towns and the city of Vancouver a one-hour flight away, the region has plenty for every taste — but bear spotting takes the ticket. In my mind's eye, I see myself befriending a beast, a modern-day Tarzan in hiking boots and a red puffer jacket. But despite their prevalence in the area, it's a battle simply finding one to get close to. We have just spent two hours on a jet boat battling wind and rain to reach an estuary to try and spot a glimpse of wildlife. As we near our target location, the mountains rise around us, framing the landscape, the icy spray whipping us as we venture further into the wilderness. Signs that bears are close are becoming more apparent. 'You know you are getting closer when you see grass chopped squarely at the ends,' our guide Rob Bryce explains. 'They've been eating it after coming out of hibernation.' Speaking in a soft Canadian drawl, his tone conveys years of experience — over time, he has become one with the landscape he has dedicated his life to. Rob's company, Northern BC Jet Boat Tours, prides itself on taking both tourists and city-dwelling Canadians off the beaten path to discover the overlooked treasures this region has to offer. He assures me he has never once failed to find a bear in these parts. The anticipation of seeing one in the wild grows the longer we are on the road, but we're warned to be wary. I recall the story of Timothy Treadwell – known as 'Grizzly Man' – who insisted he could live alongside bears in Alaska. To no one's surprise, he was killed and eaten, alongside his girlfriend. Their deaths were only discovered after a gruesome audio recording was found inside a camera left at the scene, with park rangers forced to listen to the cries of the couple as they were mauled to death. But the chances of us being attacked are, thankfully, slim. Bears who are fresh out of hibernation eat only grass for the first six weeks to rebuild their strength before they can hunt. Nevertheless, I make a note of where the bear spray is stored and mentally map a crude exit strategy. Hours into our expedition, the boat falls silent as the engine cuts off. Rob, with his eagle eyesight, has spotted a brown lump slowly wandering in the tall grass close to the water. It's strange how the human brain reacts to being examined by a predator. Adrenaline rushes through my body. Eye-to-eye with nature, in my bones I know that I am prey, exposed and staring deep into the soul of the King of the Rainforest. But the bear merely looks up, unfazed by the sight of us, and continues its munching. Soon enough, two more reveal themselves, forming a triangle around our boat. To my delight, they are joined by twin cubs. Seeing the cubs playing in the grass brings a rush of warmth to my heart — and a reminder that we are intruders. On our travels, we also see less fearsome creatures: more bald eagles and sea lions than I can count, and a whale breaching the surface beneath overcast skies. But being stared down by a bear isn't the scariest part of the trip for me. That honour is taken by my experience of flying in a seaplane for the first time. Strapped into the tiniest airborne craft I have ever been on, the rattling doors do nothing to make me feel calmer as we rise from Tyhee Lake, which takes its name from the word 'chief'. As the water below us gets smaller, the view through the window becomes a portrait of magnificent glaciers. My fears melt away, and we soon land at the foot of the 8,000 ft Hawson Range. If you'd rather not fly, the hiking route up the Hudson Bay Mountain up to Crater Lake at the top is also an incredible experience (and the first time I have waded through snow in the month of June). The scenic trail surrounded by ivory peaks and formidable water takes about two hours to complete — just remember to pack insect repellent. While the northern swath of British Columbia remains untouched by mass tourism, our bush pilot, Severine Oosterhof, says she is starting to notice a steady increase in people making the journey. 'We would only really fly hunters out here,' she says. 'But now more tourists and locals are ringing us up asking to see the glaciers, it's great.' For years, more than 200 nations have been governed under the Indian Act, which was put in place following the end of British colonisation in 1871. The British established rule in British Columbia in 1858, and immediately banned the First Nations from following any part of their culture. They lost their language and their lifestyle of communal living; they were forbidden from gathering together — stripping them of their identity. 'To hide gatherings, there would be a guard outside the door who would warn when the colonisers were coming,' our guide Tina tells us at the Nisga'a Museum. 