Once again, I had to wait for the fog to clear enough for me to head up the river.  And, once again, it’s raining.  The rain is great for feeding the waterfalls, but it’s not so great for taking pictures.

We have a big tide today, and it’s coming up on high as I set out, so maybe I’ll be able to get farther up the river. 

As I got to the spot where the seals were hauled out on a log the other day, I spotted the ears of a grizzly above the sedge.  The current was running pretty good, so I was having to paddle into position for a shot, then wait for the bear to raise his head so I could take a shot, and then just before I could press the button, the current would spin me around.  This happened time after time after time.  Very frustrating!  

I had almost given up on getting anything worthwhile, when I noticed movement on the shore, not 20 feet from me.  It was a grizzly cub!  While I was excited about finding a cub, I was worried that his momma wouldn’t be too thrilled with me being this close to her baby.  They can get real grumpy about that.  So, while trying to keep track of the cub, I searched frantically for momma grizzly and back-paddled away from shore as quickly as I could.  I spotted momma grizzly still chomping sedge about 150 feet away, unconcerned about her cub.  So, I was able to get these cub shots.

I continued up the river when the grizzlies wandered deeper into the sedge.  The rain has stopped and I was able to enjoy the beautiful scenery.  

I notice that there is newly fallen snow on the distant mountains.

Wildflowers are in bloom along the banks of the river.

The rain has fed waterfalls all around us.  I notice that the waterfall east of the anchorage is really roaring.

I spotted this immature eagle trying to dry out from all the rain.  

I paddled like crazy, trying to get as far up the river as I could before the tide changed.  When the water was getting shallower and shallower, and I was having to search out deeper channels, I rounded a bend and discovered I’d made it all the way to the rapids.  Time to turn around and float all the way back to the boat.  Yay!

I was able to capture another perspective of the waterfalls.

A family of mergansers was making its way downriver along the shore. 

There’s almost zero visibility when we awake this morning, so I have plenty of time to have breakfast before I go paddling.  Eventually the fog lifted and I only had to deal with intermittent  light showers.

As I was getting suited up, a Hartley Bay grizzly bear tour boat arrived.  They picked up three kayaks they keep stashed onshore and headed out in search of grizzlies.  They didn’t go far, just to the beginning of the sedge field near the anchorage.  When I looked through the binoculars, I saw why.  A grizzly was enjoying his breakfast of sedge.  It’s amazing how much sedge a bear can eat, especially when there aren’t any salmon around, and the salmon just didn’t show up this year.  So, it’s sedge for breakfast, lunch and dinner, unless they can catch a slow seal or kayaker.

I hurried as fast as I could to finish suiting up, hoping to get a shot of the bear before he moved deeper into the sedge.  By the time I got to the grizzly, he had moved closer to the south shore of the sedge, where the water was pretty shallow.  

I had just decided I’d better move out to deeper water, when the grizzly suddenly charged toward me.  My heart was pounding a mile a minute, as I  back-paddled for all I was worth. 

 Then, just as suddenly as the bear had charged, he stopped and headed back for some more sedge.

Just as the crows harrass the eagles, they also get on the nerves of grizzlies.  So, I’m thinking that was probably the case here.  I just happened to be in the wrong place when the grizzly had had enough of the pesky crows.

It’s really foggy this morning, and when the fog clears a bit, it’s raining.  But, I’m determined to paddle up the river, where I hope to find grizzlies.  As it turned out, I didn’t have to paddle very far before I spotted grizzly ears peeking above the tall sedge.

I stayed with this bear for over an hour, hoping to get a decent shot, but all he wanted to do was eat grass.  Then, suddenly, a couple of seals that were lounging on a log took off like a shot, splashing lots of water as they dove for cover.  Apparently, they’d just noticed there was a grizzly nearby. All the splashing got the bear’s attention, and I was finally able to get a decent shot.

It’s still pouring rain as we pull the anchor, headed for Khutze Inlet.  All along the route there were incredible waterfalls.

In McKay Reach, we spotted whales breaching in the distance.  Then, suddenly, a whale surfaced about 10 feet from our port side.

I was in shock, and there was no time to make any adjustments to my camera, so this is the best I could do before, with the flip of his tail, the whale was gone.

Scenic Khutze Inlet is a very popular anchorage, so we weren’t surprised to find two boats in the anchorage when we arrived.  However, we were able to find a spot to anchor close to the waterfalls, which were awesome, due to all the recent rain.

The rain has been relentless, making it impossible for me to get any paddling in.  On the upside, however, spectacular waterfalls are appearing all around us. 

We decided to move over to Drake Inlet this morning.  We wanted to check out the Canadian Fisheries facility that was there when we were here 10 or 15 years ago.  Surprisingly, the only thing left of the facility is the base plate for the ramp that used to be here.  All the roads have completely disappeared, reclaimed by Mother Nature.

We have a few sun breaks this morning as I set out on my paddle.  This is a spectacular spot, with steep 3,000 ft. high mountains surrounding the anchorage.  The mountains are solid granite with 150 ft. trees growing in cracks and crevices, hanging on by their toenails.  It’s surprising there aren’t more landslides than there are.  

