Perhaps I shouldn't have done. We had been told by our guide - who turned out to be an expert on grizzly bears - that this is what she would be doing as we moved deeper into the forest. And she had assured us that it was correct procedure. It's just that it seemed to go against everything that i had learned and experienced about being around wild animals; as well as my natural inclination to try and make myself as inconspicuous as possible.

But, it turns out that going about quietly when walking through these forests is the worst thing you can possibly do. We were to learn later that most attacks by bears on human beings happen when the animals are taken by surprise. If that happens, their natural instinct will be to consider you a threat and attack. Therefore, you stand a much better chance of avoiding a nasty encounter by ensuring that the bear knows you're coming.

It may, of course, still decide to take you on - especially if you're unfortunate enough to come between a female and her cubs - but, with enough warning, it may have time to decide that you don't pose a threat and leave you alone.

I learnt quite a lot about the character, social structure and habitat of grizzly bears during my three day stay at the Knight Inlet Lodge: a wonderful floating eco-lodge situated in this spectacular inlet in the Northwest Pacific Coast of Canada. One hundred and fifty nautical miles from Vancouver, and across the Johnstone Straight from Vancouver Island, This marvelous inlet stretches one hundred and twenty kilometers across the magnificent Coast Range of mountains.

The Lodge began its life in a different part of the inlet from where it is now and it was established mainly to house people on fishing trips. According to one of my fellow guests who used to come to the inlet on fishing expeditions, the lodge became notorious for a time as a place where business tycoons came for week-ends of rest and recreation. They were supposed to go there for the fishing, but soon word got around about wild parties and prostitutes being flown in from Vancouver to entertain. It was euphemistically called the Inlet Hilton for a time.

The present lodge is certainly very different. It was bought by two dedicated conservationists, Dean and Kathy Wyatt, and moved to its current position in Glendale Cove on the foundations of an old logging camp. It accommodates up to 30 guests and has very comfortable wood-paneled rooms, some with views to the inlet, all with private bathrooms. Each room can sleep up to four people. It is open from May to October and is there to give people an opportunity to see grizzly bears in the wild and to learn more about them.

And we certainly got to see them. Everyday we were able to see them from boats in an area of sedge between the forest and the river estuary. There, in the early summer, the bears come down from the forest to feed on the grasses, succulents and barnacles that constitutes their main diet until the berries come out later in the summer.

Regrettably, and despite my initial fear of attack, we didn't manage to see any bears on either our forest walk or on the bear-spotting hike. The most reliable time to watch bears in great numbers is during the salmon-spawning season, in the late summer. This is when they are at their most active - attracted to the rivers by the nutrient-rich salmon that come up river to spawn and die. It must be a fantastic sight to see them struggling with these slithery and determined fish.

We were also too early for the other highlight of a visit to the inlet: the Orca whales. The Johnstone Straight, an hour and half by boat from the lodge, is considered the best spot in the world in which to watch Orcas; as well as porpoises, minke whales, and, in the early autumn, humpback whales. During the season, the lodge includes a day trip out to the Straight to spend the day observing these wonderful animals.

We may have missed out on the whales, but there was still plenty of wildlife to see: bald headed eagles, loons, seals, deer and, on a trip to Guilford Island, a pod of very lively white-sided dolphins surfing in our wake.

Then there is the beauty of the Inlet itself. And it is stunningly beautiful. Spectacular snow-capped mountain peaks come straight down to the sea. Waterfalls plummet down sheer rock faces. Islands of every size dot the channel. The water is nearly always calm and creates a perfect surface on which to reflect close majestic peaks, and, toward the end of the inlet, the runoff from a glacier gives the water a surreal tinge of arctic green. In the mornings, low-lying clouds hover above the hills, like suspended strands of cotton wool, intensifying the silence and the enigmatic quality of the place.

But in an area of so much natural beauty, it was the forest that appealed to me most. Different people connect spiritually to different natural habitats. I always find temperate rain-forests to be magical places, and The Great Bear Forest is no exception. It is said to be the largest tract of contiguous ancient temperate forest left on Earth. It stretches north all the way to Alaska and its habitat supports the largest grizzlies in Canada.

And it is a wondrous place. Firs and cedars, some growing to enormous sizes, form a marvelous canopy over the forest - especially beautiful with raindrops sparkling in the sun after a passing shower. In some particularly dense parts of the forest, the ground is thick with all manner of ferns, bushes and layers of fallen logs; all crumbling in the damp atmosphere and covered in wildflowers and mosses in a thousand shades of green.

Opportunistic trees that grow over the top of much older ones, twist their roots into fantastic shapes in the slow process of digging them into the ground; and as they do, they form wonderful “grottoes” that make it easy to see why people in the past believed that fairies and other magical beings inhabited the forests.

And perhaps in Knight Inlet they still do. The indigenous people of the area considered bears to be sacred creatures, and were spoken of as such in their legends and featured in their totem poles. If you come across one of these magical beings, it's best not to contemplate them in quiet awe. Better to call out and let them know you're there.