Journal Entry
Fish Creek and Rainbow Mountain ColorsFish Creek and Rainbow Mountain Colors

I missed seeing a Grizzly in the Canadian Rockies, and only got to meet him long dead.

Karen Meets a GrizzlyKaren Meets a Grizzly Still Meeting with the DeadStill Meeting with the Dead

Hwy 37A to Stewart and Hyder

We decided to take a short detour down highway 37A, when we learned that Grizzly frequented the Fish River to catch spawning Salmon coming up from the Pacific Ocean, adjacent to Misty Fjords National Monument. We arrived too early! Only 8 salmon had made the journey up to FIsh Creek thus far, and several days earlier, 3 grizzly came through, snatched the 8 salmon and retreated to wait for the coming deluge of fish.

Fish Creek Where the Salmon RunFish Creek Where the Salmon Run Waiting Impatiently for the GrizzlyWaiting Impatiently for the Grizzly

BIG GLACIERS!

We met three German tourists who had spent several hours each day for three days to glimpse the Grizzly, without luck. We did not have that much stamina and waited only an hour before we headed up the rest of 37A to glimpse a glacier instead. Bear Glacier and Salmon Glacier did not disappoint. Salmon Glacier, even in it retreat is massive and truly makes the spectator feel like they have come to the end of the world. Salmon Glacier is the 5th largest Glacier in the world!

Bear GlacierBear Glacier Salmon GlacierSalmon Glacier

Flower of the Day Dwarf Firefeed

Dwarf FIreweedDwarf FIreweed

Comments

Sun, 07/10/2016 - 16:06

Raye Myers

Oh no, that's too bad! Grizzly bears would be very cool to witness in person. When do the salmon usually come to Fish Creek and has their journey time been adversely affected over the past years?

Mon, 07/11/2016 - 05:39

Tom Harten

Hi KarenSounds like you're having a great experience! I find this post interesting as I'm working on a new middle school science unit and we are looking at trophic levels and the cycling of energy and matter between ecosystems. The example of bears waiting for ocean run salmon is a great example of this concept for our students to gain an understanding of this concept!

Mon, 07/11/2016 - 10:52

Vilheim (Willi…

How did the bear die? Its cool you could get so close to it though.

Tue, 07/26/2016 - 16:37

Karen Temple-Beamish

yes and I learned from a biologist friend of mine who works on the west coast that bears and eagles deposit their feces far inland.  So the nutrients/energy from the salmon end up fertilizing soils/forests far from the point of origin ( the ocean).

Tue, 07/26/2016 - 16:37

Karen Temple-Beamish

good question - I am not sure how the salmon run has changed over time.  I think we were just a week early for the run at Fish Creek.

Sat, 07/30/2016 - 13:54

Nancy Madigan

Karen Temple-Beamish has passion and compassion for our earth; I am interested in learning all she has to share.

Sun, 07/31/2016 - 10:48

Karen Temple-Beamish

Thanks so much for the high praise Nancy!  And thanks for reading.  Knowing that my friends are present with me on this adventure means alot to me!