The Klahoose First Nation own the land and partner with the bear guiding companies. The boat ride is about 2.5 to 3 hours from Campbell River, British Columbia, up to the Toba Inlet and the scenery is nothing short of spectacular. We went over a 100 nautical miles (RT) to access the rivers that were teeming with salmon. You can see schools of fish swimming up river, which draws grizzlies every day through out the salmon run. The fish floating downstream would make talented U-turns to meet up with other fish swimmng up river. It was fascninating to watch. We saw an eagle, hawks, blue herons, seagulls, and many other birds sharing the rivers with the bears. On the way back to the dock, we saw two humpback whales with calves and a couple other whales. They put on a stunning show. My camera's battery was exahusted and I'd lost my back up battery in packing. I captured a little of the whales on my phone.
Seen through Campbell River Whale Watching and Adventure Tours
Feasting on fresh caught salmon!
The map shows Campbell River with the green pin where we boarded the boat and the red pin where we ended at Toba Inlet. After we landed, we took a small bus to the various points along the river where the bears come to dine on salmon. Once parked, we walked up to small platforms above the river to view and photograph the bears and wildlife. Along the way, there were islands that jutted out of the sea so steep that it would challenge the bravest of rock climbers. The rocky landscape gave a sharp and beautiful contrast to the towering trees and undergroth that covered every square inch when rocks weren't prominent. Layers upon layers of mountains gave us the most beautiful back drop in varying shades of gray silhoettes. The lightest shades of gray were the mountain ranges furthest away.
All eleven of us were photographing bears on the river when I turned around and saw this grizzyly lumbering up the road toward us and the river. When he came to a fork in the road, he went right and we were hoping to catch sight of him on the road above the river, but he took a different route. This time of year, the bears conserve every ounce of energy preparing for hibernation. Every calorie expended is precious.
The water is fed from Glaciers, which gives it this interesting green tone.
There were six of these little huts perched above the river from where we photographed.
It rained on the way to the bears, but it cleared after we arrived.
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