As a life and fun coach, I am big on walking my talk. One of my “what brings me joy” activities is to hike up  Knox Mountain with my golden retreiver Meesha. I love to take in the beauty while I get my daily dose of dopamine. I discovered many year ago when I had my fitness  business, that  if I exercised first thing in the morning, it set me up for success for the rest of the day.

My Knox Mountain routine was disrupted this past week when I read there was a Grizzly Bear sighting on our regular morning trail.  This was very surprising to hear, as I have hiked and run up Knox Mountain for the past 9 years and have never seen a black bear let alone a grizzly bear. I often ask others if they have seen bears and the answer is  always “No bears, lots of deer !” One retired gentleman hikes every day, year round,early in the morning and has  never seen a bear. This does not mean there are no bears. I have also heard from other hikers and runners that the Park Manger sees bears all the time. Regardless, in hearing the different media reports and rumours, I decided to stay on the lower trails.  One of the gifts I noticed from taking a different trail is that I got to drink in new scenery including Kelowna’s official flower, the Balsamorhiza sagittata, more commonly known as the Arrow Balsam Root. It is Native to the Southern Interior and at this time of year it lights up the Okanagan hillsides in bright yellow. I did however keep my golden retriever and my bear spray close by just in case Mr. Grizzly appeared.  I do know what a Grizzly Bear and Black Bear look like up close and personal, as I  had the amazing experience of running into (literally) black bears on the trails in West Kelowna as well as crossing the path of a Grizzly Bear at a remote fishing lodge in Rivers Inlet. I am happy to say both these experiences are on my Big Joy List! I don’t recall my heart rate ever feeling that highly elevated in such a short time.  Fortunately for us, the Grizzly was more interested in berry hunting than human hunting.