All language subtitles for Ch5.New.Lives.in.the.Wild.Series.5.4of8.Selkirk.Mountains.720p.HDTV.x264.AAC.MVGroup.org

'I'm Ben Fogle.

'And over the next few weeks,

'I'm going to live with
different people

'who inhabit some of the most remote
locations on earth.'

There is nothing here.

'From the mountain forests
of Northwest USA

'to the freezing Mongolian tundra.

'The barren Hungarian countryside

'to the wild African bush.

'A Mediterranean island
and the deep Canadian wilderness.

'These are the people who decided
to make a massive life change.'

I said, "So, what do you think?
Shall we just do it?

Give up everything?"
And, er...she said, "OK".

Oh, boy!

'Are they daring,
or just downright crazy?'

Come on, Ben! Oh!

We didn't even know
where Mongolia was!

This is who I am,
it's not who you want me to be.

'I want to find out what happens
when you quit the rat race...'

If the whole world folds up,
my pension is here.

'..and create a new wife
in the wild.'

Today, I'm heading
to a vast wilderness.

Home to mountains, glaciers
and grizzly bears.

West of Canada's Rocky Mountains,

I'll be living with bear guide

Julius Strauss and his wife
Kristin -

a couple for whom the wild
has not just become home...

..but also their refuge.

When I came here, I was in a mess.

I mean, in the end, I could barely
go out on the street on my own.

I'll learn how, against the odds,

they've found a way of surviving
in the wilderness.

It doesn't matter
how many degrees you have

because if you can't chop wood,
you're useless, right?

And how, together,
they're facing a new battle.

That's almost certainly a hunter,

and that really, really
pisses me off.

Yeah.

'My journey begins over 7,000km away
in Vancouver, Western Canada.

'It's then a further 11 hours east
to Meadow Creek,

'in the Selkirk Mountains.

'This vast landscape surrounds me.'

Canada is the second-biggest country
in the world.

40 times larger than the UK,
but with half the population.

That is a lot of
unpopulated wilderness.

If you want to escape,
this is the place to come.

'Arriving deep in the forest,

'I can't help but feel
I might be being watched.'

I'm very aware
this is grizzly bear country.

Wow, look at this!
That is quite a river.

'The only way to meet my host

'is to cross this old military
Bailey bridge.'

Whoo! I don't know if I want
to fall in there.

'It's in desperate need of repair.

'I can see why I had to leave
the car behind.'

Julius?

Hey-hey-hey! Hello, Ben!

What a place to bump into
an Englishman!

It's good to meet you.
Hey, how are you? Really well.

I don't know if I want
to fall in there right now.

You haven't seen anything yet.
We'll be taking a raft.

A buddy of mine has got a raft
and that's how we'll get down
to the ranch.

Seriously? Yep. Come this way.

This is amazing! Look at this.
And we're in bear country?

So, there could be bears now?
Totally, totally.

There could be bears either side
of us, or in front of us.

You can go ahead, then.
BEN LAUGHS

48-year-old Julius Strauss
was born in London.

After college, he became
a journalist for The Telegraph,

and by 27, was a foreign
correspondent sent to war zones.

He had a £40,000 salary
and generous perks.

But ten years of reporting on the
front line began to take its toll.

Julius became ill,

and, in 2005, he and then-girlfriend
Kristin quit their jobs,

left Europe, bought an old campervan

and drove across the wilds
of Canada.

They stopped at a remote ranch
and never left.

It's here where they now offer

an unique wilderness experience
to visitors.

THEY LAUGH

THEY LAUGH

That's certainly woken me up,
thank you!

Pull again, please, guys.

'And Julius is now one of
North America's top bear guides.'

And stop. Take a break.

So, are we getting near now, Julius?
Yeah, that's it there.

Oh, look at that!

That's the ranch
on the right-hand side, yeah.

Wow!
This is incredibly beautiful here.

The property covers 32 acres,

with a main house
and six small guest cabins.

This is absolutely beautiful.

Has all of this changed a lot,
then, from when you first arrived?

Have you done all this yourselves?

We've done a lot, and it's very
different from when we arrived, yes.

So it looks very different from
ten years ago. Mm-hm. Absolutely.

And have you had to put a huge
amount of effort in here, then?

We've had to put a huge amount.
And it wasn't just that.

Right at the beginning,

we didn't have the money
to buy what there was,

so we had to take this
enormous risk.

