We searched stream mouths and beachfronts for the rare "spirit bear" or "ghost bear" of Princess Royal Island. Approximately ten percent of the island's blackbears are born white. Native legend says that Raven created the spirit bear as a reminder of the time when the land was covered in ice and snow. High above the channel snow and ice covered near and far peaks. Voluminous melting with the onset of summer gives rise to multiple waterfalls pouring freshwater into the oceanic fjord. Braided waterfalls drop along rock faces under hanging valleys and high mountain peaks.
The Sea Bird anchored at the head of Altanash Inlet, an arm off of Princess Royal Channel dwarfed by sheer granite walls, snowy mountain turrets, and sloping rainforest. The cloud cover lifted with the incoming tide, providing beautiful summer weather. We hiked among chocolate lilies, lupine, ferns, mosses, hemlock, spruce and evidence of bears. Guests on Zodiac tours and kayakers, who paddled in perfect protected waters, enjoyed watching a pair of eagles on their nest and a mink swimming and feeding along the shore. We pulled up anchor and returned to cruising down beautiful glaciated British Columbia's inside waters among dense rainforest, granite escarpment, snow-covered peaks, and a multitude of rushing streams, cataracts, and cascading waterfalls. Tomorrow we will be in Alaska.
