Day 9 - Khutze to Bishop Bay Hot Springs

"Kermode Bear"

This day goes down as a milestone in these few years I have spent on this earth. This was my day so I will proceed to hog this part of blog! Sometimes, it just has to be all about me. The day started out quite nice, peek of sunshine and a decent departure time of 7:00 am. After loading the dinghy back on the boat we head back out to continue north. As we head out of Khutze Inlet back onto Graham Reach -- I asked Mike to hug the shoreline on the Princess Royal Island side. For those that have been following this blog, you will remember that I have been on a quest for about 8 years to see the Kermode Bear. I had even toyed with the idea of hiring a guide out of Hartley Bay this year to take me on an excursion onto Princess Royal to find this beautiful bear. I have quite the collection of “Spirit Bear” paraphernalia given to me over the years because of my desire to see this bear.- Stuffed animal Spirit Bears, Crystal Spirit Bears, Bateman print Spirit Bears, photographs I have purchased etc. and a whole lot of books on this unique bear. I have spent many an hour with binoculars attached to my face, scouring the shoreline around Princess Royal looking for this bear. I have run into fisherman that have seen them, people that have hired guides on Princess Royal, Klemtu natives that have stories of this bear – Mike knows how determined I have been in searching this bear out. So my request to hug the Princess Royal shoreline while continuing our cruise north,was not an unusual request for Mike. About a mile down the channel, Mike tells me he has to do some minor repair to the dinghy on the back deck, so could I please drive and bear watch at the same time. At the same time, David comes on the radio and asks what I am doing – “Bear Watching?” -- I grouse “yes” and continue scanning the shoreline while at the same time keeping an eye on the water for logs and debris and making sure we don’t wander too far over to the shoreline!
White Rocks, bleached tree stumps keep my heart aflutter that maybe I was seeing the bear. Nothing for about half hour. Then all of sudden, one of those bleached tree stumps moved…….its the elusive Kermode bear “Spirit Bear”. I get so excited I yell at Mike at a scream pitch (He’s still outside on the back deck) – “Oh my God” – instead of being the good mariner that I have been taught to be, I leave the helm – in gear - and proceed running onto the deck with camera in hand. Mike comes running onto the bridge thinking that perhaps we were about to hit a reef…..good thing he didn’t have a heart attack --- I would have had a real dilemma on my hands! I grabbed my camera, ran to the front of the boat and started to take photos. Some are blurry, but no matter --- one of the items on my bucket list had been fulfilled! We eventually get on the radio and let the others know about this fantastic find on the shore and we all take turns with camera in hand.
We eventually make our way up to the Hot Springs, but they hold no appeal for me – I am glued to my computer looking at Kermode Bear photographs!
New boardwalk and a face lift to the hot springs greet us at Bishop Bay. It looks like there was a lightening strike and small fire that may have taken out the boardwalk at some point since we were last here. The big cinder block wall that used to be around the hot springs is gone, so now the hot springs should be called “Luke Warm” springs. Crab feast at Ladner Lass tonight with the catch of the day from Khutze. At Bishop Bay, a pair of fish boats come in with brothers on board. Turns out that they were behind us coming up Graham Reach and they also saw the bear, but got a bonus as they had 2 Kermode Bears come out for a showing! What a day!