Despite my many years living in Alberta’s wilderness, I would have considered it a rare privilege to actually have encountered a grizzly bear in the wild. Black bears I have encountered many.
Grizzlies, so near, yet invisible
My first meeting up close with a grizzly had been in a wildlife park during our many travels through the United States and most of its national parks. In the Black Hills of South Dakota, on our way to Mt. Rushmore. [ https://www.bearcountryusa.com/ ]
This was in the summer of 1976, the year of America’s Bi-Centennial celebrations. I had just graduated in December of 1975 from Syracuse University, New York State. And taken the time off to travel extensively that summer with my little boy, eight years old, in our old square back VW van – a really old model. I called it our ‘Hobomobile’, as it served also as our home for many weeks. By Fall of that year we went up north into Canada, before the cold set in. Shortly after we arrived in Alberta in 1976, I got myself work. Then from January 1977 until into the 1990s working in Alberta’s oil industry.
Talking about grizzly bears : –
From 1978 on until the year 2002 I mostly lived by myself – after also my son left for the USA in 1990 do do his graduate studies in Alabama – in the Foothills of the Rocky Mountains in Alberta. Surrounded by wild life. Because all those many years I had horses, I also had large pieces of land. Mostly wilderness, treed. After nine years in the Kananaskis country south west of Calgary, during the 1980s, several times with a group of other riders and the horses, we made overnight trips for several days to Two Jack Lake, Lake Minnewanka, Banff National Park area. Because this is so high up, this is also prime Grizzly bear country. For several days we camped out in large Army tents, the entire compound surrounded by electrified barb wire, against bear visits.
[ https://calgaryherald.com/news/local-news/grizzly-bear-ly-misses-hiker-after-charge-forcing-closures-in-banff-national-park ][ https://globalnews.ca/news/4255044/hiker-charged-grizzly-lake-minnewanka-banff/ ]
During those years I also had 160 acres of bare land far outside West of Cochrane, (north up Forestry Trunk Road, north of the (today Ghost River Dam area)). [ https://www.cottageclub.ca/history ]. This was so far out, surrounded by miles of Crown land, that there were no real neighbours. I made very many rides with my horses alone in this wilderness area high up in the Rocky Mountain Foothills, but never once came face to face with a grizzly bear. They are there, they can hear you, they can smell you. I can see traces of them. Besides that rarely would any bear or wolf or any wild animals attack a human, when going out alone in those areas, always make some noise, make yourself heard. This 160 acres by the way was close to the Stoney Indian Reserve. [ http://www.rockymountainnakoda.com/our-lands ]. My most precious book: These Mountains are our Sacred Places. The Story of the Stoney People. 1977. By Chief John Snow, of the Wesley Band.
Back to grizzly bears.
From 1994 until the year 2000 my land with my home and horses on 80 acres was even more remote, north west of Cochrane, Alberta, a wilderness where the nearest little town was Water Valley, Alberta. [ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_Valley,_Alberta ]
Surrounded by hundreds of acres of Crown land. Often during those years I had to visit a saw mill somewhere in the middle of nowhere to pick up my rails for making my horse fences. There were no roads. This could only be done by a heavy 4×4 truck.
One day I drove in to see that guy who operated the mill. On my way in, a couple of guys in a truck came out, white as sheets in their faces. I thought they saw a ghost. They told me that there is a grizzly bear who had taken down a cow and still in there, feeding.
I drove on, passing by some yellow Dept. Forestry tape – WARNING BEAR – then on to the sawmill. No one there. Pretty eerie. Again the bear nearby, but not visible.
That’s as much as goes for grizzly bears. They are there, but cannot be seen. If you run into one unexpected, though, you better be careful !
Since 2002 residing in British Columbia, where Grizzlies and their sub-species – the Pacific Rain Forest white Spirit Bear – can hopefully be seen by sailing up the BC coast north Vancouver Island. Which I did in 2014, stopping various times during the sailing thru the Johnson strait. One of my videos during a storm [ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UIVhEkGRiN8 ] . Grizzlies hunting for salmon – we did not see. [ https://renataveritashistory.com/2014/10/25/adventure-sailing-trip-northern-vancouver-island/ ].
NOTES. Links to earlier articles on grizzly bear hunt.
Los Angeles Adventurer All Suite Hotel Inglewood
Los Angeles Adventurer Hotel – passing through
[ http://www.laadventurerhotel.com/ ]. Address: 4200 W Century Blvd, Inglewood, CA 90304.
In summary, this hotel is at best a backpackers inn, it is awful.
My recent experiences summarized. On my way down south to Mexico I needed to stay overnight in Los Angeles, CA. I had booked this hotel using http://www.booking.com. It is near LAX, L.A. Airport and advertised a number of included FREE services, such as BF, free Airport Shuttle to and from, free popcorn, free glass champagne on arrival, and whatnot. When entering the small messy lobby, there is a list on the wall listing all of these free included services and extras. These are included in the room price.
I have not seen any of this FREE stuff. I arrived late L.A., called shuttle service at this hotel from the airport outside an area which is reserved for shuttle buses from all L.A. hotels. We waited 40 minutes till a large black van arrived at the Airport, to pick me up.
This hotel is noisy, smelly (cannabis smoking), and the reception on my first arrival there was unacceptably rude with another guest, a Chinese man. Yelling and insulting this man, making nasty discriminatory comments on his being Chinese, and threatening to call the police. Just because he had requested another room. His room did not have a workable shower. Was scary this situation. In all my travels, this was a first for me.
I spent a few hours, getup early and got the hotel shuttle alright, to bring me to the airport. On my return back to Canada, I needed again to stay overnight at this same hotel.
Calling the hotel shuttle service from the airport, no response, a different company responded. I took a taxi to the hotel, cost US$25. The room I got was nice, I must say, with a nice clean renovated bathroom. The TV was on, the remote belonged to a different machine, no way to turn this off. So I pulled the plug to shut down this noise.
Got up early again, again no BF.
How they charge beats me. On arrival they take again a credit card for so called incidentals, although my cost for this room is already charged by booking.com on my MasterCard. The incidentals referred to apparently are a number of little bottles inside the rooms, sample liquor bottles, in case a guest actually uses them. I would not touch any of this with a pitch fork. On departure a guest will then be asked if they took any of this. Nobody does. Then the reception make out another receipt with another charge US$35, and on same receipt a refund of -US$35. Checked my MC account online, if in fact all of this has been charged correctly. Between the (incidentals) amount the night before and the refund the night after, there is a difference in US to C$ conversion. For many guests this seems beneficial to this hotel. Credit card charges are to Crown Airport Hotel Inglewood. Check it out: [ https://www.tripadvisor.ca/Hotel_Review-g32525-d77998-Reviews-Crown_Airport_Hotel-Inglewood_California.html ].