Tag Archives: scenery
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.
Grizzly Bear Lodge’s front deck sunrise
Early risers get the sunrise at Grizzly Bear Lodge. The guides are up at 6:30 setting out breakfast, fresh coffee and getting our boats packet with picnic lunches and drinks for the full day ahead. Guests are called by seven and we like to be underway by eight although some guests (depending on how long they have been in British Columbia) are up waiting for the guides. The overcast sky looks ominous however Knight Inlet does attract that low morning cloud but it is gone before noon for the whale watching safaris which travel toward the Johnstone Strait area. For the grizzly bear tour which heads up the inlet is gone by the time you reach Glendale Cove around nine.
Great Bear Rainforest heron
A misty morning in the Glendale River estuary and Lynn Morris captures a great blue heron the safest way. Our wilderness tours leave the lodge by eight in the morning for the hour and quarter run along the shores of Knight Inlet with a constant lookout for wildlife. Wildlife seen like the ever present bald eagles, frequently black bears, often pacific white-sided dolphins and on the rare occasion killer whales. Most days the run up the inlet is fog free and the few days there is fog it clears part way up the inlet. This appears to be a day with a low mist coming down the inlet and adding to the mystery and excitement in a grizzly tour. Heron are normally seen wading shores, in the river, walking on kelp beds or the lodges log breakwater looking for food on pilings less common. Even thought they do nest in trees I still find it hard to accept when I see this long legged bird sitting in a fir tree along the shore.
Trees of interest
Almost anything and everything will be of interest to guests. One of my first comments to guest in the boat is that if your want to stop, slow down or go in any direction for a photograph please let me know. We do not run on a tight schedule about the only guideline is to be back to the lodge for dinner as a result there are always interesting photos. Some guests have an interest in birds and some in the variety of scenery some even lake pictures of the bears.
Trapper Rick Visit
If you stay the extra day at Grizzly Bear Lodge you visit The Trapper on the Kakweikan River at the head of Thompson Sound. Rick has lived and trapped in the area over the past twenty years and has a passion for the area and the grizzlies of “his” river valley. Few people outside of our guest visit the area as it is not open to public fishing therefore access to the area is limited. The first photo is the view from front deck of Rick’s cabin where it is not uncommon to see grizzly feeding below the falls. The second is the approach to the cabin through a trail covered by a canopy of alder trees. The main concern of walking the trail is to avoid stepping in the bear scat.
Photogenic island
The area we travel between the lodge on Minstrel Island and the Johnstone Strait area where we whale watch occasionally has low cloud (fog). Most days it is clear by the time we reach the Straits but if not it is gone by noon. This being the reason your guides each have a GPS with programmed routes, which made it a safe trip. These conditions do make for some interesting photography and this island is often in the pictures. I have learned over the years that the scenery in our area is considered “breath taking” by most of the guests and I still marvel at the variety of photos the guests share in the evening as they sit in the lodge’s common area.
Purse seining
A whale-watching safari does not only include wildlife it means stopping to watch and explain all things of interest. From log booms towed by tugs to seine fishing. Seine fishing is a method of fishing that employs a seine or dragnet net. A seine is a fishing net that hangs vertically in the water with its bottom edge held down by weights and its top edge buoyed by floats. Once there are sufficient salmon in the net both ends are pulled together at the back of the boat and the bottom of the net held down by the weights is closed by pulling a draw string the same way one would close the top of a purse. Thus the name purse seining. The salmon are then bailed into the boat using a long handled net on ropes and a hydraulic wench. The nets are set and left open for about an hour but we try to watch the more interesting part of bailing the salmon this is not difficult to do as there are normally several dozen vessels fishing in the area at any one time. The time frame of this picture it was a “food fish” for the local native people of Alert Bay.
Early morning at Grizzly Bear Lodge
Early morning (6:30 a.m.) from the front yard of the lodge, early depending on which time zone you just arrived from, provides some great photo opportunities. It is not uncommon to hear guest moving about the lodge before we (the guides) rise and shine. This sunrise is reasonably common, as our mornings are frequently overcast. The overcast is due to the wind funnel nature of Knight Inlet, which draws in clouds over night. The good news is that most days they are gone by noon.
