These are the Chronicles of Famous Surf Writer Ben Marcus and his trip into the Wilds of the Alaskan Frontier.
Latest Update: November 14, 2000

20:42 BC TIME THE CYBER STATION, VICTORIA, BRITISH COLUMBIA

Remember that one Yogi Bear cartoon where Yogi was getting discouraged and angered by all the tourists driving by yelling, "Look at the bear! Look at the bear!"

I think it pissed him off because he was trying to sneak up on some picanic baskets, and the kids were blowing his cover. I don't know what action Yogi took to discourage those who were discouraging him, but I do remember those kids squealing, "Look at the bear! Look at the bear!" And Yogi getting discouraged.

Well, I did a little bit of that today while driving out of the west coast of Vancouver Island, from Uclulet to Port Alberni. There is a picture-perfect, crystal clear river called Taylor Creek that runs along the highway, and there is a bridge at one point that is kind of a crossroads. While crossing that bridge I looked over to check the water and saw a pretty damn big, fluffy black bear shuffling along the gravel, looking for some salmons to eat for dinner, eh Boo Boo?

I stopped, jumped out, grabbed the camera and tried to take some photos. I know this trip is over because I am almost out of floppy disks for taking photos. I bought two big boxes of them at a supermarket near the Columbia River, and I've gone through almost all of them: at least four dozen disks, with eight photos on each one. A few were ruined by water exposure, and I went through a couple trying to get a photo of this bear, who was no more than a hundred yards away from me, moving toward that crystal-clear water and looking for some salmons.

I could see the salmons in the river, they looked like sockeye and there were some pretty big ones. The bear moved along the riverbank toward the bridge and me, non-plussed by the big rigs roaring past, and looking up only when I whistled and pointed and tried to direct Yogi toward where the salmon were holding.

Well, I thought that was pretty cool, spending a good 15 minutes watching a bear go through its paces, and taking lots of photos before it walked off into the bush.

This was a pretty good-sized black bear, thick and with a solid coat. Very healthy, but you really, really wouldn't want to bump into one of those buggers in a bad mood. I felt justified carrying Mr. Walther around on this trip.

So, I got some nice photos of a bear, and a good chapter for South by Northwest, if I ever write it. That highway between Uclulet and Port Alberni really is something, as scenic a spot as anywhere I have seen on this trip: mountains, snow, creeks, lakes, the whole shooting match.

I left Uculet in the afternoon sometimes, reluctantly, because it was a beautiful day over there. The ocean was dead glass and there was some decent surf coming through. Driving around I bumped into Jennifer hanging out on the beach, soaking up the sun and keeping an eye on her feisty dogs. Dean was out surfing with a couple other guys, in decent, glassy beachbreak surf. I've said it before and I'll say it again, his 40 kilometers of beach really wins the beauty prize, especially on a day like today.

I drove to Tofino and got some money and visited the second of two epic bakeries today. I noticed that there are no fast food stands at all on that side, which seems to be a conscious thing by the local council. All the stores and restaurants are small and privately owned, and that is good. Both of those bakeries were world class. I am passing gas as we speak. Sorry.

I may come back up here soon with my mom. It's just a day's drive from Sequim, including the ferry ride, which isn't all that bad. I'd like to come back and fish the Stamp and the Taylor Rivers, if they get any steelhead.

Made it to Port Alberni, which is all fast food stands and gas stations and strip malls and other yuck. That stuff really looks bad when you haven't seen it for awhile. I wonder why white people so willingly make their cities look so shitty.

I drove out of Port Alberni to the east coast of the island at a place I can't remember, then headed for Victoria. Picked up a hitchhiker who was freezing his ass off on the side of the road. Most of the hitchers I've picked up on this trip have been Indian. I wish I had taken photos of all of them. There were some interesting faces.

The drive from Port Alberni to Victoria was uneventful, and about as scenic as the Bayshore Freeway at night. I dropped the hitcher off and drove around a little, trying to find this cyber cafŽ, which I had visited on my way through here last time.

I'm going to find a motel and check in and then get up and catch the ferry tomorrow. I might try to drive out to Jordan River in the morning and come back for the afternoon ferry, or I might just leave in the morning and come back over here when the surf is running.

That's all for now. Got to go find a room and check out CNN. Haven't really heard what happened, but I suspect Bush got it. Too bad.