The Great Bear Rainforest

In February, 2020, we received a booklet from National Geographic about a trip to the Great Bear Rainforest to see the Kermode bears. The Spirit Bear, who the First Nation believe came from the Ice Age, is a white Kermode bear, of which there are about 400. All Kermode Bears live in the Great Bear Rainforest, and they are all black bears . . . and when two recessive genes are passed along, the bear is white. A Kermode Bear can have black cubs, a black and a white cub, or white cubs . . . and they are not albinos. Since we had just returned from Alaska, we wanted to see these guys, so we signed up. It was just as Covid was making its appearance, and you can guess what happened. Yes, the cruise was postponed, and it was postponed again in 2021. But this year, we were able to go. We were so careful before we went because we didn't want Covid to ruin our trip . . . and although one family could not go because they tested positive, the rest of us were able to board the ship. Before we went we received a letter from National Geographic offering us a partial refund because the trip's itinerary had changed so much. We also discovered that the two trips just prior to ours did not see the Spirit Bear - so we had lowered our expectations greatly, praying that we would at least see some whales. And with that, we flew to Seattle and into Ketchikan to start our trip.