Category: fauna

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walking Long Beach, British Columbia

One of the great coastal walks of the world is Long Beach on Vancouver Island. I try to get out there at least once every year.

It’s the gorgeous section of Pacific Rim National Park Reserve between Tofino and Ucluelet.

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What do you think?

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larger original – flickr

more amazing photos of this wonderland by Bravewest

My friend, journalist Kate Zimmerman was out last year for the first time en route to the Tofino Food and Wine Festival. Here’s what she wrote:

… It’s the beach, though, that cries out to you. One glimpse of its broad, silken sands, bracketed by rocky outcrops topped with bravely coping conifers, and staying indoors seems ludicrous. We dashed out to glory in the crashing waves and enjoy the driftwood seating so thoughtfully provided by nature. The boys danced in the surf while we shivered just watching them and we all tossed sticks, seaweed and even mussels for leash-free mutts who thought they were in paradise. Another day, at low tide, the small pools at one end of the beach were jeweled with anemones and starfish while crabs scuttled to safety as the dogs splashed about. …

Go West, Young Men, Dogs and Gourmands – Kate of Late

Leave a comment if you have your own fond memories of Long Beach.

There are many great hikes nearby, most famously the West Coast Trail.

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bears disappearing in Europe?

I only recently grasped the fact there are bears in the European Alps.

Now I learn they are disappearing:

bear.pngWhat — or who — is behind the mysterious disappearance of 20-25 Austrian bears? While that number may seem small, it in fact represents four fifths of the bear population that makes its living in the forests of Lower Austria and Styria. The disappearances, which started occurring in the late 90s, have caused sufficient consternation among local residents and environmentalists to lead to an investigation by the Austrian police.

Christoph Waldner of WWF attributes their disappearance to one of three reasons: natural mortality, migration or hunting — which is illegal because of the bears’ endangered status. To Waldner, it seems pretty clear that hunters are to blame for the bears’ disappearance. …

Treehugger

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bears in Europe?

And moose?

Where have I been hiking all my life?

From Laplandica.com:

I followed the incident with my binoculars. The bear was getting closer and closer as they both came downhill and closer to the river bank and brush across from me. As the moose entered into the brush, the bear was right behind her. The brush slowed the moose down giving the bear the advantage of the situation. And, more suddenly than one would expect, I watched the bear jump up from behind onto the moose and, holding hard onto her back loins with his paws and claws, tackled and dragged the moose down into the bushes. Both disappeared.

I saw a lot of rustling in the bushes, but everything went very quickly and soon these stopped moving. For a long time I sat there and waited, watching for any movement, but there was none. As I watched, I realized how swiftly the chase, and then the kill, happened. I was awed with how fast the bear could run and the strength and power he had when pulling the moose down to kill it. And, to have sat there alone and be a witness to the whole event was something I felt almost blessed with. …

Laplandica » Unexpected things can happen in Laponia…

Ah, of course. In the NORTH. That’s real wilderness.

Next, in a flash of Google magic, Philip Bethge’s article appeared on the reintroduction of bears to the Alps:

The brown bear is returning to the mountains of Central Europe, thanks to resettlement projects in Italy, Austria and France. Biologists celebrate the animals’ return as a success in endangered species protection. But the general population has mixed feelings about welcoming back the predator.

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Brown Bears in the Alps: The Great Bear Comeback – SPIEGEL ONLINE

They have a long way to go …

Brown bears were once found throughout Europe and even inhabited the British Isles until the 10th century (Curry Lindahl 1972, Servheen 1990). Populations in Europe have been severely reduced and habitat has been fragmented by human modification.

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GrizzlyBear.org

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new danger in the woods: Electric Bear Fence

Does Rocky Thompson make this stuff up?

(This can’t be for real.)

On his blog:

… Try to remember there’s an electrified fence right outside your tent when you get up in the middle of the night to take a piss. If a can of Bear Spray doesn’t offer the protection you’re looking for, then you might try lugging some fencing and batteries into the backcountry. The Bear Shock outfit weighs 3.7 pounds with batteries, and stretches around a 30 x 30ft area.

