Forgive my silence. I have been back in the Canadian wilderness for two and a half weeks and have been overwhelmed.
Over the winter a grizzly bear dug up the septic tank rendering the plumbing unusable, a northern flicker made a nest in the side of the house, and there has been a whole parade of bears making their way through the yard, driving Katya, my dog, to new levels of neurosis.
Every time I sat down to write about my former stomping grounds - to which I returned for several months this year - a new distraction loomed. The water heater stopped working, the truck stopped starting, and at one point one of my less salubrious neighbours drove into the yard and challenged me.
“What are you doing here?’ he asked me fairly rudely. “I have it on good authority that you have sold up. I heard it from two sources. I’ve come to meet the new owners.”
I haven’t sold up and I will be reopening Wild Bear Lodge for guests who want to see grizzly bears come September.
Until the end of 2019 I was a full-time grizzly bear guide with a decade and a half of bush experience under my belt. Each September and October until Covid struck I took guests into the wilds to view bears.
When I am not traipsing through the British Columbia valleys and mountains I will be heading back to Europe and its fractured eastern border, but it may not be for a while yet.
Because some of you generously coughed up for a subscription for this newsletter I am going to put all payments on hold for now. You won’t be charged or watch your subscription run down. The clock will stop ticking until I resume my eastern coverage, sometime later this year.
And when I do head back to the front - perhaps to an active frontline, something I have done little of so far for this newsletter, or an older but still resonant frontline such as those I have been revisiting in Kosovo and Bosnia - you will, of course, be the first to know.
In the meantime if you would like to keep up with my adventures in the bush please head over to Bearly Surviving - my wilderness newsletter - which is occasional but completely free and is now in it 17th year.
It tells the story of a bear-viewing operation in the wilds of British Columbia with all its frustrations, delights and hairy encounters. And if you are completely smitten, there are still some spots available to turn a vicarious experience into a real one later this year. Just drop me a line.
Hi Julius - I have been talking about Grizzly Bear Ranch for years now - I think since I saw the ranch on the Ben Fogal docu-series. It is 100% on my bucket list to visit the GBR and would love to know your costs at present. My advantage/disadvantage is that I live in a small bushveld town in South Africa called Hoedspruit - I live in a wildlife Estate that allows for plains game to roam freely (plus the odd leopard!) but no Ellies, rhino or lion! It is a magical part of the world and my husband thinks I'm crazy to want to fly to the other end of the world to see bears!! I was thinking if you show me yours.... I will show you mine!!! Hahaha.... Jokes aside, I would like to know your current prices, so I can check our horrific rate of exchange and try to plan further! Thanks, Claire
Enjoy your time back in BC Julius. I love reading your thoughts on any subject. 😁