Friday, 26 August 2011 Silver Salmon Lodge - day four

We awoke this morning and got ourselves ready for a trip out onto the lake behind the lodge. Breakfast was once again a hearty meal that filled you for a day of activity. The lake is not used by many as it does not have salmon or bears a lot. But the weather was excellent and we were keen to have a go on the lake.

We followed the path to the lake well worn, but muddy from the recent rain. We got to the pier that was in need of a little repair and there was a motor boat and two canoes. We got one of the canoes together and the three of us boarded for another three hour tour….

Paddling out onto the lake it was interesting to see that it was a little different to other lakes we had seen, it had a lot of growth on the lake lilies and other grasses forming a mat on the top of large sections interspersed with open water.

We manoeuvred our way through the channels providing wonderful views along sections of the lake. In places the water was extremely still. We were lucky in that there was a slight breeze that did not make paddling too difficult yet kept the mosquitos away. We paddled over to see a magnificent beaver dam, which showed signs of active tenancy. We then proceeded to turn toward a channel out of this area when we were surprised to see a beaver swimming on the lake top only a few feet away. It too then noted our presence and with a whump of its tail submerged not to be seen again.

Having ticked off another wildlife experience we headed into the next channel, here again after navigating through the lilies and reeds we observed another beaver dam this one had less signs of life around it. We continued along the pond till we came to a thickly reeded area. Here Brian asked Shoeleh if she would like to exit the canoe and walk on the water to a hillock about 50m away to get a better view of the vista that was the lake. Of course she said yes.

The task was to find a spot to exit the canoe that was sturdy enough to hold our weight. We located a point that appeared to meet the bill and so Brian attempted the exit. He was supported on the reeds so each of us followed and so we headed off towards the hillock. Now walking on this bead of reeds is like trying to walk across a jumping castle. Each step caused a ripple in the 'ground' you were walking on affecting the others walking in front or behind. In no time we were at the hillock and climbing through the underbrush. As we crested the apex of the hill our view was not as spectacular as we had hoped from the canoe. Still it did give you a perspective on the size of the lake which was enormous.

Having completed this task we descended the other side of the hillock to see what we could see. Along the way we found berries, which were incredibly tasty - it appears these bushes were growing on top of the reeds that were creating a matt on top of the lake. As we approached another section of open water we noted a family of ducks swimming on the water, they like the beaver on spying us took flight. Having walked on the water for a while now we decided to return to the canoe.

We had walked a fair way from the canoe and were not keen on climbing the hillock again, so we then looked to walk a different path on the water back. This provided us with some entertainment as we tried to ensure that none of us stepped through the matting and ended up in the water. After a few retracing of steps we navigated to the canoe. Then it was the reboarding of the canoe a careful but thankfully dry process. Now all that was left to do was to navigate back through the channels to where we started.

Again in what was a lot quicker than we expected we were back into the pier area and unloading. After packing the gear up and taking te canoe out of the water we retraced our steps toward the lodge. The lodge has a facility to deal with its trash with used paper goods being burned. As we were returning there was one of these drums that was burning this waste. There was however a bear must have smelt food in the bin and so had turned it over and was foraging through the burning material to get at whatever was still edible. While we watched another bear also approached and we thought it may challenge for the food. It stopped looked at the bear and decided that a fight was not worth it so turned around and left.

Leaving the bear to its ill-gotten gains we went back to the main part of the lodge. Here we decided to take a few photos of the lodge and the guest cabins. While doing this the two cubs returned to see what havoc they could cause in the area. These two cubs will chew anything and have a habit of finding things left out and chewing them. So the guides have to challenge them when they get too bold and try to get at the lodge equipment.

Now, I kept following the cubs at a distance and the mum then found her wayward charges. At this point the more rascal like of the two cubs started to demand milk from the mum. It kept crying and pushing at the mum till it found milk and was suckling from the mum while she and the other cub foraged for food in the ground. All this and we had not even had lunch yet.

After lunch we were again going out looking to see if we could find a bear catching fish. We also heard that the mother with the three cubs had been sighted at a camp area 15miles away. With this news we headed north to Johnson River again to see what activity was underway. As it was high tide we needed to follow a different path as the slews channels had a lot of water in them. This path was a lot rougher than the beach path that gets smoothed again each night. But we made it to the river in one piece spotting a male bear out on the channel that had no interest in us seeing what it was doing. As soon as it saw us it retreated further into the undergrowth until we had moved away.

Once at Johnson River with the tide in the bike was parked and we had to progress on foot again through the underbrush. There was a lot more walking here as we needed to walk up the channels to a point where an easy crossing was possible. Shoeleh and I had decided on short boots today where the waist high boots would have made things a little easier. We spotted another new bear in the distance this was one with a single cinnamon cub. And a bit like the male we saw on the way here the faster we walked toward her the further she seemed to get away.

Finally having reached a fork in the creek where crossing was not going to be easy we waited and looked for bears. I still find this such a strange thing to be doing. Then a bear approached us along the canal we had been following. It was intensely searching for salmon in the creek. At last it spied one and leapt in only to miss it. So began two hours of entertainment with the bear looking, finding and then not catching the fish. Finally however, the bear caught the salmon it then proceeded to devour the entire fish before recommencing the process of finding and missing fish. In one of its sorties further down the channel I looked at the spot where the fish had been eaten. Nothing remained but a few bits even the grass had been licked clean.

All done we returned to the bike for the journey back to the lodge. Now Shoeleh still had time left on her fishing licence to go and catch more fish. Thankfully we decided not to and stayed in to enjoy dinner and start the difficult task of preparing to leave this wonderful place.

After settling up, we packed up and retired for the evening.

Animals Spotted: Beaver, Bear, fish, birds, ducks and swans

Day Forty one