It was high tide, so I headed up the creek at the head of the inlet.  I didn’t get very far before the creek narrowed considerably, and I ran out of water.  This is a favorite spot for grizzlies, so I didn’t feel comfortable paddling in shallow water.  I decided the sensible thing to do would be to get out and walk my kayak back to deeper water.

The last time we were in Cornwall, many years ago, we found a new, well-constructed native sweat lodge.  The workmanship was beautiful.  I decided to check it out again.  Sadly, the sweat lodge has suffered from neglect.  The beautiful cedar planks haven’t been preserved, and weeds have overgrown the paths.  Too bad.

The view from the porch is beautiful.  I hope someone rescues this place before it falls into total ruin.

I took this shot from the porch.  That’s “Jubilación” in the distance.

Near the sweat lodge, I saw a flash of red land in a small pine tree.  I’m not certain, but this looks like a Hepatic Tanager, although they are not supposed to be this far north.

Along the shore I ran across this small seasonal creek hidden away behind a fallen tree. 

By laying flat, I was able to push myself under the log and get close enough for this shot.

When I got back to the boat, I found that hummers had found our feeder.

It wasn’t long before the rain returned with a vengeance.

High slack tide is at 0736 hrs at Clement Rapids, inside the entrance to Cornwall Inlet, so we’re up at 0500 hrs.  It’s raining, but visibility isn’t too bad.  We made good time and arrived at Clement Rapids in time to check the current to confirm that our calculations are accurate.  Slack can be anywhere from 1 hour, 30 minutes, to 2 hours 15 minutes after slack at Prince Rupert, which is pretty loosey goosey.  We could still see current running in along the shoreline in places, so we waited until the current slowed a bit more before heading through.  By now, we had plenty of water under us, and about 2 knots of current going with us — piece of cake.

As always, there were no boats in Cornwall.  A short distance inside Clement Rapids you have a choice of heading up Cornwall Inlet, or Drake Inlet. We headed for Cornwall, where we would anchor for the night.  It’s almost 5 miles from Clement Rapids to the head of Cornwall Inlet. It’s still raining hard, so I won’t be able to launch my kayak until tomorrow.

This is our last day at Cameron, so I was out on the water early.  At the mouth of the creek, this eagle was patiently waiting for breakfast to appear.

There didn’t seem to be much happening at the creek, so I paddled out to the entrance to Cameron and spotted a couple of herons perched way up in the trees.

It looked like it was this heron’s nap time.

A kingfisher landed on a nearby branch, just passed the herons.

I spotted this heron fishing along the beach.

When he decided I was a little too close for comfort, he flew out to a little islet. (That’s “Jubilación in the background)

I headed back to the creek to see if things had picked up.  The eagle was still there, but he had a little competition from some Bonaparte gulls who didn’t seem to be intimidated a bit by the eagle.  They are gutsy.

Our friends, Andy and Suzy, stopped by the boat to show us the beautiful king salmon they’d caught today.  Yesterday they caught a 13 lb. ling cod.

I got out paddling earlier this morning, hoping to get farther on the higher tide.  I spotted this eagle way up in the top of a tree near the entrance to the creek.  

A flock of Steller’s jays were flitting about from tree to tree, never landing long enough for a good shot.

Luckily, a pair of kingfishers, which rarely stay in one place long enough for a good shot, were more obliging this morning.

The tide was going out fast, and I was constantly being left high and dry.  Several times I had to get out and walk my kayak into deeper water, hoping a wolf wouldn’t suddenly appear, thinking I looked like an easy breakfast.  I kept thinking of that fawn I’d seen snatched out of the water by a hungry wolf.  Time to head back out to safer depths.

I paddled over to Barnard Harbour anchorage, hoping to get some shots of the waterfall, which should be pretty spectacular after the heavy rains.  Unfortunately, it required shooting right into the sun, which doesn’t work.  However, I did get a shot of this eagle.

There haven’t been as many hummingbirds this year, but we did manage to lure this one in.

“Blue Heron”, with Andy and Suzy aboard,  arrived today and tied up to the dock in Barnard Harbour.  Al called them on the radio and invited them over for happy hour.  We had a great time sharing experiences of the summer.  Andy and Suzy are both avid fishermen, and hope to sack up some salmon here.

While Al repaired water pumps, I headed for Barnard Creek.  Unfortunately, the tide was pretty low, so I couldn’t get up very far.  I did manage to spot this eagle hoping to catch some breakfast.

There wasn’t much going on in the creek, so I headed toward the entrance to Cameron Cove and spotted this heron fishing along the shore.

Way up in the top of a tree I spotted this eagle.

After three hours of paddling, I was headed back to the boat when I saw this momma merganser and her two babies sneaking up the shoreline.

Momma finally decided I looked suspicious and decided to make a run for it.  The kids took turns hitching a ride on momma’s back.  How fun is that!