Our friend Ruth visited from PEI, and inspired us to go on two amazing wildlife viewing trips. The first was grizzly bear watching in Bute Inlet, on the British Columba coast; the second was the Adams River salmon run, a tributary of the Fraser River near Kamloops in the BC interior.
Grizzly Bear Watching
[simage=3620,200,n,left,]A trip to see the grizzlies on the Xxx River starts with a trip to Campbell River on the east of Vancouver Island, across the Johnstone Straight from the grizzly area. We left on a Saturday morning ferry from Horseshoe Bay to Nanaimo and picked up a rental car in downtown and headed to Campbell River. An evening stroll on the waterfront and a dinner in a good pub – The Royal Coachman. The next morning we took our boat trip with Aborignal Journeys through the islands between Vancouver Island and the mainland, Quadra being the largest. We entered the Bute Inlet and stopped at the mouth of the Orford River and were greeted by our Homolco First Nation hosts. The area is now only populated during the summer for the tourist season and the very Homolco First Nation’s active logging operation plus a fish hatchery. The tour involved using a minibus to drive around some tracks along the river; at various locations we got out to walk a little and also use some wooden viewing platforms overlooking the river. We saw lots of bears, all females with one or two cubs that are already two years old. The bears were playing and relaxing, and the cubs were also practicing some fishing – no need for real fishing as there are so many dying salmon to simply take from the water. Seeing the large chinook salmon in the river was also a highlight.
On the way back we and the other way around Sonora island and came across a pod of approximately 100 Pacific White-sided dolphins. They came and played around at the stern of our boat as we looped around the area, jumping and diving under our wake – simply amazing!
Back in Campbell River we had a good halibut and chips dinner in the sun on the beachfront, before the long ride home. We said a brief farewell to Ruth in Campbell River as she was doing a side trip to Tofino.
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Adams River Sockeye Salmon run
[simage=3628,200,n,left,]A trubutary of the Fraser River, the Adamns River in British Columbia is one of the most important sockeye salmon breeding areas in North America. The salmon run occurs in mid-October, and based on natural cycles in the number of fish, millions can arrive in a concentrated area near the river mouth.
Its a long but easy four hour drive from Vancouver to Kamloops, over the Coquihala pass. We stopped for lunch in the famous Owl Street cafe in Hope (disappointing given its rating as one of Canada’s top highway stops). We enjoyed the local Brambles Bakery & Cafe bakery in Merritt much more – Yelp has really helped us to make interesting road trip stops and there is never an excuse to stop at a Tim Hortons! We enjoyed a walk along the Thompson River in Kamloops and an early dinner and a beer at the excellent Noble Pig brew pub.
[simage=3629,200,n,left,]In the morning we made an early start and had breakfast at the excellent Hello Toast cafe in downtown Kamloops. We enjoyed the Adams River salmon viewing, which is in the small Roderick Haig-Brown Provincial Park. Lots of people, but there is a good several kilometer stretch of the river to walk along. There were many thousands of fish in the river. The sockeye are very distinctive with their red back and green head. There were also several large chinooks in the river and lots of trout. The trout are interesting because they are trying to knock the eggs out of the sockeye to eat them. We were surprised that several people were fly fishing in the river – apparently for the trout because the salmon don’t eat anything after they leave the lower Fraser River. We ate some grilled salmon in bannock for lunch before heading back to Vancouver, and making another coffee stop in Merritt.
It’s interesting that right next to one of the world’s greatest salmon rivers is an aggregate quarry on the hillside. Good erosion control practices in place (we hope).
