Our last day of hiking in British Columbia was in Fernie, British Columbia. We found quite a few number of trails that connected with each other allowing us to circle the small city of Fernie. Because of recent “bear” activity, we were advised to carry bear spray with us through the forested trails. You can see the holster that holds the bear spray on my chest attached to the chest strap of my day backpack in this photo. Of course, we didn’t meet up with any bears and that suited us just fine.
We have encountered bears before here in Canada, usually as we pass them in our car. We did meet one on a golf course a few years ago in Golden, B.C. The bear was by the green and I had enough time to take a few photos while waiting for him to move on so that we could hit our final shots to the green and putt out. Yes, we did keep on golfing as we knew that the bear was not interested in us, other than in putting distance between him and us.
Hiking in the forests and prairies of Canada is an adventure as the opportunity to meet up with wild animals is always there. Needless to say, it pays to be alert and to be prepared. When hiking in bear country, bear spray is a necessity. It is also a good idea to wear bells that alert the bears to your presence (no, we didn’t have them on us – they were hidden somewhere in our garage at home) resulting in less chance of actually meeting a bear on the paths and trails. As part of my preparation is taking along a camera and walking quietly so as to see what there is to be seen rather than scaring them off with excess noise.