태평양에 면한 브리티시컬럼비아의 해안선을 따라 640만 헥타르 면적의 땅을 품은 그레이트 베어 우림은 세계 최대의 해안 온대성 강우림이다. 숲의 오래된 고목 대부분이 잘 보존돼 있다. 밴쿠버에서 북쪽으로 90분을 날아 테라스(Terrace)의 작은 마을 옆 공항에 착륙한 뒤 쌍동선 캐스캐디아(Cascadia)로 갈아탄다. 브리티시컬럼비아의 메이플 리프 어드벤쳐스(Maple Leaf Adventures)에서 운영하는 고급 유람선으로, 최대 24명까지 탑승 가능하다. 묶여 있던 줄을 풀어 던지자 배가 키티마트(Kitimat)의 그림 같은 항구를 벗어난다.
Even for Canadians, who are accustomed to vast spaces and great distances and wilderness that just never seems to end, the Great Bear Rainforest (GBR) is a remote, enormous, and somewhat unknowable place. A series of seemingly endless lush, green mountains separated by deep inlets and fjords that are often draped in cloud and splashed by tumbling waterfalls, it is populated by Indigenous people who have lived here for more than 10,000 years. Some of them will tell you that this place is magic. And just one visit was certainly long enough to convince me that the enchantment is very real.
Encompassing 6.4 million hectares of land, stretching along the Pacific shorelines of British Columbia, the GBR is the largest coastal temperate rainforest in the world. Most of the ancient, old-growth trees are protected and preserved. Flying about 90 minutes north from Vancouver, I land at an airport near the small town of Terrace, and board a double-hulled ship called the M/V Cascadia. Owned and operated by BC-based Maple Leaf Adventures, this comfortable, upscale vessel carries a maximum of just 24 guests. We cast lines and cruise out of the postcard-perfect harbour at Kitimat.