… salmon jumping the falls. Moving out of the shade, if there are no grizzly bears fishing in the river, one can go to the water edge and with patience get a photo of salmon jumping the falls. There is a fish ladder, which bypasses the falls, but many salmon prefer the traditional route.
A day tour to Trapper Rick’s occurs when you book the extra day at the lodge. We cross Knight Inlet pass through Thompson Sound to the Kakweikan River and Trapper Rick’s cabin. The river is located on the BC mainland and we travel by road, cross a river by boat and a short level hike to Rick’s cabin. Once at the cabin we walk 200 meters (yards) down river to sit and observe….
These two juvenile grizzlies were tired of waiting so they thought that maybe if they had a fight is might attract the salmon? It seems that our guests did not care why the activity was changing just that it was changing and that it made for much better photo opportunities.
A second year grizzly bear cub’s preferences is to wait closer to our viewing platform and use a tree for a backrest. It leaves the catching to mom however it should get into the action as it is likely that it will have to be doing the catching next year. This is the learning year so maybe less sitting. Tomorrow boredom….
An adult grizzly bear on the river near our viewing platform waits patiently for the salmon to move up river within catching distance of her position. Patience is rewarded and she has a family to feed. However this is not always the case, tomorrow….
Another great photo by Glen 
one of Grizzly Bear Lodge’s guides. And how do I know that the eagle is picking up a bottom fish because I can see it in the water just in front of the eagle’s talons. Bottom fish have an “orange” colour so this is one that was left behind by a sports fisher and floated to the surface.
A mother grizzly bear with first year cubs will not take her cubs into the water to wait for salmon to arrive. Rather she will be content to graze on the sedge grass and once the salmon are in the river and easier to catch she will fish. While she fishes the cubs wait close by on the bank until the fish are brought to them.
http://www.masey.com.au/2010/08/dream-grizzly-trip-day-one/
It is late August and a grizzly bear and cub in Knight Inlet’s Glendale River wait for the tide to rise and bring in another school of salmon. The salmon school in the bay and with higher water they move up the river to the spawning areas. We are in our viewing boat also waiting for the salmon and the excitement of watching grizzlies fish.
You know that this killer whales / orca is close when you realize my camera is a Pentax Optio Wpi 6MP and 3X Optical Zoom and does not have one of a “long lens”. Even better is the calf that is shadowing its mother.
Just like that our season has come to an end. I would like to thank all of our wonderful guests and staff who made this year a huge success. I am happy to stay that all of our team is planning to return next season. We are actively taking bookings, with dates starting June 1 2025. Hope to see many of you next season.
The wildlife viewing this season was awesome. A couple highlights that come to mind was the shear number of salmon in our local rivers, as well as the abundance of Resident Orca. With salmon returns being so strong this year, we were happy to see bears in excellent condition. By the end of our season most of the bears had packed on a lot of weight and were getting very “picky” about what parts of the salmon they would eat. Hopefully this will translate into more cubs being born this winter. Another positive was the weather conditions. We had enough rain to keep our fire risks low and it made for some excellent wild berries. The bears took full advantage of this, with the berry season extending far past its normal conclusion. This did mean that we had to work hard to find bears during our summer season, (as they were often feeding on the berries deep into the forest), but moving forward it is excellent that they had such an abundant food supply. The Humpbacks also didn’t disappoint, with great numbers and a few new calves returning with their mothers to feed. After a slower year for resident Orca sightings, this season was one of the best that I can remember. In fact as Im writing this the A62 and A23’s are still being spotted in the area by dedicated biologists. Strong numbers of Chinook and Chum salmon are providing them with a steady food source. There are a lot of positive signs and we are hopeful that 2025 will be another great season.
Over the winter and spring we will be doing some repairs and maintenance. We plan on having a new cedar front deck built in time for the 2025 season, as well as new ceilings and paint in parts of the lodge and rooms. Theres always projects on the go.
Felix, Julien, Ryan, Zack and Myself all look forward to welcoming guest in June. See everyone soon.
Angus Reid
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