River Day

For those that want an adventure that goes a little more off the beaten path… to Trapper Rick’s!

Our optional extra day is truly extra-ordinary, please take a look below.

Extra Day In Camp

Trapper's cabin

If you choose the extra day in camp we cross Knight Inlet pass through Thompson Sound to the Kakweikan River and spend a day with Trapper Rick.  This wild river is located on the BC mainland and we travel by old logging roads to the river we cross then a fifteen-minute hike to Rick’s cabin. The above photo is of Rick’s cabin while the lower photo shows the view from the cabin’s deck. Looking down the river past the falls there are good spots to fish for salmon or trout if you are interested the only caution is that you may be sharing the area with other fishers (not people but grizzlies). This past season was a good one for sharing and many guests obtained excellent photos of Rick’s bears.

Cabin View

 

 

 

 

 

Black Bear Island Hopping

black bear crossing

When you come to Grizzly Bear Lodge all tours that leave the lodge are by boat because we are on an island which is one of several hundred in the area at the mouth of Knight Inlet. If you click on “Google Map Of Itinerary” at the top of this page, then click on the green square in the lower left corner and this becomes a Google Earth Map. It is then possible to zoom in to view the number of varying sized islands. The point of all this is to show that if a bear wants to move around in the area at some time it must swim. This bear is not a particularly fat bear or you would see more of it’s back out of the water but they are interesting to follow as long as you stay back to one side so as not to prevent them from going ashore. However at times we have blocked them from shore when that shore happens to be our island.

 

 

Black Bears on the Beach

Black Bear

Finding black bears on the beach is a cooperative effort that includes the guests and guide. If you notice the top half of the beach is in a dark shadow and that makes bears hard to spot when you are running the boat and scanning the beach. All the eyes in the boat need to be on the search for black bears to be successful. It may be the guides “job” but we will gladly take all help and are willing to stop to check even if it is occasionally a rock or log because most of the time it is a bear.

 

 

“Two For One” Bald Eagles

bald eagles

Bald eagles are sexually mature at four or five years of age and this is indicated by the fact they now have their white heads. When they are old enough to breed, they often return to the area where they were born. It is thought that bald eagles mate for life and thus when we are running along the shore on tours from Grizzly Bear Lodge if you see one eagle the other will be close. It is not very common to have them in the same tree as it narrows the area for fishing but is does give one a chance to determine which is the female. The female is the larger of a mated pair in this case I think the higher of the two but unless they are side by side on a branch it is hard to tell.

 

 

Black Bear are shore bears

Black Bear

As I have said before “Black bears are where you find them” and they are found on all the trips that leave the Lodge. On grizzly bear tours running up Knight Inlet, whale watching safari to the Johnstone Strait or on the extra day to trapper Rick’s.  Black bears are frequently along the shore searching for food. This bear was on an actual black bear tour we take on the evening that you arrive at the lodge. We travel through the local area for about an hour and a half looking for black bears, eagles, seals and other marine wildlife.

 

 

Spin-fishing with Trapper Rick

River Fishing

On that extra day’s stay at the Lodge we visit Rick on the Kakweikan River. Travelling over old logging roads to a river crossing we then have a short hike to Rick’s cabin, which overlooks a set of falls. At the falls there are salmon that leap the falls or use the fish ladder to bypass the falls. The salmon gather below the falls and at the peak of the run grizzly bears come to feed. This is an opportunity to fish on the river and catch pink or coho salmon as well as trout. Many guest say they have no interest in fishing but once they see the pristine river full of salmon they say they will try for a few minutes which turns into an hour or more. We have the time and the day is yours so enjoy it.

 

 

Running with dolphins

Dolphins Close

Once you are with a large pod of pacific whitesided dolphins they are everywhere. They seem to like 8 mph (GPS speed) as a speed for running along side the boat. Glenn took this photo of my guests not believing what they were seeing. Note the glare from my head. Besides running beside the boat they follow in the wake and stick their nose within one meter (yard) of the motor’s prop. The key to operating the boat is to maintain a constant speed and direction or the dolphins will leave.

Dolphins following boat

 

 

 

 

Traffic jam at Trapper Rick’s

Grizzly blocking road

On your extra day in camp we cross Knight Inlet pass through Thompson Sound to the Kakweikan River and spend a day with Trapper Rick.  This river located on the BC mainland is accessible only by boat. From the dock we travel by truck to Rick’s cabin and occasionally find Grizzly Bears on the road. We followed this bear down the road for five or six minutes until it reached its destination and turned into the forest. The roads are a main highway for the bears as travel is easier then forest trails and being that Rick’s truck is the only one using the road there is no traffic congestion.

 

 

Successful Fishing

Bald Eagle Fishing

Whether you are on the lodge’s front deck, on a grizzly bear trip, whale watching in Johnstone Straits, or on your way to Trapper Rick’s you will see bald eagles. The likely hood of watching them catch a fish increases when whale watching because there is an abundance of herring in the area and therefore more fish to catch. However this eagle picked up a rock cod which is a bottom fish and that means that it was caught and thrown to the eagle to get the photo.