And, um...what we did is we
collected all the money we had,

we put it down,
it came to just under half

what the previous owners
wanted for it.

So we promised them
that we would get

the other half of the money
together within six months.

And it took us five months
and about nine days,

and by the end of it, we were
getting a little bit hot
under the collar.

So we almost lost all our money
and this place,

but then finally, the last minute,
it all came together.

The couple still use all their old
sheds for storage

and a outdoor toilet.

And three of the cabins

are still painted in their
original engine oil.

But their main house,
made from fir-tree wood,

is their pride and joy
and took six months to build.

So, come in. Thank you very much.
This is very cosy in here.

Oh, wow! So, did you start with,
like, a very basic structure
here and build up?

Very basic. Very basic.
There was a little log cabin here.

No foundation, no upstairs, nothing.
Just a simple log cabin.

And for eight years,

Kristin and I slept in that
little space right there.

And then a couple of years ago,

we decided to turn it into
what we wanted.

We ripped out that wall,
put in some glass and, er...

this is what you see now, yeah.

Now, that massive gamble
you were saying that you took,

you know, 50% promised later on,

what kind of figure are we talking?
I mean, a huge amount?

We, um...the place cost us around
£150,000,

so we put down £75,000,
which was everything we had.

And then, yeah, the balance
came a lot later, just in time.

Just in time.
I love your smile there. Yeah.

Was that...was that quite
a nerve-racking period?

Yes, it was. Because I remember
when we got the mortgage,

we went out and we got really drunk.

Just being happy that we made it
and that we got the place.

Otherwise, we would have lost
everything.

We got so drunk, we forgot the name
of the place that we'd bought.

Solar panels provide electricity.

There's propane gas for cooking
and a water well.

Julius and Kristin stay connected
to the outside world

via a satellite dish for
the internet and telephone,

but other than that,
they're on their own.

We don't have any services
from the outside.

We have no garbage pick-up,
no mail service, no fire cover.

It's not all as posh as it seems.
I mean, we've got composting toilets

and to make it look this smart,

there's a lot of work that goes on
behind the scenes.

But, basically, yeah, you
can have everything out here

that you can have in a town,
you just have to work a bit harder.

The start of the new tourist season
is a month away,

so, until then,
I get a cabin of my own.

I have to stay, I don't think
I've ever stayed in a wilderness

that's quite as comfortable as this.
Ha-ha!

Is that because of the guests?

Yeah. We had to... You know,
we've had to put all the...

every cent we have into
this place, basically.

If we're going to ask people
to come here, it has to be nice.

So, we've really tried hard.

Is this really going to be my home?

This is going to be your home, yeah.

Oh, thank you very much.

The cabins have metal roofs

as protection from flying ash
during summer bushfires.

But in winter,
there can be four feet of snow,

so they all have wood-burning stoves
inside.

Everything here, a lot of thought
has gone into it.

And I like it because I am
in the middle of a wilderness,

make no mistakes about that.

And although it looks like
you have everything,

you're still relying on the wood

that you chop down
to create the heat.

So, everything is still sort of
self-produced.

This is the quintessential
off-the-grid

luxurious cabin in the woods,
surrounded by bears.

It's great.

The work my hosts have done

and the environment
might look picture-perfect,

but I'm curious to know what things
were like for them in the beginning.

We were so useless when we arrived.
We didn't know how to do anything.

We didn't know where the water
came from.

I remember going to Kristin
and saying,

"Where does the water come from?"

And she said, "It comes out of
the tap". And I thought, "Yeah".

Two days later, we were, like,
"Well, where does that come from?"

We were... We were really useless.

And we did have a big dream
back then, you know,

the dream of living in the bush.

And with the tasks around here, is
there anything

that either of you
are particularly bad at?

Money. Good at? Money.

Both of us. Money.
Useless. Absolutely useless.

Who does it? Well, I was hoping that
Kristin would be the responsible one

and she was hoping I would be. We
encourage each other at being bad.

If one of us was clever,
financially,

we'd probably have a much more
profitable business.

But neither of us are.

But the great thing about that is
at least we agree on things.

KRISTIN LAUGHS
Yes.

Deep in these forests at night,
the wildlife is active.

I'm told it's not safe to go back
to my cabin alone.

So, do you often take guests back,
escort them like this?

Yeah. Last year, in the autumn,
we had to do it every night

because I think we had
six different grizzlies around.

Really? In camp here?
Yeah. During that ten days.