'Everyone would then burst into Christian song when they came in.' She adds: 'It was small acts of rebellion like that which meant our community was able to keep going, even underground.' A trip to the Ksan Historical Village offers a harrowing glimpse into life under these conditions, and the deep connection to nature before colonisation destroyed it. Wooden houses stand facing the river, with totem poles that dwarf the trees, representing the lives and experiences of clan members. But the stories behind these wooden structures will never be revealed to tourists. 'It is deeply disrespectful to tell other people's stories, so much so that under our nation's laws their family members have the right to take my life' master carver Calvin McNeil for the Nisga'a Nation says. More Trending Visiting British Columbia couldn't have come at a better time, as the relationship between state and First Nations begins to change. Perhaps, as indigenous peoples regain their identity, the human connection with nature – and bears – will be rightfully restored. Getting there and around Canada As You Like it has launched a new self-drive Northern British Columbia's Great Wilderness exploring The Great Wilderness of Northern British Columbia. The 15-day itinerary travels from Vancouver to Terrace (via Smithers, Prince George, Mount Robson, Burns Lake, and Stewart) and costs from £2,320pp. This includes return international flights, 14 nights' accommodation, and car rental. Wildlife and Skeena River boat tours are organised separately and available with Northern BC Jet Boat Tours. Hotels and restaurants Despite many of the towns being what city-dwellers would consider to be 'small' — each offered a range of hotels to put your feet up after a long day of bear hunting. In Terrace, the Sandman Hotel was a simple option but offered everything needed for rates around $131. You have your pick of diners including Denny's and local Kathleen's Grill serving classic breakfasts, burgers and of course Poutine for around $20. In Smithers, which is about two hours east, prices are around the same. A night at the Prestige Hudson Bay Lodge costs around $250. Most restaurants in the area are chains seen across Canada, including steak houses where meals cost no more than $40. Brooke Davies was a guest of DestinationBC. This article was originally published on April 27, 2025. Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@ For more stories like this, check our news page. MORE: I thought British holidays were boring, but this underrated island changed my mind MORE: Man 'cooked his Chihuahua puppy to death in oven because it wouldn't stop barking' MORE: King Charles's subtle dig at Donald Trump over threat to annex Canada
Times
03-05-2025
- Times
My bear-spotting adventure in Canada's version of the Amazon
'Grizzly, 11 o'clock,' whispers Rob Bryce of Northern BC Jet Boat Tours, handing me some camo-print binoculars. 'Near the trees, hunkered down in the sedge. He's well camouflaged but you can just about see his hump.' I scan the treeline. At first I can't see anything much, just cedars, sedge grass, rivulets of water creeping in on the incoming tide. But then, like a magic eye picture resolving into focus, I spot him: two tufted ears, the classic hump, the distinctive, dish-shaped face. An adult grizzly — staring straight at me. Judging by his light coat and patchy hindquarters, this one's recently out of hibernation, Bryce thinks. He steers the boat closer in to shore, deploying a nifty, near-silent electric outboard to avoid spooking the bear. 'They come down to eat the sedge,' he says. 'The salmon run hasn't started yet and it's a while till berry season. It takes a lot of grass to fill the belly of a full-grown grizzly.' There's movement to the left: a second bear, eyeing us from the riverbank, sedge drooping from his jowls like spaghetti. Soon, another lumbers out from the trees. In the next hour we see four more, including a mother and two fuzzy, cinnamon-brown cubs. It's only my first morning in the Great Bear Rainforest but my grizzly count is already seven, not that Bryce is surprised. He reckons bear numbers are on the rise after the provincial hunting ban was introduced by British Columbia in 2017. There may be 50 in the Kemano Valley alone, including a dozen he recognises by sight. After lunch we cruise down the misty Kemano River, passing under thousand-foot-high cliffs wreathed in cloud. It's two hours back to Kitimat but our safari isn't over. We watch bald eagles looping over the treetops, seals basking on the beaches and a juvenile fin whale, which bursts up beside the boat in an explosion of spray before slipping back into the deep. I'm beginning to understand why the Great Bear Rainforest has been called Canada's Amazon. Vast doesn't do the Great Bear justice. Spanning most of British Columbia's north and central coastline, it covers 6.4 million hectares, an area roughly the size of Ireland. It's one of the largest, and oldest, temperate rainforests on earth. Striated by fjords, pocked by uninhabited islands and hatched by deep, steep-sided valleys — many of which are only accessible by boat or seaplane — it's perhaps North America's last truly wild frontier. As I've discovered, it's also a haven for wildlife. Not just grizzlies but sea otters, moose, elks, wolves, lynxes, black bears and, rarest of all, their white-coated cousins, Kermode or spirit bears. The astonishing remoteness of the Great Bear Rainforest means that exploring it has always been difficult, not to mention expensive. There are a few luxury lodges dotted across the backcountry, including the indigenous-owned Knight Inlet Lodge and the celebrated Khutzeymateen Wilderness Lodge, where for a hefty price guests can fly in by floatplane, indulge in private bear-spotting tours and go fishing on the hallowed salmon runs of the Skeena and Fraser Rivers. But thanks to independent operators such as Bryce, this great northern hinterland is gradually opening up to people who lack the privilege of bottomless pockets. Bryce is based in the small mountain town of Terrace, 450 miles northwest of Vancouver, whose tiny airport can be reached in about two hours by air — or a gruelling 15 hours by road. From here the northern reaches of the forest can be explored by boat, on foot or, thrillingly, by floatplane. • Read our full guide to Canada 'There are still lakes where no one's ever landed,' says the pilot Severine Oosterhoff, who's from Switzerland but has been flying planes in northern Canada for a decade. 'Every week I visit places I've never been. That's the fun part of my job, going somewhere really wild.' As we lift off the lake and clear the treeline, a canopy of green unfurls below us, spotted with lakes, threaded by rivers, riven by wooded canyons. Mountains spike the skyline. Out west, the Pacific glints like glass. In every other direction, the forest stretches out to the horizon. If I didn't know better, I could believe it went on for ever. Astonishingly the Great Bear Rainforest has been protected for less than a decade. Large areas have been lost to logging and mining over the past 200 years but an estimated 85 per cent of the old growth still survives. And it is now safeguarded by a landmark 2016 agreement between the BC government and the First Nations who call the forest home. Because for all its wildness, the Great Bear Rainforest is no wilderness. For thousands of years this land has been inhabited by indigenous people, from the coastal Metlakatla, Kitasoo and Gitga'at to the river-dwelling Kitselas, Kitsumkalum and Nisga'a, a patchwork of peoples bound by ties of trade, culture and familial bond but each with their own customs, art, laws and language. For them, every plant, shrub and tree in the forest has a use. Ladyfern and dogwood, spruce needles and lichens, cottonwood and devil's club are variously used to make medicines, teas, poultices, ointments and ceremonial salves. Most useful of all is the western red cedar, used for making everything from canoes, baskets and coffins to ceremonial masks and totem poles. 'We call the cedar the tree of life,' says Calvin McNeil, a carver for the Nisga'a Nation, whose territory lies north of the forest along the Skeena River. 'It's good to carve and resistant to rot so it lasts a long time — perfect for totems.' Each pole tells the story of the person who commissioned it, he explains: family histories, important people, significant events. Traditionally they also marked boundaries between tribal territories. 'You can still find really old ones way out in the forest if you know where to look,' he says, chiselling away at a raven's beak. 'Some are hundreds of years old. The people who made them have passed but the totems are still there. That's what I like about being a carver. My work will live on long after I'm gone.' Ninety miles west of Terrace, near the coast town of Prince Rupert, I hike into the backcountry to see the mighty cedars up close. The trees here are impressive, 100ft high, but they're striplings compared with the great cedars said to grow in the depths of the Great Bear: 300ft high, 15ft across, 1,000 years old or more. Many cedars still bear signs of bark stripping, an indigenous practice in which the tree's pliable outer skin was harvested without harming its inner layers. 'Growing up here, you take the forest for granted,' says the historian and author Blair Mirau as we walk down to Prince Rupert's harbour. 