Grizzly Cabin Kooteney Bc
Posted : admin On 21.09.2019During our six-hour drive to a secluded cabin in Retallack BC, we passed the time trying to spot some of the area’s albino grizzly bear population. Our plan was to drive in a loop from Banff through Yoho National Park and Kootenay National Park, all in the space of a weekend. Bear Watching in British Columbia, Canada Grizzly Bears & Black Bears. View Directory of Bear Watching Guides & Locations. Visitors to British Columbia appreciate the diversity of wildlife found in the forests, coastal regions, and wilderness waterways of Canada's western most provinces.
Grizzly Bear Ranch is a small specialist lodge in the heart of British Columbia that offers active bear-viewing and wilderness holidays. Using trails that we have made ourselves, we take you far from the tourist crowds to hike the alpine, ancient cedar rainforests and view wild bears. Our groups are tiny - typically 2 to 4 guests with one expert guide. Each evening you will return to a luxury riverside cabin with its own wood-burning stove and our fresh local table. We are also specialists in animal tracking, are on the cutting edge of bear conservation, are experienced naturalists and are politically active in saving bears and bear habitat. Staying at the Grizzly Bear Ranch was an absolutely amazing experience we can highly recommend. The ranch is situated in a remote location directly on a creek.
The cabins are spacious, comfortable, with all the amenities of a modern hotel room. The attention to detail (big windows, porch, good binoculars to take for wildlife viewing, snack basket and fruits, drying rack for wet cloth after a rainy hike, water bottles for the backpack – just to mention a few) makes these cabins a perfect place to relax. The hosts Kristin and Julius greet their maximum of 12 guests personally and, instantly, create a welcoming and warm experience. We expected good food but were extremely surprised about the tasty, delicious and healthy dishes Kristin and Kim prepared; at the same time, preparing separate dished for any kind of allergies, dislikes and food preferences. Food is always an important factor on our vacations, so this elevated this experience exponentially. The meals were served family style for the whole group of guests and guides together, with a lot of communication around the adventures of the day. We met a bunch of interesting and nice people.
Now the most important part why we came to this part of Canada: the bear viewing. The daily expeditions were in small groups of maximum 4 guests and one expert guide. This guaranteed the ultimate experience. We were fortunate to see many bears, always under the safe guidance and supervision of the highly trained guides Julius, Sage and Graham. We chose Grizzly Bear Ranch after seeing a PBS show on the owners and their Ranch. The area looked majestic and so peaceful.
We booked our trip online and Kristin, one of the owners, responded quickly to any and all my many questions we had. She and chef Kim, took our meal restrictions and needs to heart.
Our day of arrival came 5-12-2019. Their sign is on a tree by the road but I noticed the red, metal roof on their lodge building, well within their property, first. On our way there, we came upon a mother black bear and her 2 cubs, ambling alongside the dirt road we were on. Once we drove into the Ranch area, Sage, one of our private guides, greeted us warmly. Then Julius, husband of Kristin, came over and gave us a charming British welcome.
The grounds were stunningly, meticulously laid out. Loving touches of Kristin’s artfully placed flower baskets were apparent everywhere. Also, her perfection in the stacks of cut wood piles impressed my husband and I. Our cabin, Redfish South, was absolutely charming! It faced the river, had a wood stove, couch that faced a large window to view the outside beauty, a king bed that was so so comfy, and a fully functioning bathroom. And everything inside was so pristine and clean. Pine wood from floor to ceiling.
Just so easy to feel at home in. Even tho this Ranch is off grid, Julius and Kristin have solar energy and so many amenities, you’d never know you were living in the wild!
You also have the ability to watch some DVD’s but no regular TV. You truly are keep so busy during the day, you are not wanting nor missing any TV distractions. We are in our mid to late 60’s. We did go on hikes with guides Sage or Graham, both biology majors. Sage tailored her pace to ours and filled us with such wonderful knowledge of all the forests offerings. She was a delightful, young woman. Graham was a considerate guide, who took us out on a zodiak trip.
He hefted huge boulders to place in the water so our feet wouldn’t get wet getting in or out. What a gentleman! And his driving ability on the UTV trip was amazing. We saw Grizzly foot prints all over and Grizzly poo, but the timing for us bumping into them eluded us this trip. We did have the delight of seeing a black bear rise up on its haunches to scratch its back on a roadside telephone pole, then scamper across our dirt road. On another day, Sage was driving us to our destination and we saw a black bear on another dirt road coming towards us. We enjoyed several minutes of the Bear making its mind up to continue forward or retreat.
Retreat was the decision. Food—such delicious, fresh food! Chef Kim or Kristin prepared such feasts for breakfast, lunch and dinner!
Kristin had a hot house full of fresh greens we gobbled up and there were fresh berries galore, along with all sorts of yummy delights!Each meal was soooo good and filling!Lunches were picnic style, as we ate on our adventures out. We always got dessert treats at lunch and dinner, which we all looked forward to. Having such small groups of people per session was also a huge relief. Our session had 3 couples total, my hubby and I included.
The attention and care for all of us was individual and perfectly performed. And the humor style of Julius, with his stories he shares, gave us memories of laughter and amusement. Kristin always ask if we needed anything, especially hot water for tea, which she made quite often.
Grizzly Cabin Kootenay Bc Weather
We had brought our own snacks to eat but ate none since the cabin already had plenty of fresh fruit and snacks available plus loads of all sorts of flavored tea bags. We were even provided bug spray and sunblock in the cabins, along with shampoo, conditioner and body soap. Don’t take a regular hair blow dryer tho.
The watts would blow their solar capacity. Kristin keeps a couple low wattage blow dryers for guests to use just in case. Prepare for any weather, lots of fun, unforgettable scenery and delightful hosts! We consider Julius, Kristin, Kim, Sage and Graham our friends now!
Grizzly Cabin Kootenay Bc Canada
Go and make your own memories with them! You won’t be disappointed! Thank you for your kind review. We really try to offer value for money.
These kinds of holidays are not cheap - we are very aware of that - and that is true whether you come and stay with us or go to one of the large commercial lodges on the BC coast. We also know that many of our guests save up for a long time to be able to afford to come here and we do everything we can to make their holiday really memorable (for all the right reasons.) When it comes to equipment, food, vehicles and the like we don't economise.
West Kootenays
We don't splurge on white table cloths and that sort of thing, but having great food, comfortable and well-appointed cabins, and the very best guides that we can find - that is what is important to us. So, again, thank you for your kind review. We're really pleased you enjoyed your time here and would love to have you back. It's really not that far - just a hop over to Calgary or Vancouver and a few hours drive through the mountains!
Yes, we do try and make sure we tailor activities to guests' abilities and desires. One of the reasons we have quite a few guides and a limit of 12 guests is to be able to offer everybody what they want, in the way they want it. For some that means quietly sitting by the river and taking it all in - the autumn colours, the cry of the eagles, the red salmon. For others it might mean high-energy excursions into the alpine. Everybody is a little different in how they want to connect with nature. And we try really hard to accommodate those differences.
There's nothing worse than being lumped together in one big group and having to all move along at the same pace. We definitely wouldn't enjoy that and we wouldn't expect our guests to either. And we're so glad you felt spoilt rotten!