So, we were getting a bit worried
about our guests' safety,

so we escorted them back
every night.

What do we do if we do
come across a bear now?

We should stand still, be calm,
not run.

And, er...that's it.
And wait for it to go away.

Because it doesn't want to have
anything to do with us.

Thank you very much for escorting me
back to my cabin safely.

I'm actually rather disappointed
there aren't any bears,
if I'm to be honest.

Well, who knows, they
might be sitting right there.
Maybe in the morning.

Maybe in the morning. Yeah, exactly.

Kristin, thank you so much.
Sleep well. I'll see you in
the morning. Good night.

Fascinating couple.

Most of the people that
I've spent time with in the wild

have shunned finances.

They've cut themselves off from
the grid in every sense of the word.

Especially the financial grid.

But here is a couple who have...

I don't whether I'd use the word
"embraced",

but they've got themselves
tangled up in finances.

They've got themselves
a wilderness mortgage.

That's a pretty unique situation
to find yourself in,

which is kind of counterintuitive

to coming to a place like this.

'I'm in the Canadian wilderness home
of Julius and Kristin Strauss -

'a remote lodging they've created
attracting visitors,

'hoping to see bears in the wild.'

I slept very well.

The noise of the river is just
amazing, with the window open.

So beautiful. 32 acres here, so
something tells me there's probably

quite a lot of tasks
and jobs to do.

'The first guests will arrive
next month, so Kristin,

'who's in charge of accommodation
and food,

'has me busy in the garden.'

Do you grow fruits as well?

No, we can't, because of the bears.

It would be a huge attraction
so that wouldn't work out.

Would they probably just crawl
their way in, would they?

Yes. Absolutely and if a 300lb bear
climbs up the tree,

you can imagine
they just break in half.

'A local farm supplies meat

'but it's the forest that's their
real larder and where they forage.'

I'm still a little bit suspicious
about it. Are you? Yes.

If it's a berry I know,
I'll pick it and if it's

a mushroom I know, I'll pick it,

but here people do that a lot.
Yeah? Yeah, yeah.

'The garden itself
takes six hours to mow,

'and then there's the maintenance
of the cabins.

'Julius is the hiking
and bear-guide,

'so before the start of the season,

'he makes essential checks
on the river rafts.'

What's the big black thing
underneath?

Those things there are my...
The wings from my old aeroplane.

What happened to it? I had a mishap.

A mishap with an aeroplane
is never good,

especially when there's only
one wing left.

No, there are two wings, two wings.

The body didn't survive
but the wings are still there.

I bought it from a logger in Oregon
and he made it himself.

It wasn't the best...

A homemade aeroplane.
A homemade aeroplane and um,

I crashed it the second time
I flew it.

'Julius's attitude to life
is fascinating.'

Very elegant. Perfect.

'I'm keen to know more
about the path that took him

'from frontline war journalist
to wilderness bear guide.'

Ten years of war really
chews away at your head.

And some of my friends were killed.

A lot more had problems - alcohol
problems, some had drugs problems

and I thought I was all OK and then
one day in Sierra Leone, in 2000,

I got hit by... I didn't know
what I got hit by at the time.

I just felt this horrible dread
and sense that I was going to die

and my balance completely went
and I think in retrospect

it's probably what we would
now call PTSD.

And do you think coming to Canada,

was this your way of overcoming
your post-traumatic stress?

Ultimately I think it was. I mean
what happened was, I had just met

Kristin. I'd been battling with this
whole post-traumatic stress thing

for two or three years
and still working.

I still went to Iraq and Afghanistan

and I was trying to manage it
and then in September 2004,

there was a horrible incident
in southern Russia, in Beslan,

where more than 100 children
were killed and I was there

and I came out that afternoon
and I had just met Kristin

and I thought this has got to be
a changing point in my life.

I can't do this any more.
I've just completely regressed

in terms of all the progress

I'd made over the last two
or three years.

I've got a woman that cares for me,
loves me, and wants to be with me.

So, maybe it's time for a change.

And, so, Canada,
the idea of Canada came up.

'This involved a 1,500km adventure
in an old camper van.

'But it took its toll
on the new couple -

'until Julius remembered
an advert he'd seen

'about this secluded ranch.'

I thought, "Ah, that's going
to be a good diversion."

"I need a diversion before
she leaves me and buggers off

"back to Europe."

So, I stopped at an internet cafe
and looked it up.

