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An account of our trip to this fantastic region of Canada, and our encounters with the majestic Polar Bear.

Churchill, the Polar Bear capital of the world

Djb1166
2004-03-11 16:38:12

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fire. The term forest is a bit misleading as the trees are
stunted and fairly sparse due to the short growing season. The extreme cold had frozen the surface of the snow making the
walking conditions much better than previous days and we made good time to the lunch site taking in various animal tracks
and a beautiful sun halo along the way. At the lunch site Dennis had a fire going in no time and then broke the ice on the
nearby stream to get some water for the tea. Food was next on the agenda and Dennis broke out the sandwiches and sausages.
As we tucked into the sandwiches we cooked the sausages over the fire. Then Dennis broke out the bannock, a sort of dough,
and someone had the bright idea of wrapping it around the sausages to make hotdogs. That proved to be easier said than done
but most of us ended up with a hotdog albeit with charcoal dressing! Despite the fire we had all started to cool down so
with lunch finished we cleared up and headed off again. We headed off trail towards the lake passing by a small flock of
Ptarmigan which held their ground until we were within a few feet of them. Their white colouring made them extremely
difficult to see even though we were so close. As we headed back across the lake the cubs formed a welcoming party but the
group must have looked a bit intimidating and they gave us a wide berth as they headed on past. We headed back to the
lodge to warm up and were entertained by the cubs as they wandered about outside. At one point Dakota went outside and
decided to take on both cubs which didn't look such a good idea at one point with a cub either side bearing down on her.
One of the cubs tried a mock charge but Dakota was not impressed and charged back causing the cub to turn tail and run,
not the outcome we expected!

An eventful dinner followed that evening with the cubs milling about followed by ...