The Best Job Ever... part 3
Cooking
This job was the best job ever, but it was hard work and a little stressful at times. Things taking longer to cook than expected, not having the ingredients you wish you had to make something, running
 |
| Just another grizzly bear... (sarcasm) |
out of produce and not being able to get more until the next group of visitors arrived by helicopter, etc. But... everything always worked out! Just when we got the knack of things, the bear viewers replaced the fishermen, and guess what? They eat less. I guess they are not gallavanting up and down the river getting exercise but quietly sitting on viewing platforms waiting for the bears to appear. We actually had to coerce the guests into eating more desserts lol. I gained too much weight this month! We cooked fresh bread every day, made everything from scratch... Rowan made everything 'pretty' to serve... we made the best pizza ever! We were going to buy an old food truck and travel the Yukon and sell pizzas. If only she didn't have to go to university!
 |
| Surprise Bear |
 |
| Bear Scratching in Camp |
Surprise Bear
This was the second bear I saw in camp (surprise bear). We had wandered downstream to where a nice creek flows into the river - just a nice walk to get out of camp and stop work for awhile, when we happened to see this bear coming upriver on the other side. At first she didn't see us, but then once she did, she hid behind that rock and peered around at us. She knew she would find people at the camp, but out of camp only sometimes... this was one of those times, and it was great. She watched us for a few minutes and then disappeared.
Bear Scratching in Camp
We have many rub trees in camp - trees bent over with hardly any branches, covered with grizzly hair - I couldn't wait to see one in use! This bear had a itch that needed a scratch and found just the right tree in camp. Sometimes while we worked away in the kitchen after dinner we'd be the fortunate ones to see the bears going right through camp instead of along the river. Rowan and I would tiptoe to the backdoor and watch them quietly going through camp.
Foamie and her Cubs
One hot summer day, Foamie and her new cubs came through camp - it was always exciting to see them. Foamie's little blond cub was a little more assertive than the brown one and mimicked everything her mother did. Today though she followed her mom to go in fishing and instead decided she wanted to play - she made a bunch of cub noises and was jumping on her mom's head. Well mom had enough of that and took her paw and pushed the cub right under the water! The cub bounced right back up and wanted to go at it again - so funny, but by that time, Foamie was heading back to the beach. Now the cubs just played on their own until it was time to go. There is nothing more fun than watching cubs play.
 |
| Foamie and her Cub |
 |
| Foamie's cubs play fighting |
|
Bear on hillside
 |
| Camp Cookhouse and Viewing Deck |
|
Camp
I thought I better add a few photos of what the camp looks like... tucked away in this valley - a jewel. At this time there are 5 cabins and the cookhouse/dining room with the viewing platform on the back deck. I say at this time, as during fishing season, the camp staff stays in tents and guests are in the cabins... so I dream about when there are cabins for staff during fishing season as well - just for comfort.
You will see I also included a photo of a cabin with one of our regular guests. This was on our last night in camp. I was the only staff member left in the camp with two of the guests while the others went out to viewing platforms upriver. There were some bear activity in camp and I was going between the deck looking out on the river, to the camp to see what was happening. One bear was rolling around on the tarps covering the woodpile - they sure love to do that but we get them to stop. A quick rock thrown again the side of the shop gets them to stop and move along without scaring them away for good. Anyway, I took this photo of the guest reading and waiting for bear activity... if you look closely you will see to the right of him there is a grizzly eating berries right beside his cabin. He never did see him or her - we have no idea which bear was visiting. Everything was fine though... bears come through camp all the time with guests here. The rule is, if you see a bear, stop and watch and enjoy the experience. When the bear leaves, continue on your way.
Bear on the Hillside
During the break in between guests, I stayed in camp to take advantage of living with the bears. This bear on the hillside was another great adventure I had... one evening, this bear slowly meandered up river on the opposite side, and with my small 70-200 lens, the photo opportunities weren't that great, so Anna and I ran down the trail and hid along the bank waiting for this bear to come across the hillside so I could get some good shots. He nicely posed for me, sniffed along and left. Thanks Anna!
 |
| Cabins |
 |
| Guest with Bear beside him |
 |
| Hummingbird at Camp |
Hummingbirds
We had hummingbirds at camp - just a few, but enough to keep all the photographers busy while bears were napping for the afternoons. They must be the most photographed hummingbirds in the world I believe. We kept moving the feeder around so that they would sit on suitable branches for photos. This year was also incredibly bad for wasps... and the wasps would actually chase the birds away from the feeders. I had never seen anything like it.
Fish Please
Here is a photo taken of Sunshine during the fishing season... she came early in the hopes of getting a salmon - maybe she wanted it cleaned and filleted? She didn't touch anything... she knows from the years of coming to this camp that the human items are not to be touched. There is also a water pump that the bears like to touch... we sit and watch and only if they go to grab something, do we ever just say, loudly in a firm voice, "NO" and they walk away. It's incredible. Oh yeah the love to jump on plastic things... rubber bins are a fun toy so make sure to keep them in storage!
 |
| Sunshine would like a fish please |
Goodbye
Leaving camp was good and bad. I had the opportunity to stay in for an extra week that I am now wished I had taken but at the time I had things that needed to be taken care of. Here is Rowan in the helicopter... our last views of camp. I have to admit I had a few tears as I left. It was a beautiful sunny day... we had a relaxing morning having breakfast, packing up our things and photographing the last few bears. It was perfect. Rowan and I then headed back to Whitehorse. We had a fun trip, stopping here and there to photograph anything and everything. It was nice to be mobile after being in camp for 2 months. It was weird when Rowan left with her Dad... sad as we had spent so much time together!
I will share some more stories in the future, as well as my adventures in the Yukon and Territories after camp!
 |
| Rowan going home |