And I found it. I found out it was
for sale and I phoned up the real

estate agents and said,
"Can we see it?"

He said, "Are you serious
potential buyers?"

I said, "Absolutely, definitely."

I had no intention
of buying anything

and that's how we came out here
and we were absolutely smitten.

We left after an hour,
an hour and a half,

set off down the road and I remember
I turned to her and said,

"So, what do you think,
shall we just do it, buy it,
give up everything?"

And she said, "OK, let's do it."

'The couple had everything to learn.

'They thought they'd bought
a ranch with

'a viable bed and breakfast business

'but after three months,
no guests and no enquiries,

'they realised they'd been had.'

I sat down with Kristin,
and we looked at each other.

I think we were a bit slow
on the uptake.

We looked at each other and said,
"There was no business, was there?"

She's like, "No,
there was no business."

So, that was when we suddenly
thought, "Shit, we've got to start

"from scratch. We've got
to do something new."

'Today, we're fixing a rotting fence
with 5lb wooden posts

'but in the early days, they could
barely afford to stay here.'

So, how did you turn it around?

Slowly. We almost went
bust the first winter.

I got a job in Alaska, luckily.

A friend of mine called me up
who'd been offered the job

and he couldn't do it and he said,
"Look, there's a job going

"teaching journalism
at the University of Alaska.

"Do you want to do it? And I'm like,
"Yeah, I definitely want to do it!"

So, we went up to Alaska
for four months.

I taught there and came back
in the spring.

That gave us just a little bit
of money and allowed me

to go off and train
as a grizzly bear guide.

'Kristin trained as a chef

'and together they gained the skills
to actually create the business

'that had never existed.'

I think for Julius and Kristin,
just moving here in the first place

was pretty brave. They've come
from totally different worlds

and they've come to the Canadian
wilderness, an extreme wilderness

at that and then to take on
a business,

that then transpired
to be a non-business,

you know, they're ballsy risk takers
but they also work really hard

to make sure that that risk
pays off.

So far, it's Julius who seems
to be the driving force behind

the risks they've taken, but he
did meet his match in Kristin.

While at university in Estonia,
she married a diplomat.

She was part of the country's
new elite and had

a successful career of her own
at a leading news agency.

But Kristin wasn't in love.

Can I say that this is
the neatest pile of wood

and the largest pile of wood
I think I've ever seen?

Presumably though,
this is life out here,

especially when it comes to winter.

Yeah, you have no choice, because
we only have wood-burning stoves.

This is what we do. It's the only
way to heat for us.

Hey!

Do you remember the first time
you met Julius?

Yes, so I do remember it very well

and I remember I didn't like him
very much, actually,

the first time, when I met him.

What did you think?

I think he was really cocky,
actually! Did you?

Yes, but a year later,
everything had changed,

so then when we met a year later,
yeah, he was much nicer.

And what did your family think
when they first met him?

Oh, they thought I was crazy!

Did they make their opinions known
to you? Yes, especially my mum!

But actually my dad liked him
right away,

so that made my life easier

and right now my whole family adores
Julius because he's probably

the most emotional person
we have in the crowd.

And, obviously, you were actually
married when you met him, as well.

Yes, yes. I was legally. So was he,
actually! Nobody has mentioned that!

Yeah, we were both married
to somebody else but I think

both marriages
were actually at the end.

They were both crumbling, anyway.
Yeah, absolutely.

Otherwise, it wouldn't have
happened, right? Of course.

We both led kind of...
quite fancy lifestyles,

and I think it was very healthy for
both of us to be removed from that

status world and just
make it work here.

You are as good as you are here.

It doesn't matter how many
degrees you have or how much...

And I remember... It's really
healthy for a person.

The self-importance will disappear
very quickly because if you can't

chop wood, you're useless, right?

Yeah. On that note...

It's spring and the snow-melt
from the mountains

means the river's level
is at its highest.

Upstream from the ranch, Julius has
asked me to help him with the most

dangerous job he has to do - armed
with a chainsaw and a life-jacket.

Fallen trees can create dams
in the river and this can be

extremely dangerous for rafting.

If the boat gets caught,

it can be dragged under water
by the force of the current.

So we have to clear the blockage.

Doing this on your own is not
something you want to do,

so it's good there
are two of us here.

So that's what I've got this for.

This is basically
your safety harness.

You're going to clip it onto me,
you're going to hang onto me

for dear life and when I do go in...

You're going to trust me with
your life? You've only just met me!
When I go in, you let goof me.

