by LAUREN DUBOIS
I’m standing on the side of the road using the telephoto zoom lens of my camera like binoculars to scour the mountaintops.
“Excuse me, but what are you looking at?” asks a hiker with a Nordic accent.
“Do you see anything up there?” he asks.
And before I can answer him, he rushes on “Anything-special?A-bear?” The words fall out of his mouth in a mess of desperation.
I see the hope in his eyes. He’s on the hunt too. Like every other foreigner loitering on roadsides in the Canadian Rockies with impressive camera equipment; he’s looking for bears. We all are.
“Sorry,” I let him down gently. “It’s just some people rock climbing.”
He nods sadly and shuffles back to his car.
It’s day 10 of our trip and I’m still waiting for my bear experience.
It’s my one goal for this two-week tour of British Columbia and Alberta. I WILL SEE A BEAR. By the end of my trip I will have tried: ziplining, hiking, white water rafting, hiking, motor biking, cycling, hiking, driving, gondolas and more hiking; all part of my Canadian Safari.
I’ve done everything right. Followed every instruction.
Step 1: Dress the part