There’s lots to see and do right here at the lodge. Some of the best wildlife viewing opportunities are right outside your window. The trip here on the float plane is a scenic one with lot’s of great photo opportunities.
Looking the other direction from yesterday’s post and a little earlier in the morning we have a rare sunrise. The morning cloud cover is more common than a sunny morning. By noon the overcast has normally departed for a clear day but to be honest an overcast day is much better for photos when you are on the water. A bright sun shinning down and reflecting back can make photographing challenging.
Unlike yesterdays post with the fog this has a much more dangerous look. It was a morning run up Knight Inlet to watch grizzly bears and as we turned Littleton Point to enter Knight’s we got quite a surprise. The water was calm without a breath of wind and in about fifteen minutes the sun broke through the clouds and the day turned out to be perfect but that fifteen minutes was a little unnerving.
Black bear cubs tend to stay close to their mother when they are walking the beach. If a noise startles them while we are watching from the boat they run to mother rather than up the beach for cover. They only go up the beach if the mother says and then it is into a tree. As the photo show they are almost synchronized with mother in their walking.
I always enjoy a sunrise from Grizzly Bear Lodge’s dock. As a guide I am up before 6:30 to make sure the coffee is ready when guests are called and my boat is loaded for the day. Loaded with the picnic lunch, ice in the drinks cooler and enough gas tanks for a full day on the water. Full day being away from the lodge by 7:30 or 8:00 depending on the time of the season and back around 4:00 with a bathroom stop somewhere in between.
Guest normally arrive at the Lodge from Campbell River between three and four o’clock. Once rooms have been sorted out, guests settled in, snacks on the front deck and Angus’s talk about the lodge and your visit’s itinerary it is time for the first tour. The first evening is a trip in the local waters looking for black bears, bald eagles, seals and even on occasion a grizzly bear. The trip is an hour plus depending on what is found and is used to familiarize you with the boats and guides.
Coming into the dock at Grizzly Bear Lodge. Notice the cabin over in the far right corner if you manage to book that you always have an interesting view from your window. The main lodge in the background with boats at the dock. On the right the “cooks” boat she has a half mile commute to the lodge from her float-house. Beside it, the boat with the dark top, is one of the tour boats and in the back left the important camp boat. Important to you because it is used to pull the prawn and crab traps and they are a favourite at the Lodge. We are missing our larger boat that normally does the grizzly bear tours.
Our visit to Grizzly Bear Lodge
Please click on the above link to view a guest’s trip in PDF format.
Few seaplanes seat eight guest comfortably so we normally have two planes bring guests into Grizzly Bear Lodge from Campbell River. This also provides us with room for the “always” necessary groceries. As you can see there are groceries from the first plane stacked near the end of the dock and luggage waiting with guests to be placed on the second plane that is nearing the dock. For many of the guests this is their first experience flying in a float plane and the reviews are mixed but I would say they are overwhelmingly positive.
This photo is much harder to get than one of a grizzly bear. Although the sun does rise every morning it is often behind the layer of cloud that hangs over BC’s Knight Inlet. By mid-morning the clouds have burned off but it is past sunrise time. Actually while on the whale watching tours it is nice to have a little cloud cover as it is better for photos than the bright sun reflecting off the water.
The herring ball mentioned in the May 14th is an ideal place for bald eagles to feed. The summer of 2015 on the BC coast was a summer with an abundance to eagles. This photo was one chosen from a group that had over thirty eagles feeding in one area. Two of the eagles without the white heads (means they were born this summer) are learning to pick herring out of the water. They follow one of their parents on a diving run and copy their technique hoping for success.
Bald Eagles are frequently sighted in our area. At times they can be seen in large numbers. This is usually where food supplies are high. For example this could be in areas with high concentrations of baitfish or along the rivers in the fall when the salmon are spawning. They are not migratory, but do move around with the food supply. As mentioned earlier when the salmon are spawning we often see many along the rivers, while there will be fewer along the coastline. With little need for camouflage their white head and tail feathers can be spotted easily. The female is slightly larger and her white head extends down a bit farther onto the body, but it is subtle. It takes these birds 4.5 – 5 years to acquire this unique plumage. As juveniles they are a brown colour. With exceptional eyesight and the ability to view 270 degrees they are understandably often seen in high perches and in trees near points and passageways.
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