That's the deal. OK. Or you
follow me in. OK. Go on then.

Just make sure you have one foot
safe before...

..you go onto the next one.

Can I say, of all the jobs I thought
you'd have out here, this is

the last thing I thought I'd
be doing - standing on a raging

Canadian river with a chainsaw.
This is usually the biggest hazard.

Well, this time last year,
I went straight into this river,

a running chainsaw, high water.
Now you tell me!

Yeah. So this will be my
first time out since then,

so you're a brave man, Ben.

OK, I've got it. You've got it?

'Cutting too quickly and
the strength of the current

'could snap the tree
and throw us into the river.'

You happy, Julius?

Happy so far! OK.

'Here the water is ten feet deep

'and it's flowing
at 15 kilometres per hour,

'twice the speed of
an average river.

'When Julius first arrived here,

'he was told these waters
were far too dangerous to raft.'

CHAINSAW WHIRRS

See how tense that is?
I can hear it starting to snap.

So that's the danger with these
things, there's so much pressure

on it that we're not going to get

much of a cut in before it's going
to go. Before it goes.

Let's back up a little bit. Yeah.

Whoa!

She's close to going, isn't she?
Yeah.

OK. You OK? Yep. Well done!

Whoo!

Good job!

Look at that!

It's going to be sucked under,
I think.

'Half of the 30ft tree
is finally released downstream.'

Look at it go!

Julius, I'm so impressed with that.
I'm quite impressed as well.

It didn't do anything over
here as well. Are you?

Is that quite... Do you get..
It's an adrenaline rush.

An adrenaline rush. Do you still
need that adrenaline rush?

You do! Do you think?
I can't answer that question.

But it strikes me... I know
you need to do all of this

but I can see the smile on
your face now. I mean that's...

It's total relief. Is it relief?
Yeah. No, no, no. It's... Yeah.

Your heart rate goes up a bit.

I don't know if I need
an adrenaline rush but life is

a bit more interesting that way.

'I could see there was genuine fear,
genuine nervousness there,

'if one of those trees had
catapulted us both into the water,

'as happened last time
he was there,'

that's quite a nerve-wracking
thing to take on again.

But it seems to me that this
is part of the drive of his life.

He is a risk-taker. Bears haven't
even come into this yet.

They're still the big, invisible,
lurking mystery around us.

And that's the big thing
that keeps him here

and undoubtedly with bears
come risk.

I'm deep in the Canadian wilderness.

The climate here can hit extremes

but in springtime,
it's very similar to home.

Do you have a favourite season here?

I mean it obviously gets
very cold here in the winter.

Autumn... Autumn? ..when
the grizzlies are out.

Is it all about the bears!

It's all about the bears.
When the leaves are changing

and the grizzlies are out,
that's my favourite season.

'At this time of year, the bears are
still high up in the mountains,

'so we're packing essentials
for a hike up into the woods.'

Obviously, a lot of people
are quite scared of bears.

Are you quite fearful of them

or is it just the beauty
that you're focusing on?

I think you should never lose
your respect for bears.

I probably have about one run-in
a year with a bear

which is usually my fault and
something I've done slightly wrong

and they are very tolerant
and they will allow you to get

away with things but statistically,
you know, you could get mauled.

You could get mauled.

There was a guy I knew of.
He spent 30 years in Yellowstone,

filming bears and he was mashed up
twice by bears and I think

that's about the statistical
average. If you do it every day of

your life for 30 years, things are
going to wrong at one point.

But, you know, having the stuff
with you and being sensible

will mitigate the risk a lot.

'Upstream, we need to
cross the river

and head further into the woods.

Wow, look at this! What do
you think? This is incredible.

That is being incredibly
resourceful to make this.

Are you sure it's sturdy enough?
Trying it out.

That is amazing. So that is
literally just a tree that

has either fallen naturally
or someone's helped it.

We helped it.

That must have been hard.
How did you do that with the water?

The water was a little bit lower
and at the time I could just

about scramble across.

This is amazing.
It's like Indiana Jones now.

It is, Indiana Jones in Canada.

Has a bear used it yet?

I don't know. I'd love to know
the answer to that question.

It would be cool to see a bear
using your bridge. Totally.

'We head up out of the valley
along tree-covered slopes.

'Right now, this should be prime
bear-viewing habitat but it's not.'

'The Canadian Government extended
the spring bear-hunting season,

'so trophy hunters roam these valley
forests looking for grizzlies.'

