Bear 1 on Vancouver Island
I am still dozing in the tent when I hear N shouting. We camp in a little cove out of the wind, with the kayaks on the next beach over. That’s where I hear the shouting from. I open the tent but my view is mostly blocked by the tarp hovering above the tent. It has been pouring rain yesterday and the tent hasn’t lived up to its standards. Everything is damp, wet and puddles of water have formed in the corners. We have spent most of the day yesterday in the tent, reading, cooking and eating.
The field of view I have now just leaves me a peek to the forest. Its still raining and foggy. Out of the fog a black shadow materialize 5 meters away from me. Bear!!! I yell and clap in my hands. The bear jumps surprised backwards then takes a better look before turning around and slowly disappears again into the fog. It all happens to quickly to be scared. An hour later we see the bear again, strolling along the river banks 25 meters away, looking for fresh salmon.
Bear 2 in Kamloops
I wake up by a cow walking pass the tent. I can hear it moving over to the lake and hear it drinking. But why do I hear plastic and metal being tossed around? Oh damm, I was so lazy that I put water in the dirty dished, but didn’t put them away. The cow is not at the lake but in our stuff. I yell and clap in my hands. Nothing happens. I take the light and shine it towards the picnic table about 7 meters away. A bear is standing on top of the table, drinking out of my pot. I quickly move back into the tent and mumble something about cows and bears. N only hears the cow part and takes a look for himself. Jesus, it’s a bear….I know…. The tent is uncomfortable close to the picnic table and we have no bear spray or anything else to defense ourselves with. I am getting scared now.
N grew up in Canada and has seen many bears while walking salmon streams. He has done courses on bear behavior, knows how to use bear spray or shoot a gun. It doesn’t even occur to him that I am scared. Not wanting to teach the bear more bad habits then I have done so far, N yells. The bear looks up and then continues his drinking. If it was up to N, we would just go back to sleep. If it was up to me, we would….I have no clue what…back to sleep for sure not. My heart rate is high, my body is shaking, I am real scared now…bears…not so my thing. It takes another 10 minutes before the bear is done drinking, jumps of the table and walks away. Can we sleep for the rest of the night in Oto?
Bear 3 in Lee Creek
N yells to the raccoon sniffing our shoes just outside of the tent, 10 cm away from my head. I wake up and hear a creature clawing up a tree. N explains me the situation: There is a bear in the tree just above our tent. No raccoon, bear? What!!! We can hear the bear above us, but the tarp spread above our inner tent is blocking our view. What do we know about that tree? We have used it to set up the tarp. Its standing only 20 cm away from the entrance of the tent. Does it have good branches for a bear, or will the bear come down real quickly? Will the bear just fall on top of us? Will it use the tarp as a slide down to the ground?
I look at N and the only thing he says:”This is fucked up”. Now I know the situation is more serious then we had so far and I try to keep my nerves down and listen very well. N knows me enough now and explains clear what we are going to do. We can not stay in the tent. One way or the other, the bear has to come within 20cm from us to come down. 
Our only option is to move out of the tent. Can I do that? I have no choice, yes. Are you ready? Yes. He looks me into the eyes. Are you ready for sure? Yes. N yells and with bear spray in one hand, and my hand in the other, he crawls out of the tent. The bear is 10 meters up in the sturdy tree looking at us. Close together we move slowly to the cars. When there is one bear, there might be more. Oto is full of stuff and we get into Ns car. Safe. With a couple more trips back to the tent while yelling at the bear, N gets all our stuff. Me, me is in the car…
When we wake up the next morning, the bear is still in the tree. It has fallen asleep draped over some branches. While N is making coffee and breakfast, the bear wakes up and looks down on us. Well, I am still in the car….After an hour the bear chooses its moment, and slowly from branch to branch comes down the tree. At the bottom it jumps down and runs away, more scared of us, then we of him…well then N of him…not so sure about me…
I am pretty done with bears and camping near Salmon streams. Thank you Oto for the following nights. What about a cabin? Thank you N for keeping me safe. Love you.Iris (Lee Creek, 49682 miles)
