Memoirs of Knight Inlet Lodge, British Columbia

We started our Canadian honeymoon with a four-night all-inclusive stay at the very special floating lodge that is Knight Inlet in Glendale Cove, British Columbia.

It was here at Knight Inlet Lodge that our most cherished memories of our entire honeymoon were created against the most picturesque backdrop I’ve ever seen.

Our stay began with a short sea plane flight (the only way other than boat to get in and out of the lodge).

Chris shot gunned the co-pilot seat!

We were completely blown away from the start, as we flew over remote islands and inlets of the BC wild west coast.

25 minutes later we caught our first glimpse of Glendale Cove; home to one of the largest concentrations of grizzly bears in BC.

To give you a little context of the scale of Knight Inlet, it winds for more than 80 miles along the Southern coast of British Columbia. Apparently, Britain could fit in to BC 40 times over!

Once checked in, we were given the heads up that we had a jam packed few days ahead of us. Poor Chris was feeling quite under the weather and I believe I may have miss sold the lodge to him as somewhere to relax. (His first choice of honeymoon destination was the Maldives).

We were given a quick tour of the lodge and our room, for which we had been lucky enough to be allocated the one furthest away, which happened to have the best views of both Glendale Cove and the shoreline.

The lodge has two outdoor decks which are great places to sit and take in the views and fresh air; there is a homely lounge to sit and relax or to listen to the evening’s presentation given by one of the lovely guides. The food during our stay was plentiful and delicious, and there was never the chance of going hungry. All the scrumptious meals are served in a large but comfortable dining room.

Within our first hour of being at the lodge, we were out observing and learning about the resident bears of Glendale Cove.

That first morning we even saw a bear called Lenor and her two cubs.

These three made many appearances during our stay.

Later in the day we went out on an inlet cruise.

Our knowledgeable guides told us about the inlet’s history along with stories related to the First Nations who once lived there.

At one point we had a pod of dolphins following along behind us.

Arriving back at our room we were greeted by a bottle of bubbles (with Chris still being unwell I got most to myself), there was also a beautiful book on Glendale Cove and its bears.

The next day it was up and out early for a full day marine cruise.

We had a few stops throughout the day, the first was for coffee and cookies while stopped in a blissful inlet.

Another stop we took was to visit a very interesting character, Billy Proctor. Billy has lived in the area all his life and has built pretty much of what you see when you pull up outside of his home. He even has his own Museum! He has filled it with all the artefacts which he has collected from the local area since the age of 8! Now in his 80s you can imagine the amount of stuff he has collected over the years.

During the day we were lucky enough to see sealions, bald eagles, porpoises and even two humpback whales diving for food.

During our stay we also took a walk in the great bear rainforest.

As we walked our guide Dean, educated us on bear behaviour and bear facts along with the fascinating lifecycle of the trees that make up the Great Bear Rainforest.

Dean was a great joke teller, so much so that in the evening Chris and I wrote some of “Deans Jokes” in our travel journal and have since been sharing these with family to many bemused looks followed by laughter.

Half way through the walk we stopped for tea and treats.

It was during this walk that Dean told us of the medicinal values of the extremely large slugs who exist in of the forest and proceeded to put one in his mouth! Their slime acts as a numbing agent, (I point out no slugs were harmed during this demonstration). The lodge have a club called the “I Kissed a Slug at Knight Inlet Lodge” and of course my husband always up for a laugh joined this club. I did not kiss him for the rest of the day.

One of the most beautiful views from the lodge can be found on the above the clouds walk. The walk starts with a short drive along the old logging roads which eventually wind around a mountain. 100 meters from the top starts a winding board walk through the forest all the way to the top of the lookout.

Once at the top the views are incredible.

And for once the sun was shining.

On our last night, we had our most amazing up-close bear experience of the trip.

The sun was out (in between the downpours), while we sat quietly in amazement that we were so close to a grizzly in her natural environment and she was happy to let us observe her, even our guide said he had only managed to get this close once before.

Come our final morning at the lodge we had a slow breakfast before taking a kayak out on the calm water.

And were fortunate to see bald eagles as well as Lenor and her cubs one last time.

After an hour or so we began rowing back to the lodge.

I took the time to stop rowing so that I could take a mental picture of the tranquillity all around, I will forever hold this image in my mind when I am feeling stressed.

Our entire stay felt exclusive due to the limited number of guests at the time, we had arrived two weeks before the crowds (if you can indeed call 18 rooms at full capacity a crowd).

Upon leaving we were not only sad to be saying goodbye to the lodge, the wildlife and the food but the staff too. Their local knowledge and passion for the wildlife was evident during all the excursions and evening presentations, I can’t credit them enough, they really do a fantastic job. Even the 6am alarm was not a chore during our stay.

Throughout the rest of our trip nowhere else quite compared to Glendales untamed beauty and all the wildlife who call it home.

As the float plane flew in to collect us and we waved a fond farewell to Knight Inlet, we knew that we were leaving behind a little piece of our hearts.