'Now, it's not safe
for Julius and Kristin

'to take guests out to view bears.

'They are campaigning
to get the hunt banned

'and we're going in search of
new ground

'where the hunters can't reach.'

We had a bear last year
called Apple, who we'd been watching

for ten years, we watched her
bring up cubs, and she was shot
last spring. Now, I don't know

if she was shot within the extension
part or the basic part of the season

but it's upsetting when something
like that happens.

From a business point of view,

it's not totally disastrous
but it certainly means we're not

going to make any money. We might
survive but it's going to be tough.

And is it expensive to kill a bear?

If you're a resident - and all
the bears shot round here are

shot by residents -
it's going to cost you $88. $88.

That's less than £50. $88 to kill
a bear, to take a bear's life.

Are we talking a big grizzly?
Yep, that's a grizzly bear.

What?!
What planet are they living on?

I know. Seriously, I thought you
were gonna say thousands. No, $88.

Do you feel in some ways that you're
in the midst of a war then now?

Yeah, I mean if we could get
the grizzly hunt banned,

that would be something
we could be proud of

and it would be a legacy. Whatever
happens to us happens to us.

We may be here for
another ten years, 20 years,
we could be here forever

but it would be a legacy
that we could leave behind,

something that was meaningful
and hopefully permanent.

So, yeah, it would be a huge deal.

I think part of the reason we came
here was to get away from politics

and some of the worst of
human nature and what you find

is everywhere you go in the world,
it doesn't matter where you are,

there's politics and
there's human nature and you

can't really get away from that.
You just have to deal with it.

'There are nearly 15,000 grizzly
bears in British Columbia -

'about a quarter of the entire
North American population.'

'Julius thinks there may be several
hundred in this area alone.'

So, what do you look for,
for good bear habitat?

This. This is exactly what you look
for. You look for avalanche slopes.

I mean, they're unlikely to be
on the snow itself

but just on the sides,
where the fresh green stuff

is beginning to come in.

That's the best place to find
grizzly bears at this time of year.

And when you say fresh green stuff,
I mean berries, latterly,

later in the year...

Later in the year, berries
but right now it's literally...

it's grass, it's forbs,
it's young flowers, glacier lilies,

all that kind of stuff -

things that have got... They don't
look like much to us but in quantity

it's just enough to keep the bear
surviving through the spring.

What do you think it is about bears

that captures people's
imaginations so much?

I mean, you were saying
you've got people that come here,

big, grown, tough men and when
they see a bear, you see tears.

It's totemic. It harks back
to an era of something that's

mostly been lost in this world -
the wild.

You know, the wild out there, but
also the wild inside us, as well,

something we yearn for deeply, even
if we can't quite

express that always.

I think there's something
quite deep there.

'After two hours of hiking, we're
now on an abandoned logging trail

'and spot of our first sign
that we're not alone.'

This is what we're after, isn't it?
Mm. Yum, yum.

You wouldn't want to pick this apart
with your hands if it was fish

but because it's vegetation,
it's fairly safe.

So, that's some kind of maybe skunk
cabbage or something like this.

Mm-hm. And any idea what kind of
bear this might be? Black? Grizzly?

It's really difficult to say.
You can't tell, definitively.

You can guess from the size
and you can guess from what

they've been eating.

Erm... I couldn't tell you,
actually. It could go either way.

Could be either.

Did you ever think when you were
in Afghanistan that one day

you'd be picking through bear shit
with your bear hands...

No! ..in the pouring rain?

Not in my wildest imagination
did I think that.

Strange how life takes
its twists and turns. Yeah.

Well, we know bears are around.
This is good. We certainly do.

It's amazing to see.
He's like a detective,

looking at all the scat
on the way and you can see
we're in the world of Julius

and the Canadian wilderness now.

'Finally, up ahead on the track,
we spot a black bear.'

He or she is gone.

'We attempt to track it.'

WHISPERS: Just up here on the left.

We may miss him again.

We'll just have a look.

WHISPERS: He went in about here
but he might come out further down

or he might go up. OK.

WHISPERS: Look at the tracks.
Awesome. That's great, isn't it?

So, black bear -
any idea of sort of age?

Youngish, but you can see
from the tracks definitively,

it's a black bear, even if we
hadn't seen that ourselves. Yeah.

You can tell from the tracks
it's a black bear.

I would say four
but it's a bit of a guess.

