Charlie hiking back from Ittleman Bay.




Maureen on north ridge looking over Kambalnoye Basin.




Maureen's favourite gulls who nest on the rock at Gull Lake.

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It is the first sunny day in three weeks so we hotfooted it over to Ittleman Bay to see which bears would be fishing. Seeing that the water level was very high due to the nonstop rain and fog we guessed accurately that the bears were catching few fish. The only sign of feeding was on Cow Parsnip where the leaves and blossoms were stripped off all the plants. Charlie spotted a dead Sockeye floating in the lake not far off shore. We wished Biscuit were nearby so we could point it out to her. Brandy and her cubs, a 100 yards inland, were barely visible in the high growth of lakeshore foliage. We were surprised she hadn't caught the smell of the dead salmon we had earlier spotted as the wind was blowing in her direction.

Soon we saw Biscuit circling the lake. We called her; anxious to show her the fish we knew she would be desperate to find. She came on the run and following where our arms were pointing, swam out to retrieve it. She happily fed at the noisy water's edge as we continued to stroll along the beach. Soon we saw Brandy's ears moving through the tall plants in Biscuit's direction. Suddenly Biscuit realized another bear was stalking her and she spooked. She flew past Charlie in terror while anxiously looking back over her shoulder only to realize that there was no pursuit, although Brandy was eating her fish! Charlie said he dared not move when she flew by as she may have run into him. Her fur touched him in the passing.

She soon stopped and headed up through the Cow Parsnip causing Lemon and Lime to stand and chuff at the noise. Brandy spotted Biscuit was after her. Brandy has chased Biscuit repeatedly over the years with intent to move off not injure and this was no exception. We were quite relaxed watching them cover a mile of tundra and back. This chase had none of the fury of the time Brandy went after the stalking male a few weeks earlier. But it still looked pretty daunting and had Biscuit running full out. Lemon and Lime ran over to us to wait for their mother's return, standing up to get a better view.

Soon Brandy was chasing Biscuit down the beach in my direction. I had my camera out and decided to try for some shots of the two bears running towards me. I was a bit concerned about the wisdom of this maneuver when Charlie yelled at me: "Go for it, I am right beside you". I was assuming with our Counter Assault bear spray out in case anything got out of hand. When 30 feet from me, Biscuit realized she was running towards me with an angry bear on her tail. I saw her eyes widen and instead of running closely by me as she had done earlier with Charlie she jumped off the narrow beach trail into the grasses leading her angry pursuer away from me. I glanced to show my amazement to Charlie who I assumed was nearby. He was a long distance away clearly enjoying watching the chase and pleased I had stood my ground. Later, I thought back to my first excursion hiking with my dogs into the Canadian Rockies recalling how many people told me that was dangerous as dogs can lead an angry bear back to an owner. I still think that is possible. But to have Biscuit reenact this story and divert Brandy from me impressed me of her loyalty to us. I guess it was a bit rash, at least Biscuit thought so, to pursue photos of two bears running in my direction but I know and trust both of them and saw no evidence of any anger directed at me at any time since the chase had started 10 minutes earlier.

- Maureen