Khutzeymateen Redux

Khutzeymateen Redux

Trip Catalog

Well, one visit was not enough and June 2005 had us back in the northern reaches of British Columbia to experience the Khutzeymateen grizzly bears once again. We planned this year to be on the very last trip so we would have a better chance to see mothers with cubs. Read on to see if we were successful.

The journey started the same as last year staying at the Eagle Bluff Inn right on the harbor while falling asleep to the gentle lapping of the tide. We were up at the crack of dawn, being fed a wonderful home-cooked meal by our host Mary and then off in a taxi to the airplane harbor. Last year we had a real treat flying via Inland Air Charters on a DeHavilland Otter that had been retrofitted with a turbo-prop. However, this year as there were to be 10 guests, we had to use 2 DeHavilland Beavers to shuttle all our bodies and equipment over to the Khutzeymateen valley. And as last year they did a wonderful and safe job of getting us there.

The flight in builds your anticipation as you skim over several ridges and a fiord before gently landing on the smooth waters of the Khutzeymateen valley. Once there it becomes an orchestrated dance to move the inbound group off the float plane and reload the outgoing group. It is now time to settle in and get down to serious bear watching as our guide Tom wastes no time in getting started.


Our Taxi	Betsey Ready	Fiord View	Turn on Final	Transfer Time	Ketch n Plane

Now that we are here it is time to explore. We jump into the zodiac with our camera and rain gear and are off to see the magic bears of the Khutzeymateen.