After 74 days stuck in the backwoods of the Caycuse watershed, Bear Henry got out of a stranded camper van and started to walk.
“I wanted my life back. I missed the people in it,” said Henry, who uses they/them pronouns, on Friday before a gathering of media in Beacon Hill Park. “I had so much perspective out there. I was like: ‘Man, I want to be a better person.’ ”
Henry, 37, said they had decided to go camping and visit the old-growth logging protest camps in Fairy Creek for two or three days, and left Lake Cowichan on Nov. 27. They weren’t seen again until Wednesday afternoon, despite missing-person alerts and numerous ground and helicopter searches.
Henry said they got lost on the way to the camps. It was dark and raining so hard, Henry blew past Caycuse without realizing it and just kept going.
The van was tumbling along the steep mountain road. It was getting really bad and really scary, said Henry, Then the van got stuck in gravel and Henry was unable to dig it out.
“It was dark. It was rainy. I couldn’t see anything. I was like: ‘I need to go to bed. I’ll figure it out.’ ”
It took a few days before Henry realized they were in trouble. Helicopters buzzed in the distance. But Henry, with only an emergency blanket and a flashlight, wasn’t spotted.
Given the potential for violence between loggers and anti-logging protesters, Henry was worried someone would come and attack.
“Every day I was so scared to get out of my van. I wondered when someone might come and attack me. No one could hear me scream. No one knew where I was. Every day was just terrifying. What if I get killed out here? What if I die out here?”
Henry recalled the survival skills their Uncle James taught them.
“As much as I didn’t know it as a kid, anything he taught me came back in those moments — know when to rest, know your limits. know to ration, know to have little sips. See if you can find the sun and learn the time from that.”
Henry ate anything they could find in the van — expired tins of cat food, bean medley, tomatoes, tomato sauce and raw rice soaked in water for days.
“People hate chickpeas. When I found chickpeas, I was like: ‘My God. I found chickpeas.’ ”
Henry collected water from a nearby waterfall, and lay down a lot, napping and daydreaming, just to keep sane.
“Your mind just shuts down. It goes into complete survival mode,” said Henry.
But life, friends and love were calling. Henry, who has a serious back injury, decided to start walking.
“I’m not dying. I’ve been through worse. … This will not kill me. I’m too loved. I have people that I love and I will make it out of this. I don’t know how. But I will.”
Henry walked for two days. On Wednesday, Henry heard a car on the road and ran to flag it down.
“I ran so fast and hard, pleading: ‘Dear God, give me a ride out of here.’ ... I’ve been walking for two days.”
Two men, fallers from Gemini Logging, recognized Henry immediately, telling them there were missing-person posters all over Lake Cowichan. Henry started to cry.
The loggers took Henry to Tim Hortons in Lake Cowichan and provided money for food.
“That’s humanity right there,” said Henry. “I learned from them, which was weird because we live in two different worlds.”
Back in Victoria, Henry was surrounded by friends in Beacon Hill Park. Henry is homeless, couch-surfing with friends, and struggling to get by on a disability pension. Henry’s friends are trying to find an affordable place where they can live. Henry needs identification, clothes and a warm winter jacket.
And Henry would love it if they never had to see a can of chickpeas again.
