The Black Bears Of Whistler

On our way down the hill from Whistler's Olympic Park, we're fortunate to spot a couple of the 50-or-so black bears that hang out in the area, grazing on the hills in a strangely cow-like fashion, seemingly oblivious to the staring tourists.

Tourists spend money in the winter touring in vehicles equipped like this one.

But we're lucky enough to spot this fellow just around the first bend after leaving the ski jump area.

Down the road we stop to tell another tourist staring at the "bear warning" sign that he can see a bear up the road. He replies excitedly in a heavy German accent that he's just seen a "grizzly" down the road. Off we go. No, it's another black bear, a truly handsome fellow (black bears range in color from brown to black), and we stop to admire him.

We've seen them before, smaller ones even in our back yard when we lived in Hope, but it's still fun to observe them in this setting. It's also pleasing to think of the boost to Canadian tourism that will result when the German tells his friends back home about the Grizzlybären he saw on his trip to Canada.