Let's walk up to the corner
and we might still see him.

It's fun tracking bears.
It's good, isn't it?

WHISPERS: Yeah. He's still
in front of us, somewhere. Yeah.

There it is. Yeah.

So, the bear's just having
a little think now,

making a bit of a calculation.

He doesn't really want to leave
this nice feeding zone

but he's not quite sure about us.

Whoops! And he's gone.

Wow, that was pretty awesome.

Amazing how such a big creature

can just disappear like that,
isn't it? I know.

It shouldn't be this difficult.

But do you think one of the things
that's made it harder here

is because it's the hunting season,
so they're much more skittish?

Absolutely. I mean, really, bears
have no reason to be scared of us -

if it wasn't for hunting.
We're not...

They don't naturally predate on us.

We don't naturally bother them
so this behaviour

is unfortunately brought about
through the hunting. Yeah.

But, still, we saw a bear.

Listen, I've seen my black bear now.
Yeah. Just a grizzly.

Now we just need a grizzly. OK.

'It's ten hours since we left
the ranch and Julius decides

'we should set up camp
before nightfall.

'Dusk and dawn are the main times
when bears are active.'

Are we going to be attracting
bears with these? We might.

We'll have to eat them and make sure
we clean up properly.

If you were to have a big pile
of bacon and you got it all over

your T-shirt you definitely wouldn't
want to go and sleep in that

same T-shirt in the tent.

All those years you spent
in those pretty tough situations,

seeing things that
some of us can't imagine,

do you think that has had
a long-lasting effect on you?

Do you bear the scars?

Yes, the scars will always be there.

I mean, ten years ago, when
I came here, I was in a mess.

You know, no two ways about it.
Psychologically, I was in a mess.

In the end, I could barely go out
on the street on my own.

I couldn't drive a car
for nearly two years.

I had problems with my balance
and there was a feeling of dread.

Um... And then coming here,
it still lasted for quite a while

but it got less and less and less
as time went by.

I still have the odd flash
of something,

a sort of remnant
of whatever it was

but most of it has gone. So I think
this place has been good to me.

'In the remote mountains
of British Columbia,

'my host Julius and I are up early

'on our mission
to track grizzly bears.'

So, it's about...

..five in the morning or so.

I'm hoping they're
foraging somewhere.

200,000 berries a day
apparently they eat.

'We head further
into the wilderness.

'Julius thinks that over
the past few decades,

'only a handful of people
have ever ventured here.'

In terms of southern Canada,
this is about as remote as it gets.

Really? Yeah.

I love looking up at the peaks here
and imagining there are places

where no human has ever set foot.

You know, I've thought
about that a lot.

You could almost go 100 yards
into the bush there

and say with some certainty
the same thing.

Isn't that amazing? Yeah.

'Finally, there's evidence
we're in grizzly bear territory.'

Whoa! Look at that!

So that is one of the biggest
bear turds I have ever seen.

Wow. Big grizzly?

It's almost worth feeling
the temperature of it. It's cold.

Yeah, big grizzly bear, that.

And if you look at the shininess
and the greenness of that,

it is cold but it's got to be today.

I'm loving your enthusiasm
for turds out here. It's great.

It's just such a good turd.

BEN LAUGHS

'At this time of year,

'the grizzly bears are in danger
from trophy hunters.

'The new extension in the hunting
season means there's huge conflict

'with those who simply want to view
bears in their natural habitat.'

'We've trekked to 6,000 feet
to avoid the hunters.

'But Julius spies something
in the valley below.'

So we've got a vehicle
right down there. Good spot.

Let's just have a little look.

That's almost certainly a hunter,
so from our perspective

not only are we going to see
less bears than we otherwise would

but also these guys are out to shoot
the bears that we're trying to view,

so that's pretty infuriating.

I can see that - anger, emotion,
everything seems to...

Yeah, we've spent ten years
trying to do this

and then somebody can just turn up
and blow that bear away

and that's the end
of that...for $88.

Doesn't make me happy.

I kind of want to go and suggest
slashing their tyres.

That would be your call, not mine.
Yeah, yeah.

To be honest, we've been
through all those emotions

and we're trying to win
the argument rationally now

because we just want
people to listen.

It's really, really irritating.

Because, presumably,
if you're a bear,

you're going to scarper
at any sign of... Yeah.

So, it will hurt our chances,
anyway,

because these guys are up here
in general but the fact that they're
up here today is definitely

going to hurt our chances.

