Prince Rupert – currently a booming little port city of about 12,500 in the heart of the North Coast’s lush rainforest as well as the center of territory traditionally claimed by the Tsimshian First Nation.  It is also at the mouth of the Skeena River, one of the longest undammed rivers remaining in the world, which dumps into the Pacific Ocean a few miles west.  Its deep water harbor was touted as a future site for a world-class port in the early 1900’s by the city’s founder, Charles Melville Hays.  Hays was also the president of the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway, so had the means to make his dream come true.  Unfortunately, after Hays obtained financial support in England, he decided to return to North America on a new ocean liner – The Titanic.  The dreams for the Prince Rupert world-class port went down with Hays and the fledgling city instead evolved into just a mainstay of the fishing and boatbuilding industries.

The early 1940’s brought troops as Prince Rupert became a staging area for Allied troops and munitions on their way to the Aleutian Islands.  Today – almost 100 years after Hays’ efforts – there is a major investment movement to grow the city into his dream.  It is the shortest ocean link between North America and Asia (by 3 days), it has ice-free anchorage and the rail goes right to the harbor making it an easy sell for a world-class port.  As a result, The Prince Rupert Port Authority has spent the last decade encouraging the development of a multi-crane container port.  We shall see what the future holds.

In any event, the area around Prince Rupert is known for wildlife and fish.  The Khutzeymateen Grizzly Bear Sanctuary is just about 30 miles northeast of  town (as the eagle flies!) and was created in 1994 as the first area in Canada to be specifically protected for grizzly bears and their habitat.  It is situated at the end of Khutzeymateen Inlet and includes a lush estuary at the base of rugged mountain terrain.  When the tide is out, the grizzles come down to feast on the exposed protein rich grasses from about mid-May to the end of July.  Then they head to the salmon rich rivers to feast before hibernation.

July 28th we were off on the last tour of the season by Prince Rupert Adventure Tours (awesome tour) to see these guys in their habitat.  WHAT A DAY!!!  The pictures will tell the story – but not as good as being there;-)

We traded Magic in for the day;-)

The floating lodge for overnight stays.   Thank goodness we opted for the day trip.

A little sibling roughhousing.

Gotta go. Time for lunch!

Who knew this grass is a staple in the grizzly’s diet – 25% protein.

Moved on to watch this guy for a while.

After about three hours in the Khutzeymateen Sanctuary, it was time to think about a return to Prince Rupert.  BUT WAIT!  There was more.  Chatham Sound is an important stop on the feeding and migratory routes of several species of whale, including orcas, humpbacks and greys.  Today the humpbacks gave us a show – –

Seemed like they just wanted to show off for us!

Ahhhhh!  Just Perfect;-)

One more thing.  An incredible display by local eagles – again just for us – –

Couldn’t get enough of the bald eagles. So now let us bore you with lots of photos.

What an awesome day!!  We specifically came to Prince Rupert for this adventure and are sooooo happy we did.  If you are ever in this area – don’t miss this adventure.  It was well worth the money and Adventure Tours did everything to make it special.

In total awe – E & G with spinning heads;-)