Walk on the wild side of Canada

IF YOU’RE thinking Canada’s west coast, for once don’t do the predictable things. Break away from the crowd. Hire a car.

Avoid tourist traps like Banff, Lake Louise, Jasper, where you will be trampled underfoot by the hordes. Instead, wander through forests, hike mountain trails. Breakfast with long-distance truckers in roadside cafes, watch wildlife, see how people live in remote communities.

A notice at the entrance to Cottonwood Park in the town of Prince George reads: This is a Bear-Tolerant Community. Not the kind of sign we usually find in parks here. But wild animals are a fact of life. Hikers hang tinkling bells from their daypacks to tell bears of their presence. Yellow signs alert you to the risk of hitting a moose as it wanders peacefully across the road. Deer forage in front gardens. A beaver waddles purposefully through a hotel parking lot, heading for the nearby pond. And you will never forget the eerie cry of the loon as it floats on mirror-still lakes.