Streams and moss abound in the Great Bear Rainforest , making it rich habitat for the endangered Spirit Bears . jaahn lieb photo
across their backs .
Sight quickly loses its supremacy , I realized , in dense forest . Hearing , however , is honed . The silence is rich . Even the slightest rustle grew audible , and soon it was as if we could hear for miles and miles , every sound clear and distinct . I heard the tiny splashes and sucks of the river , ravens , leaves falling , stones turning , fish jumping … sitting side by side I heard everything , the river muttering in a language that lifted through stones , air , and sky on its way to the sea .
None of us said a word for a long time . The creek hummed with the sound of fish jumping and river stones jostling and spruce needles dripping . A gang of ravens went by croaking and cawing and flying so low I could hear the shhh-shhh-shhh sound of their wings . My joints started to ache and my foot was falling asleep , and it hadn ’ t even been an hour .
“ Listen ,” Marven whispered , his head slightly cocked as he caught my gaze intently . “ We never spoke of mooksgm ’ ol – the white bear . My grandmother , Helen , tells the story of Raven . How Raven made one in every ten black bears white to remind people of a time when the world was all snow and ice , so people would be thankful for the lush and bountiful land of today . Many of our people believe mooksgm ’ ol holds supernatural powers – that the white bear is a special creature left to remind us of that earlier time when everything was covered by glaciers …”
“ You mean like an ice age ?” I said , thinking how fragile this forest felt . How perhaps the challenge of our modern times is to hold two things in our hearts at once : the beauty of our planet and the threat of what we stand to lose . “ Yup …” Marven nodded gravely , his voice trailing off . That ’ s when we saw the bear ambling up the river . The bear was midsize , lovely , but it wasn ’ t a white bear — it was another hungry black bear , Ursus americanus . It pawed at a pile of dead salmon it had stashed on the riverbank . Our quest to see the spirit bear , I realized , was just beginning .
* An excerpt from Uncharted
Write for
Submission Guidelines for Freelance Writers & Photographers
Explore : NW focuses on personal essays about regional travel and destination spotlights . We accept tips , article submissions , and photo submissions throughout the year . Please familiarize yourself with the style and tone of the magazine before sending us your targeted pitch .
Submissions will be accepted via email at : Mikaela @ MakingLanguageCount . com
kenmoreair . com
45