Mon. 21st September ’26
We have a full day to explore around Campbell River and both myself and Claude agree we should start with Elk Falls, which is just outside town. Dave then puts in his two pennies worth and adds an AllTrails walk to include Dove Falls. Sorted, so off we head and to be honest we both agree Elk Falls are OK but nothing special. The suspension bridge across the nearby gorge is the best viewpoint for the falls but with all the footfall crossing the bridge, it sways far too much for any photos to be good.
We had better luck when we walked round to the top part of the falls and took photos of the smaller falls at the top. The trail then headed to Dove Falls and as ever the number of people walking the extra distance reduced dramatically. Even more productive photo wise was the forest, both the trees and the undergrowth. Europe may have more interesting and older buildings, but Canada and the US have older and taller trees often with a beautiful coat of moss and lichen. In addition, the autumn colours are beginning to appear so we are getting some golden colours.
Finally, we tear ourselves away and head a few minutes back down the road to Quinsam Hatchery. This is a working salmon hatchery and we saw the fish being put into holding tanks before releasing them back into the river. We are told that there is a bear feeding in the river so we just have to investigate. The throng of people and long lenses pointing at the river are a clue of where to look. There is a sluice across the flowing water which the salmon cannot get through and a bear has spotted that these salmon are easy prey. Dave calls it an all you can eat buffet, as the bear easily catches his prey bites a bit and discards the rest of the salmon. This photography should be good practice for tomorrow to ensure we know what camera settings to use when we hope to encounter bears in the wild. Quite a productive morning.
There is so much more we could do, but decide a leisurely walk along the Spit to Dick Murphy Park was as much as we could cope with. We found the seaplane base along there and were quite happy watching the sea planes come and go. The blog calls so another day is completed and posted, and we are just about to head out for sunset when we realise it is raining!! Quite a surprise as the sky is still blue but this did mean the brightest rainbow we have seen in a long time. Sadly given where our Airbnb is there was no decent photo of the rainbow.
We decide to head out anyway as we have not yet explored the south of town. About 4 miles south of town is Big Rock, which sounds intriguing in local folklore but in fact is just a big rock covered in graffiti. The light is fading fast so we head back to Discovery Pier, we always love a pier. Fate is conspiring against us this evening and the photos are disappointing but you can’t get it right every time. I still had supper to cook, which is always a challenge in an Airbnb kitchen, which is nothing like your own. Still ravioli washed down with wine always works. We go to sleep dreaming of more bears and hope the rain holds off tomorrow and we that we will see some bears on our all day boat trip.