'We moan about the rain, how far we are from everywhere. It's only when you get older and wiser that you understand how precious, how unique this place is.' • 10 of the most beautiful places in Canada (and how to see them) Mirau's day job is helping the local First Nations around Prince Rupert to develop business ideas and initiatives to do with indigenous tourism. He also runs his own guiding company, RIBTide Tours, and he suggests that I should see the forest from the sea, as First Nations people have done for millennia — albeit in cedar-sided canoes rather than his high-speed Rib. We don survival suits, climb in and buzz out into the sound. As usual in the rainforest, it's drizzling. Fog drifts over the shoreline, snaking like smoke through the cedars, firs and pines. Chains of islands flash past. Pyramid-shaped mountains peep through the mist, their tops still frosted by snow. There are rumours of a grizzly scavenging on the beach for clams and crabs, says our pilot, Frank Blanchet. If we're lucky we might see coastal wolves prowling along the shoreline. We putter around for a while but there's no sign of them, so we content ourselves by watching cormorants dipping in the shallows, rhinoceros auklets squabbling on the rocks and fish eagles swooping down from the treeline for breakfast. We pull a crab pot, crawling with Dungeness crab. We stop on a deserted beach and walk along the wooded shoreline, silent apart from the swash of sea on sand. As we scull back into the harbour, a pod of porpoises appears, racing through the boat's wake. Out of nowhere shafts of sunlight break through the cloud and a rainbow arches over the mouth of the bay. 'That's the best thing about living in a rainforest,' Mirau says with a smile. 'Sure, it rains a lot. But that just means more rainbows.'Oliver Berry was a guest of Travel Northern BC ( with tours provided by Northern BC Jetboat Tours ( RIBTide Tours ( and Alpine Lakes Air ( Canada As You Like It has a 14-night Northern BC Great Wilderness Tour starting from £2,320pp, including flights, car hire and accommodation (
Metro
27-04-2025
- Metro
Deep in Canada's wilderness, I got a glimpse into another life
A wild grizzly bear stands 40 metres away as I crouch behind a fallen tree, watching it chow down on some grass. Am I to be the next course? Or merely a Brit abroad, irritating this magnificent animal as it tries to concentrate on a post-hibernation meal? I'm in the heart of the Great Bear Rainforest, deep in the wilderness of British Columbia. As the name suggests, bears take up residence in the shadows of Canada's mountains and live off the dark waters of the estuary. And I'm here to find one. It's one of Canada's lesser-visited destinations, with none of Quebec's culture or Toronto's culinary wow factor. But there's more to Northern British Columbia than bear spotting; the area is steeped in a bloody colonial history I imagine few in the UK are aware of. Fuel your wanderlust with our curated newsletter of travel deals, guides and inspiration. Sign up here. Plus, with snowcapped mountains, chocolate box towns and the city of Vancouver a one-hour flight away, the region has plenty for every taste — but bear spotting takes the ticket. In my mind's eye, I see myself befriending a beast, a modern-day Tarzan in hiking boots and a red puffer jacket. But despite their prevalence in the area, it's a battle simply finding one to get close to. We have just spent two hours on a jet boat battling wind and rain to reach an estuary to try and spot a glimpse of wildlife. As we near our target location, the mountains rise around us, framing the landscape, the icy spray whipping us as we venture further into the wilderness. Signs that bears are close are becoming more apparent. 'You know you are getting closer when you see grass chopped squarely at the ends,' our guide Rob Bryce explains. 'They've been eating it after coming out of hibernation.' Speaking in a soft Canadian drawl, his tone conveys years of experience — over time, he has become one with the landscape he has dedicated his life to. Rob's company, Northern BC Jet Boat Tours, prides itself on taking both tourists and city-dwelling Canadians off the beaten path to discover the overlooked treasures this region has to offer. He assures me he has never once failed to find a bear in these parts. The anticipation of seeing one in the wild grows the longer we are on the road, but we're warned to be wary. I recall the story of Timothy Treadwell – known as 'Grizzly Man' – who insisted he could live alongside bears in Alaska. To no one's surprise, he was killed and eaten, alongside his girlfriend. Their deaths were only discovered after a gruesome audio recording was found inside a camera left at the scene, with park rangers forced to listen to the cries of the couple as they were mauled to death. But the chances of us being attacked are, thankfully, slim. Bears who are fresh out of hibernation eat only grass for the first six weeks to rebuild their strength before they can hunt. Nevertheless, I make a note of where the bear spray is stored and mentally map a crude exit strategy. Hours into our expedition, the boat falls silent as the engine cuts off. Rob, with his eagle eyesight, has spotted a brown lump slowly wandering in the tall grass close to the water. It's strange how the human brain reacts to being examined by a predator. Adrenaline rushes through my body. Eye-to-eye with nature, in my bones I know that I am prey, exposed and staring