What has Tom Smith, our resident expert relayed to you that has surprised you the most about these brown bears? I think it was really interesting when he spoke of his philosophy about why the bears would be aggressive in Glacier National Park, as an example, compared to the bears here. These bears haven't shown aggression and that's the only reason why we're able to fish among the bears. Otherwise, it would not be a safe set-up.

Everyone is kind of in their own world. The bears are out there and they're fishing and doing their thing and we're out there and we're fishing and we're doing our thing and it's just really neat to see how that works. It's kind of like the Christmas card where you see the lion with the lamb and you know they're both at peace and that's how I feel. You just can't even believe that it's possible.

Tom explained how we have such an incredible food source here and the demand to have to fight and be aggressive over food isn't as necessary. These guys have to put on an awful lot of weight to make it through the winter and at Glacier the food source isn't as available. These salmon have an incredible amount of calories and they just keep packing them away. These bears are so healthy and so fat and Tom was showing us when we were walking back on the path where you would get these belly holes - this is places where the bear has dug in the dirt when the bear wants to lie down and take a nap. He's got to make these holes so that there's room for his belly (laughing) or stomach.

An area like this is defined as much by the people who have chosen to work and live here as the wildlife. Tell me about your experience with the staff and guides here at Kulik Lodge.

It's a special kind of person that would be here. It would be a person that values nature and really enjoys the serenity of everything that's around us. You're certainly here being entertained by nature and entertaining yourself. There's nothing like a mall or a movie theater or anything like that so your fun is right here. These guides are my role models and I really admire them because they're back to nature, which is really where I'd like to be.

I'm not always there. I get caught up in material things and I don't really like to admit that. I just admire people that are close to nature. They can find as much joy from that bear or from that rainbow trout as they can from that gorgeous red Porsche. They're just not wrapped up in material things. They're here because they truly love what they're doing. There's no way they would be here if they didn't because I'm sure the pay is not terrific and the social life certainly isn't what it would be elsewhere. Yes, they're meeting a lot of different people, the clients. But, it's got to be lonely because some are married and they have families back home. You've really have to love what you're doing. No question about it. And they're all top notch.