My American Cousin and her Canadian Bear Adventure

My cousin, Jane, is a regular contributor to the blog and this week she sent me an email about her and husband Tom’s recent camping and hiking trip to Canada. After reading it, I asked her to expand a little and tell the readers here about her exciting time! You never know what you’ll find in the Canadian woods! lol. Here’s Jane…

On Tuesday Sept 24^th we were camping in our pop- up camper at Agawa Bay Campground inside of Lake Superior Provincial Park. It was our first visit to the park and we were totally excited about the lovely weather and reported wildlife.

The Lake Superior coast line drive on Hwy 17 north of Sault Ste Marie is a treasure beyond words, particularly in the fall. As we followed the coast, colors were still green and barely turning. As we drove inland the loveley ruby reds and yellow created the most perfect of colors. The weather was spectacular – high 60’s (16 C) and calm winds.

I was amazed to see the lovely Lake Superior coast and we marveled at the changing landscape. Beaches to smooth rocks and then sandy beaches. This drive on Hwy 17 is a must do.

The scenery here and photos are majestic, as is the landscape. One minute you are on a sand beach, the next looking at these granite cliffs. Hiking the coastal trail from Montreal River through Lake Superior Provincial Park is a memory of a lifetime.

We arrived on Sunday, settled into the Agawa campground , a rare warm Indian Summer awaited us. Monday we got the lay of the land and info on the best trails.

Tuesday we got our wish, the visitor center allowed hikers to go out to the pictographs and see the 150-400 year old paintings on the granite walls of Lake Superior. The trail had closed the previous day in expectation of the normal fall swells, which can be dangerous.

We had a grand hike to the pictographs and a steep climb out. Huff and puff for me, but not Tom.

Tom shortly returned stating a bear was coming down the launch, hopefully only to take a drink of water. We had a good size beach, as you can see. We backed away from the bear to give him plenty of room. He decided we were VERY interesting so kept on coming. Down the beach and then sniffed around the log where we had snacks. I had given the dog salmon flavored treats; either those or our smell interested him.

The bear sniffed the log and resumed coming at us. As I said to Tom, my husband “That bear has a problem, what is wrong with him?” Two paths were open, one into the woods (not likely) or continuing along the rocks after the beach. I went ahead with the dog and Tom trailed. I began to pull her ahead and ask her to “Please, Please, If you were ever going to be quiet , NOW is the time.” Also a great time for Tom to give the bear our fanny pack, I wished.

That silly bear actually backed us out on the rocks on the shore of Lake Superior. We were out of beach and out of options. Time to throw rocks. Tom started throwing rocks and yelling, first at the wall behind the bear and then at the bear. For the very first time, the bear backed off, then turned away and finally ambled off the beach and into the woods. As he did, I shook from head to toe. Got a pic or two of him leaving (that’s a BIG log).

Thank God …. That bear left the beach. I was shaking head to toe. Tom was asking if I still wanted to canoe (no bears out there). I was shaking pretty good and asked if we could just sit in the van to recover and regroup.

As we came up the launch, we walked up to the car and Tom exclaimed “The bear is in the minivan.” I was stunned into misbelief and said “Not funny!” Only to find it indeed was the same damn bear inside the minivan. Tom had left the windows down slightly (I had asked him to be sure to close them), and he had grabbed the edge and broken the window out, it was a good thing we got van insurance before we left! He was inside, sitting on our cooler reviewed by Survival Cooking, and munching on all the road snacks we’d packed. I left and started walking up the road with the dog. “Leave it!” I said, and Tom replied “No, it’s our ride out of here”.

Nobody in sight, and nowhere to go. Tom used the remote key fob to open the right sliding door of the van, pushed the panic button to blow the horn, and started yelling. After a minute the bear jumped out, then back in again. Did it again, then jumped out holding a plastic bag in his mouth (turned out to be sunflower seeds). He walked toward the woods, then Tom closed the door (remotely), then jumped in the driver’s seat on top of the broken glass, started the car, and picked the dog and I up. Sorry, no pictures, we were kinda busy at the time. Turns out all he took were a few pistachios and sunflower seeds. If he had opened the cooler, we never would have gotten him out!