deep into the soul of the King of the Rainforest. But the bear merely looks up, unfazed by the sight of us, and continues its munching. Soon enough, two more reveal themselves, forming a triangle around our boat. To my delight, they are joined by twin cubs. Seeing the cubs playing in the grass brings a rush of warmth to my heart — and a reminder that we are intruders. On our travels, we also see less fearsome creatures: more bald eagles and sea lions than I can count, and a whale breaching the surface beneath overcast skies. But being stared down by a bear isn't the scariest part of the trip for me. That honour is taken by my experience of flying in a seaplane for the first time. Strapped into the tiniest airborne craft I have ever been on, the rattling doors do nothing to make me feel calmer as we rise from Tyhee Lake, which takes its name from the word 'chief'. As the water below us gets smaller, the view through the window becomes a portrait of magnificent glaciers. My fears melt away, and we soon land at the foot of the 8,000 ft Hawson Range. If you'd rather not fly, the hiking route up the Hudson Bay Mountain up to Crater Lake at the top is also an incredible experience (and the first time I have waded through snow in the month of June). The scenic trail surrounded by ivory peaks and formidable water takes about two hours to complete — just remember to pack insect repellent. While the northern swath of British Columbia remains untouched by mass tourism, our bush pilot, Severine Oosterhof, says she is starting to notice a steady increase in people making the journey. 'We would only really fly hunters out here,' she says. 'But now more tourists and locals are ringing us up asking to see the glaciers, it's great.' Despite many of the towns being what city-dwellers would consider to be 'small' — each offered a range of hotels to put your feet up after a long day of bear hunting. In Terrace, the Sandman Hotel was a simple option but offered everything needed for rates around $131. You have your pick of diners including Denny's and local Kathleen's Grill serving classic breakfasts, burgers and of course Poutine for around $20. In Smithers, which is about two hours east, prices are around the same. A night at the Prestige Hudson Bay Lodge costs around $250. Most restaurants in the area are chains seen across Canada, including steak houses where meals cost no more than $40. For years, more than 200 nations have been governed under the Indian Act, which was put in place following the end of British colonisation in 1871. The British established rule in British Columbia in 1858, and immediately banned the First Nations from following any part of their culture. They lost their language and their lifestyle of communal living; they were forbidden from gathering together — stripping them of their identity. 'To hide gatherings, there would be a guard outside the door who would warn when the colonisers were coming,' our guide Tina tells us at the Nisga'a Museum. 'Everyone would then burst into Christian song when they came in.' She adds: 'It was small acts of rebellion like that which meant our community was able to keep going, even underground.' A trip to the Ksan Historical Village offers a harrowing glimpse into life under these conditions, and the deep connection to nature before colonisation destroyed it. Wooden houses stand facing the river, with totem poles that dwarf the trees, representing the lives and experiences of clan members. But the stories behind these wooden structures will never be revealed to tourists. More Trending 'It is deeply disrespectful to tell other people's stories, so much so that under our nation's laws their family members have the right to take my life' master carver Calvin McNeil for the Nisga'a Nation says. Visiting British Columbia couldn't have come at a better time, as the relationship between state and First Nations begins to change. Perhaps, as indigenous peoples regain their identity, the human connection with nature – and bears – will be rightfully restored. Brooke Davies was a guest of DestinationBC. Canada As You Like it has launched a new self-drive Northern British Columbia's Great Wilderness exploring The Great Wilderness of Northern British Columbia. The 15-day itinerary travels from Vancouver to Terrace (via Smithers, Prince George, Mount Robson, Burns Lake, and Stewart) and costs from £2,320pp. This includes return international flights, 14 nights' accommodation, and car rental. Wildlife and Skeena River boat tours are organised separately and available with Northern BC Jet Boat Tours. Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@ For more stories like this, check our news page. MORE: Several people killed after driver hits crowd at street festival MORE: Terra Luna Resort review — Metro checks in to Universal's new Orlando hotel MORE: I explored Europe's 'most boring city' and found it bursting with life