The website claims the batteries will last five weeks and blast someone with 6000 volts of electricity if touched. I say “someone” and not “some bear” since it’s much more likely you’ll walk into it than anything else.

Backcountry.com: The Goat » Blog Archive » Portable Electric Bear Fence to Encircle Your Campsite

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more photos – Bear Shock

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rare lynx photographed in Yellowstone

In decades of hiking, I’ve only seen lynx footprints. This might be the closest I ever get.

Fred Paulsen, a Xanterra Parks and Resorts employee, took this photo of a lynx near Beryl Springs in late November in Yellowstone National Park. It’s one of two, or perhaps three, photos of a lynx ever taken in Yellowstone.

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… Colorado Division of Wildlife officials said it’s probably one of the 218 collared lynx from Canada released in southwestern Colorado between 1999 and 2006 as part of a reintroduction program. …

BillingsGazette.com :: Rare lynx photographed in Yellowstone

(via GOAT)

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Alaska Brooks Range Traverse

Alaska wilderness guru Buck Nelson in 2006 made an incredible solo journey. Maximum pack weight was about 43 pounds.

He’s made a 90min documentary of that adventure.

My trip started June 18 at the border of the Yukon Territory and ended September 2nd at the ocean near Kotzebue.

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The final mileage of my trip worked out to be an estimated 1,050 miles. 600 of those miles I covered while backpacking, with about 450 more miles covered on the Noatak River.

I made countless crossings of small streams. The vast majority of these crossings were in very shallow water where I just waded across quickly in my lightweight Goretex lined boots, which usually kept my feet dry. For slightly deeper water, I “bloused” my rain pants tightly around the tops of my boots with rubber bands and crossed the shallowest spots as quickly as possible. This was also quite successful, depending on how deep the water was and how fast I crossed. At other times I just had to get wet and waded rivers thigh deep or more. On the Alatna, I made a raft for the crossing.

I had grizzlies run towards me at least three times. In each case they ran as soon as they smelled me. (Presumably, they thought I was a caribou or moose at first.) I had bears walk into my camp at “night” about three more times. Again, each time they ran when they smelled me. I didn’t lose any sleep due to grizzly bear concerns.

The mosquitoes were thick at times, but my long-sleeved shirt and pants were both mosquito proof, and along with repellant as necessary it wasn’t too bad. A lot of the time when it was breezy or cool there were few or no mosquitos around.

The toughest unexpected part of the trip was perhaps the unusual amount of rain during the summer of 2006. The toughest part of the hike that I’d anticipated was the rough walking along many stretches.

I followed river and creek drainages that ran east-west along the Continental Divide as much as possible.

Alaska Brooks Range Traverse

A video preview featuring many of the animals encountered:

Alone Across Alaska from bucktrack.com on Vimeo.

Alone Across Alaska: 1,000 Miles of Wilderness – (DVD) $24.95

(via American Hiking Society)

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#3 best hiking region in the world is the …

Rockies

Spectacular vistas, frequent wildlife encounters, the best wild flowers we’ve ever seen. Hot springs, quaint mountain towns, perhaps the best long distance hikes on the planet.

There are options to scramble ridges and peaks virtually everywhere.

“You can’t lose in the Rockies.”

… so says frequent contributor Rob Glaser who has hiked here all his life.

rockies.jpgTrails are safe and well managed. The infrastructure excellent. (In fact, it’s hard to imagine there are two regions in the world we rate better.)

The weather and conditions are variable to say the least, but in many parts of the Rockies Aug-Sept are the best months. A very short window! On the other hand, if you ski or board, you’ll never lack for adventure in the Rocky Mountains.

More information on our new Rockies information page.

Our favourite trip in the Canadian Rockies is Sunshine to Assiniboine, our #5 hike in the world.

Anemones and Assiniboine, Alberta, Canada

Our Assiniboine Information page.

Just a short drive away is our favourite trail in the USA Rockies, Glacier North Circle, our #6 hike in the world. One of the best places in the world to see wildlife.

Our North Circle Information page.

Leave a comment if you have your own favourite hike in the Rockies.