There are a lot of great things about traveling by sailboat in the northwest – fantastic scenery, diverse wildlife, and often plenty of wind. One of the drawbacks is that it can be hard to get off the boat.
Anchored on the far side of Hunter Cove
Since there’s so much rain, most of the land on the coast is rain forest. This means that any trail that’s not regularly used quickly gets reclaimed by the forest. Given the population here, not many trails are regularly used; so, it’s rare to find a spot with an opportunity to walk in the woods.
That leaves the beaches for walking, and the beach in our anchorage in Hunter Cove was a perfect candidate – a two mile long semi-circle of cobble and gravel backed by snow-capped mountains. Before dinner, Angie and Mike agreed that they’d spend the next morning walking from one end of the beach to the other.
After dinner, Angie spotted a huge brown bear ambling down to the water at low tide to look for food. He sported an enormous head and outsized paws with claws that were visible from an alarming distance away. The only part of the bear that wasn’t huge was his midsection – he looked like he was still waiting for the salmon to start running so that he could fatten up for the winter. In short, he looked like a very, very hungry grizzly bear.
Practicing with the bear spray
The next morning, Angie and Mike hopped in the dinghy, ready for the long-waited walk. Two minutes of walking on the beach found them both craning their necks toward the head-high grass next to the river where the bear was looking for food the previous night. “Well, I think we’ve walked far enough”, said Mike. “Sure was nice to stretch our legs”, replied Angie as they high-tailed it back to the dinghy. Sorry bear, no buffet breakfast for you this day….
