Ever since we moved to Canada in June 2009, I have been hoping to see a bear.
Last weekend my wish came true when my husband and I came face-to-face with a black bear during a camping trip in Prince Albert National Park.
We were walking through the woods when my husband suddenly said: "There's a bear."
We immediately froze and watched as it pawed through the brambles looking for berries.
Having read the 'You are in black bear country' leaflet from the tourism centre, I knew not to turn our backs on the bear and to talk softly to it. I had also been ringing my bear bell, but it didn't deter our bear, who continued to walk down the path towards us.
I have to admit my heart was pounding by this point and my husband and I moved as quickly as we could without startling the bear.
Fortunately there was another family we had spotted earlier on and they were not too far behind. We teamed up and even though the bear was not at all cantankerous, we decided five of us was better than two.
The bear eventually wandered off into the forest and we continued our journey.
Prince Albert was a haven for wildlife. During our camping trip, we also saw many deer, an elk, a beaver, an otter, bald headed eagles and heard wolves howling as we woke in the morning.
Our trip began in Waskesiu, where we visited the beaches and the marina. We camped at Beaver Glen campsite and I was impressed each site comes with a firepit.
But it was the following morning that our true Canadian adventure began. We had rented a canoe in Moose Jaw in order to make the trek to Grey Owl's cabin in the back country of the national park.
Grey Owl was born Archibald Belaney in 1888 in Hastings, England, but in 1906 he immigrated to Canada.
He was introduced to the Canadian wilderness and the native way of life.
In 1925 he met his wife Anahareo and he turned to writing and speaking for conservation.
The Dominion Parks Service hired him as its first naturalist. He and his family lived in a cabin at Ajawaan Lake, and the cabin is still there for those who want to canoe or trek through the wilderness to visit.
Our canoe journey began on the Kingsmere River. We launched our canoe and travelled upstream. We then had to dock and put the canoe on a cart to avoid the rapids before relaunching on Kingsmere Lake.
The first day was very windy and we managed to get most of our stuff wet. We were originally intending to stay at the furthest away campsite called Northend but instead docked at Sandy Beach due to the high waves.
We then began our walk to Grey Owl's cabin, which was beautiful. Ajawaan Lake was completely calm in comparison to the Kingsmere Lake.
The cabin remains much as Grey Owl left it. Inside there is a beaver lodge - home to the beavers he wrote about.
Close by is another cabin which they built as well as the gravestones of Grey Owl, Anahareo and their daughter Shirley Dawn.
Our night at Sandy Beach was amazing. The sunset across the lake was full of incredible colours and we could hear the noises of wildlife all around us. We were careful to store our food on the bear cache, but we didn't see any more of these creatures.
The next day we woke early to canoe back and were fortunate the lake was extremely calm and a complete contrast to the day before, which made rowing much easier. Watching the sun rise in purple hues across the lake is something I will never forget.
Back in Waskesiu for another night, I felt we had really trekked into Canada's true wilderness. At times it felt like we were the only people in the world.
As we drove home to Moose Jaw we said we were truly Canadian: we had our canoe on the roof, a fishing rod in the back of our 4X4 and we each held a well deserved cup of Tim Hortons coffee.
Rebecca Lawrence can be reached at 691-1258.