Yeah.

I'm curious - how much revenue
can they actually bring in?

If it's $88 per bear, as you've
said, which I'm still shocked by,

how does that compare to tourism,
for example -

what you guys are doing?

If you're a foreigner, you pay
a bit more to shoot a bear here

than the locals do.

But total, total, total
for the province,

best case scenario, they bring in
about two million bucks a year.

The hunters? The hunters.

And bear viewing, right now,
our best estimates are 40 million.

$40 million a year and it's
a small, growing industry.

So there's really no...

So there's no argument even
that the money from bear hunting

is superior or could
go back into conservation. No.

In fact, it's even worse than that.

People in the ministry tell us they
spend more money regulating the hunt

than they bring in in income
from it. Now, if that's true,

it means that as a British
Columbian, paying taxes,

I'm subsidising
what's going on down there

and that really, really
pisses me off.

Yeah.

'In the autumn, when there's
no bear hunting,

'the grizzlies are spotted
in huge numbers here.

'But after my 24 hours in the bush,
they remain elusive.'

I think what was more significant
for me was what we didn't see

and that's what Julius really
wanted to drive home to me.

This extension
of the hunting season,

the hunters, they're having
a huge impact

and for someone like Julius
and Kristin who rely on

those bears for tourism,
that's got a massive impact

and for the bears themselves,
they're retreating

to the deep wilderness but, you
know, I still saw that black bear.

It's a magical experience
to see one of these creatures.

They're... It's so rare that
you actually get to see one

that close-up on foot.
It was amazing.

'It's almost time for me to leave
but there's one last job Julius

'and Kristin need help with.'

It does feel good
putting the sign up.

We're kind of proud of what we do,
you know? We're not ashamed of it.

Is there a part of you...
We know there's hunters out there.

They're going to be coming up
and down this road, aren't they?

Yeah, they're not going
to like what they see

but, you know, we have
a right to be here, too.

If the hunt is banned,
that's different.

But, right now, they have
a right to do what they do,

so, for the time being,
we'll just do what we do.

In a dream world, if I come back
in five, ten years, do you...

I suppose you hope
you might have helped

change policy out here?

Yeah, I think so.

I would think five, ten years is
a realistic target for us, actually,

to have the bear hunt banned.
Absolutely.

I hope it will be sooner than that.
Me too! And we're trying hard.

This is being conservative, yeah.
Yeah.

Five to ten years
should be realistic, as well.

Do you think it will happen? Yeah,
it will happen, it will happen.

It's just a question of time.
Absolutely.

It looks great, well done.

Really, well done.
Thank you very much. It's brilliant.

I don't doubt you both.

'There's something rather special
about spending time

'with two individuals

'that love where they are.'

Wow.

'You know, here's a couple
that have taken huge gambles

'but, you know, sometimes,
if you don't take a risk in life,

'you don't stand to benefit.

'Those who take the biggest risks
stand to benefit the most.'

They're still tied to the financial
model but that's the beauty

of what they've done here.

They've shown and demonstrated
to people that you can...

You can do this if you're
willing to take that gamble.

Can I say, guys, this has been
the most amazing, amazing trip.

I'm not going to forget
that black bear.

It's been awesome having you.

It's been incredible. Give me a hug.
Thank you so much.

Look after yourself. I will.

Thank you. Kristin,
thank you so much for everything.

Thank you for coming. Good luck
with everything here. Bye, dogs.

Thank you. Remind me
where I left the car.

By the bridge, that way. That way.

I bet I'm going to meet
a grizzly on my way out, aren't I?

Let us know if you do.

A little smirk on your face.
I kind of hope I do.

Listen, guys,
thank you so much. Take care.

Thank you for coming, Ben.
Bye, guys! Bye!

'I think what's interesting as well,
from my perspective, is that I've

'always known that the wilderness
is a great form of therapy.'

The wilderness can heal people.
The wilderness can educate people.

And it's fascinating
to see how much Julius

has benefitted, in particular,
from a wilderness like this.

This is a circumstance where I'd go
as far as to say that the wilderness

saved his life, really.

'Next time...I'm in Ibiza,

'living with a man
who's built a home from junk.'

It's all really good material.
It's not garbage.

'Leading a wild tribe...'

I don't know which planet
you're from.

'..on a mission to build
a community before time runs out.'

If nothing changes, I think
we've got five years left

and then it's all over. Five years?
Before the 'S' hits the fan.