continued...

At first I figured my trip was a bust, but soon decided I would borrow some cash, leave the gun behind and go ahead with the trip anyway. I stopped at the rodeo on my way out of town to see if anyone had turned in my wallet and to my surprise someone had! There was only one problem...it was found in the bottom of an outhouse. Yes, I mean in an outhouse! Disgusting to say the least, but I was happy to get my wallet back with all of my credit cards, ID and licenses still in it! After a good cleaning job and a new wallet, I was on my way.

It's a long haul to Bella Coola, so it was late when I got there. The first thing I saw when I drove into the valley was a sign that said, "Extreme Bear Hazard - No Tents or Soft Shelled Campers". I'm thinking, "Great! I brought my tent!". I slept in my car the first night and then headed up the mountain the next morning.

I drove 25 km up a logging road, loaded my gear on my back and then headed up the trail which was overgrown and extremely steep. I thought I was in good shape before the trip, but realized this was going to be tough! I saw many wolf and grizzly tracks on my way up. The views were amazing and I saw things I had never seen or heard before. Chunks of ice from a glacier across the valley would break off and a thunderous crash could be heard as they crashed down into the river below! It scared me the first time I heard it in the middle of the night!

Planning for a trip like this also involves knowing what you are going to do ahead of time if a bear encounter does happen. It's also a good idea to have a "Plan B" in case your first plan isn't quite feasible. For instance, I planned to haul my food up high into a tree to keep it out of reach of hungry bears. The only problem was the tallest tree in the timberline was only 6 feet. I thought to myself as I was placing it on the top of the tree with my hands that this was not quite going to do the trick! I guess climbing a tree to get up and out of the way of a grizzly would be pointless too.

On my way down the mountain the next day I overexerted myself and became quite fatigued. As I was crossing a small river I lost my balance and fell off an approximately 6 foot waterfall! I submerged my camera and gun and was soaked to the bone, not to mention I really hurt my heel in the process. It was a really long walk back to the car! I was not able to hike with the weight of my pack for the rest of the day so I decided to go into the valley and photograph 19 bears in the river over the next two days. Luckily my camera was waterproof!

Thanks to Park Ranger, Jessie, who told me I should hike "The Rainbows", Friday was a great day. I didn't see any bears on the hike, but it was beautiful nevertheless.

Now this is where things went bad again. I have a satellite transponder that I use to let my family and friends know that I am safe or if I need help. There is also a 911 button in case of emergency. I have had the transponder for two years and have never had a problem, but for some reason on this hike I was worried I would hit the 911 button and well...you can only guess. I got back to the car, took off my pack and decided to transpond to let people know where I was and then noticed it flashing 911! Of course I panic and turn the transponder off which was not the smart thing to do. I could have saved a lot of grief for my friend who got the call from the 911 operator! I then turned the transponder back on which sent another 911 alert which I was unaware of at the time. I didn't actually know how to cancel the 911 call. The only thing I could think to do was to drive and push the 'OK' button a few times so my friends and family could see I was moving and ok. After a while I started to wonder if the police would first look in the spot of the original 911 alert so I decided I should go back to where I thought I had originally pushed the 911 button. Little did I know, but every time I pressed the 'OK' button, the transponder also sent a message to the police so they were looking for me in the last place I transponded from which was approximately 15km away. It took them approximately 2.5 hours to find me.

I owe a very sincere "Thank You" to all the people that were looking for me and I'm very sorry for wasting their time. Now here is the real lesson...it's one thing to have the tools and the basic knowledge to use them in case of an emergency, but you must also know what to do in case of an accidentally pushed 911 button! Just as it is important for people to be able to find you when there is an emergency, they shouldn't have to hike 10km into the bush for no reason!

In closing, this trip was amazing! I saw an incredible amount of wildlife including grizzly bears, black bears, moose and deer. The beauty in that valley is unbelievable! I met some amazing people and can't wait to return to Bella Coola. There's just nothing like being on the top of a mountain with no one else around for miles and miles...just me and Mother Nature...and her beauty can not be put into words.

Brent Veitch

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