Issue link: http://digital.canadawide.com/i/118157
greenhorns; the closest they'd been to a bear was the pages of National Geographic. So, while the camera rolled, he informed the wide-eyed trio how he'd been mauled three times, broken the leg of one bear, and "dislocated the hip on another and bit a toe of another." Connolly and crew swallowed it all whole, then included the clip in their grizzly viewing episode. When the video went viral, it only added to the bear whisperer's renown. Zorn might shrug his shoulders in ambivalence when he recounts the story, but part of him clearly enjoys the notoriety. He guides the boat onto a sandbar, and we step out to inspect fresh bear tracks – impressions the size of a soccer ball perfectly preserved in the wet sand. A bald eagle perches overhead atop a cedar snag, watching nonchalantly. The forest hums with life. After years of practice, Zorn's eyes are perfectly attuned to movement along the riverbank and forest's edge: "Over there," he says quietly, pointing to a bend in the river a hundred metres away. A large male grizzly emerges from the water, silver-cinnamon fur glistening wet. But while I fumble with my camera, the bear slips into the forest and disappears from view. Then upstream, another bear; this one gazing hungrily from atop a log-jam into a pool teeming with salmon. Zorn has boated the river hundreds of times, but this is still the spot where B.C.'s "bear whisperer" feels most in his element – out in the Cariboo wilderness with the bears, salmon and eagles. "Sometimes they're miles out there, other times they're right on your heels," he says. Always one for a little dramatic flair, he adds, "almost too close." He grins as he slides our boat off the sandbar, and we drift past the grizzlies of the Mitchell River. Prep Shadow of the Bear: Travels in Vanishing Wilderness by Brian Payton. • Inspiration The remarkable film Edge of Eden by Alberta bear researcher Charlie Russell. • Gear Rain wear; warm, insulated clothing and socks; rubber boots; daypack; binoculars and SLR camera with minimum 200-mm lens, if possible. • Cost From $500 to $1,000 per day, depending on group size; includes meals (beer and wine with dinner), accommodation and guiding. Phone for pricing updates. • Sign-up Zorn's Ecotours-BC packages sell out early; would-be grizzly watchers are urged to make reservations well in advance. ecotours-bc.com; 1-866-299-9100 Y Member savings and benefits for BC travel: bcaa.com/bc 22 W E S T W O R L D p18-23_Profile.indd 22 >> SUMMER 2012 4/19/12 7:13:19 AM