British Columbia

October 2022: British Columbia

VANCOUVER

Vancouver BC is a beautiful city, but extremely congested. The most diverse we have ever experienced. We met people from all over the world. We also met some Canadians who had relocated for the Vancouver weather, which is far milder than eastern cities. Housing costs have escalated dramatically and most working people are in surrounding towns such as Richmond, Surrey, Burnaby and others.

Gastown

 

Stanley Park. One of the two horses that hauled our tram. The driver, from Germany, went to great lengths to explain how well-treated the horses are, their vacation schedules, work rotations, etc. They are draft horses and stocky, unlike the thin hanson cab horses in Manhattan.

Stanley Park. This park is an urban oasis teeming with skaters, bikers, hikers while we were there.

Another Stanley Park visitor. His name is Myles.

Stanley Park

Gastown

Gastown

This fellow was hanging out at Stanley's Bar and Grill in Stanley Park. So were we.

GREAT BEAR RAINFOREST 

TWEEDSMUIR PROVINCIAL PARK

BELLA COOLA RIVER VALLEY

Trophy hunting was prohibited five years ago.

Many grizzlies gather on the Atnarko River near Tweedsmuir Lodge, where we stayed for 5 days. They have learned it is a safe area for them. They come onto the property from time to time. When we arrived we received an introductory bear etiquette lesson from Ellie Lamb, that included instructions not to make eye contact and to walk away, sideways.  She says there has never been a problem: the bears are respectful of you if you are respectful of them. Ellie is both a bear tracker and a search-and-rescue dog trainer with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. 

The staff is familiar with the bear in these photos. Her name is Cocoa. She is 18 years old and has yearling cubs with her. The cubs remained on the bank when she fished but they were always close by.

This is the big attraction. There are several different salmon runs at different times in the fall - chum, chinook, pink, coho, sockeye. Bears fatten up on them. When the weather cools and the fish die after spawning, the grizzlies and black bears climb to alpine latitudes to hibernate. The two bear species tend to avoid one another.

Circle of life

Merlin

Seagulls gather near bear catches to feast on scraps.

Bears are not the only species that enjoy salmon

 

Merganser

Merganser

Juvenile bald eagle with his catch. My niece Lisa, who is an eagle expert, says this guy is about 3 years old. His head feathers will become whiter as he matures.

"Pika Town" on the Cariboo Trail. The area is littered with rocks and boulders from landslides. Pikas make their homes in the crevices. Pikas are not rodents. They are the smallest species of lagomorph (rabbit).  

Paper birch

Mount Stupendous and the Bella Coola River Valley. The Chilcotin Plateau above is home to several indigenous tribes who have been in the area for thousands of years. The first non-indigenous settlers were Norwegians, who arrived in the 1800s. There are ancient petroglyphs on indigenous lands but we could not see them because the Nuxalk had closed their land to tourists by the time we arrived. 

 Good eating.

Beefing up on seeds as hibernation time approaches

Jody in front of a cedar in the temperate old growth forest. These cedars are thousands of years old. The bark is very thick and can withstand fire, allowing the tree to survive. You can still rub off soot and charcoal from their bark, deposited by fires that came through the area centuries ago.

Debbie and another cedar

Guide Khrysta spied this little guy on the Walker Trail.   

Ghostberries. Poisonous.

Tweedsmuir Lodge's resident cat.

When salmon seasons begins, eagles begin fishing in the Bella Coola River. When fish there become sparse, they gravitate to the Atnarko. We saw dozens of eagles scoping out the river.