Viewing grizzly bears from the stands
Grizzly Bear and Wildlife Tour Blog
We offer an exceptional fly-in lodge for Grizzly Bear Watching and Whale Watching in British Columbia.
Learn about What’s happening at the Lodge, view our British Columbia’s Wildlife Report, read our Grizzly Bear Watching Blog and Whale Watching Blog. Learn more about a Day on the River Blog, see Our Tour Guide’s Photos & Blog and Photos from Our Guests.
Trapper Rick’s river scenery
If you have chosen the extra day at Grizzly Bear Lodge it is normally spent with Trapper Rick on a wild river that few people get to visit. It is a classified fishing river and therefore is not open to public fishing without a guide. As the first photo shows just going to the river requires passing through the foothills of the Coast Mountains. The second photo shows the upper river in full flood after a heavy fall rain, it is possible for the river to rise six to eight feet over night and go down just as fast. The sudden rise and fall of the river is due to the fact that it is located in a steep sided valley, which again provided for interesting photos. Time spent with Rick is worth the trip as he explains his stewardship of the valley and his years trapping in the area. Also a chance to fish for pink and coho salmon and hike to areas to wait for the grizzly bears to show the best fishing techniques.
Whales watching by Braille
Some of the mornings, until noon at the latest, provide your guide a reason to use their GPS. It is also fun to try and locate orca or humpback whales by sound. The whales by Braille routine requires allot of stopping and listening until a “tell tail” blow is heard from either an orca or a humpback whale it is then necessary to determine the direction of the sound and to move ion that direction. This is more of a challenge than one would think as the fog muffles the sound and makes determining direction interesting. The whales make this more difficult as they frequently change direction while the orca are at least a little more consistent in their movements. This low fog makes for a mystic picture and also shows why the morning that has fog clear up pretty fast.
Grizzly bear claw surgery
A grizzly bear’s normal claw length is 3 to 4 inches long; it is curved and the sharp claws helps it to dig for its food. In early spring the bears use these claws to dig up the root bulb of the skunk cabbage, one of their favourite foods. As the season progresses the claws allow grizzlies to get a good hold on the beach rock they turn over in search of crab, clams, amphipods and other tiny invertebrates. Claws are also used to scrape mussels and barnacles off the beach logs and rocks. And as this photo, by UK’s Janis Worsley, shows the claws permit the bears to hold the salmon in position while also opening the belly to expose the fat rich eggs. Views such as this are common in the fall as viewing takes place from the stands on Knight Inlet’s Glendale River. The stands overlook the spawning channel and tens of thousands of pink salmon that come to spawn. It is a grizzly bear buffet and the main and only course is salmon.
Mystic morning in Knight Inlet
I love running up Knight Inlet in the morning as every morning offers something special and this was one I really liked. The run up the inlet to where we watch the grizzly bears is just over an hour and this photo was taken at the start on the run and was special for two reasons. First that I like clouds and cloud formations especially with the dark cover and the sun starting to show through. Second that sun was shinning on the valley that contained the Glendale River which was our destination so I knew we had a great day ahead.
Picnic lunch with class
Guests from France had a tradition of bringing a bottle of champagne to celebrate their vacation. Today was whale watching and our picnic had a little extra class, my job that morning was to make sure we had enough glass so we could drink with style and to make sure that both boats had lunch together and the rest was a surprise for everyone. The lodge’s picnic lunches whether whale watching or on a grizzly tour are always hits with the guests.
Active White-sided dolphins
Pacific white-sided dolphins are often encountered on tours from Grizzly Bear Lodge. Grizzly bear tours or whale watching safari each have an equal possibility of coming across a pod of dolphins. Dolphins are playful and enjoy riding the bow wave and the rear wake of the boat. The best advise is to point and shoot and take as many pictures as possible and maybe a dozen or so may even contain dolphins and not just water and one or two of those may be good pictures. The pods range in size from several dozen to over five hundred and the more there are its seems the more playful the dolphins.
How close is too close?
There is a marine regulation requiring boats to stay 100 meters from orca and this is enforced by Strait Watch and the Warden. This day we were lucky to be sitting quietly as the orca were passing in shore of our boat when a female turned and left the pod she was traveling with and swam around and beneath our boat. The lucky part was that Strait Watch was sitting about fifty meters from us so we had the best witness that we were not approaching the orca. Were we talking with them after the encounter and both agreed that the orca was likely fishing and approached our boat out of curiosity. The reason is not important the photos are what counts. Definitely a bonus day.
Trapper Rick’s River
Two views of Trapper Rick’s Kakweikan River. The turbulent and fast water below the falls less than one hundred meters from Rick’s cabin and visible form the deck and the slow moving peaceful river adjacent to the cabin. Both parts of the river attract fishermen (sorry I just can’t be politically correct an use the term “fishers” as that refers to a weasel like animal and not someone enjoying themselves on a river bank) and women even though they may have never put a rod in the water before. From late July through September the river is full of pink salmon and coho and guests cannot resist just one cast and then “fish on” and they are hooked. It could be what is known as “fishing in a barrel” the only saving grace for the guides is that the river is “catch and release” so no fish come home to be cleaned.
Black bear evening tour
