Chuck:
We are off to an early start and the miles fly by, the plan is to knock out about 20 miles and meet Betty for lunch. Shortly after lunch I see a biker way ahead of me. Since I am on a road bike with no camping gear, I am slowly closing on this guy. Hey, its Andre’! We bike together for about 15 miles and I ask “Is that another biker on the road in front of us. Moments later Andre’ says “I think it is an animal”. As we bike much closer we can see it is a mama grizzly and her 3 cubs. We stop about 200 feet away, Andre’ grabs his big camera, lays his bike on the pavement and walks ahead for a better photo. I get my bear spray (I did not bring a camera today) and caution Andre’ not to get any closer. In the meantime, a small RV pulls up behind me and the driver gets out with his camera. The four bears are now in and out of low willows. Mama bear raises up on her hind legs and surveys the situation, collects her young’ins and disappears in the brush. Later, we find out they have been spotted in this area many times over the last several months. The cubs are over 3 years old and will soon be sent out on their own. The one male cub actually charged a car a few weeks ago.
We link up with Betty at an RV campground in Destruction Bay. She has already parked the RV and hooked up the utilities. Andre’ comes inside for a cold Pepsi and shows us the video he has taken of the four bears. Wow! After visiting for about an hour, Andre’ decides to put in a couple more hours of biking. Later, Betty and I talk with Leonie, the campground owner, quite a character. He describes himself perfectly “When someone asked for the time, I explain in detail how to make a watch”. He has a deal with some guy who makes nice looking wood tables, somehow we left with one. All is quiet as we look out over Lake Kluane nestled between mountains all around.