Since moving to Squamish in 2025, I've been gifted something I never expected: a front-row seat to one of nature's most captivating residents. In just my first summer and fall here, I spotted well over a hundred black bears roaming the valleys, parks, and trails of this wild place nestled between the mountains and the sea. It's the kind of place where a morning coffee on the deck can turn into a wildlife documentary, and where checking both ways before crossing a trail means watching for bears as much as bikes. To say Squamish changed my relationship with the outdoors would be an understatement, it completely rewired it.
What surprised me most wasn't the sheer number of encounters, but how those encounters reshaped everything I thought I knew about black bears. Up close, sometimes closer than I ever planned, these animals revealed themselves to be gentle, curious, and remarkably shy. More often than not, a bear would catch my scent or hear my shutter click and simply melt back into the brush without so much as a backward glance. They don't want trouble, they just want to forage in peace. The photos below are a collection of those quiet, unscripted moments, each one a small reminder that we're just visitors in their home, and what a beautiful home it is.
