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Something a little different and a break from bears for tonight 😊
Clayton River cascades through a canyon of cliffs worn smooth by water and the years ago glacial action ending with Clayton Falls flowing into the ocean. Named after John Clayton who was a trader/storekeeper, he took over the Hudson’s Bay Company operation when it closed in 1882.
The Clayton Falls hydroelectric generating station was built in 1962 to reduce demand for diesel fuel. This is a run-of-river facility that requires no storage of water. In 1991 the generating station was upgraded to further reduce the demand for diesel fuel. The generating capacity of the hydroelectric facility was increased from 500 kilowatts to 2,000 kW of power.
The diesel generating station supplements hydroelectric operations to provide the total electricity required by Bella Coola and surrounding communities.
Back in Sept 2015 I had the unique opportunity along with a co-worker to do a river float on the Atnarko/Bella Coola River during the end of the salmon run; with the hopes of seeing some Grizzly bears feeding on the salmon.
Upon first arriving at the launch site - we saw this big ole boy on the far bank, a bit upstream,. He is known as Bent-ear - as he is missing a good chunk of his left ear.
Though he did not catch any salmon while we watched he did give us many good photo opportunities despite being somewhat back lit in the late day sun.
All constructive comments are appreciated... TIA.
The North Bentinck Arm is a short inlet about 17 km (11 mi) in length that splits from Burke Channel, which extends in from Queen Charlotte Sound on the Central Coast of BC. This Arm is historically significant as it is the location where North West Company explorer Alexander MacKenzie reached the waters of the Pacific Ocean overland from Lake Athabasca via the Peace and Fraser Rivers on July 20th, 1793. It was named after the Prime Minister of Great Britain at the time, William Henry Cavendish Bentinck, by Captain Vancouver in 1793; who had one of his men visit this arm in the same year.
The beautiful turquoise hues of the water in the inlet is a hallmark of the deeply glaciated ocean fjords; the color is a reflection of light off of the sediments in the waters. The Bella Coola valley lies at the head of this inlet in the coastal mountain range in the midst of a beautiful rainforest.
"Sometimes when you lose your way in the fog, you end up in a beautiful place! Don’t be afraid of getting lost!"
~ Mehmet Murat Ildan ~
In the early 1950s, the provincial government decided to end construction of Highway 20 at Anahim Lake, saying it was impossible to build a road to Bella Coola. In 1952 locals thought otherwise and started to carve out a road on their own and without government help. They called it the Freedom Road. The 43 kms between Anahim Lake and Hagensborg looks nothing like a highway. The smaller portion of the gravel road known as “The Hill” is notoriously steep, one lane, no guard rails, unpaved and descends 1,800 metres from the Chilcotin Plateau to the Bella Coola Valley at almost sea level within a few km and up to 18 percent grades. Although it has been improved and widened in a few spots, it is relatively where it was originally built.
The Bella Coola River originates in the icefields of the Coast Mountains of British Columbia, Canada.
www.grousemountain.com/wildlife-refuge
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A lone Chum Salmon fishing boat goes out for wild salmon. While other Salmon fisheries have experienced recent closures, the Chum (Keta Salmon) run in 2013 was quite good, allowing for a limited fishery to take place in the Bella Coola area.
Nikon D700 FX
Nikkor 35 mm f1.4 AIs lens
200 ASA
Made it back to Bella Coola from our 4 day paddle down the South Bentinck Arm. The Wet Coast is definitely gorgeous! Weather was certainly a battle at times, but It was full of amazing water falls down sometimes almost verticle mountains rising up from the sea. Mark up Talheo Hotsprings on your bucket list. Steaming hot pools with a cabin right on the ocean only a 6 hour paddle from Bella Coola. This gem spot was found about half way.
Norwegian settlers from Minnesota and Wisconsin arrived in Bella Coola in 1894. The town was named “Hagen’s Borg” after Hagen B. Christensen, the first storekeeper in the area and postmaster from April 1, 1896 to October 14, 1910. (“borg” is Norwegian for a fortress or castle).
Autumn snow-fall on the last remaining unpaved section of Highway 20 running from Williams Lake to Bella Coola.
Totally wild, just me and him, face to face, I'd read up on my "what not to do" so I knew not to run... I backed away slowly, I shouted loudly and then I bumped into another tourist, shite, ya got me, these two bears are basic tourist attractions on a skiiing mountain, dammit. Apparently they were rescued as cubs and would eventually be re-released back into the wild (I REALLY can't see that happening lol, seeing as they're so accustomed to people now!) I'm suspecting a money making tourist attraction but maybe that's the cynic in me!
And so my bear shots, especially for GRAHAM!!!! who was quick on the button with fish scale for my mystery photo!
I mentioned, in my comments on the previous snowy landscapes, that in the space of a few hours we spent in Bella
Coola, the ponds and stream beside the road had magically returned to their vibrant Autumn hues. This shot shows the transformation.
A submission from the road...
I am currently visiting Bella Coola, BC - being in the mountains along the coast there is no shortage of water cascading down toward the ocean. This beautiful little cascade is right at the edge of town just past the marina. I thought the black and white treatment worked well for this scene...
All the colours of the raindow here as we drift down the Atnarko River, Bella Coola, British Columbia.
Cliffs line the shores of King Island on Burke Channel west of Bella Coola, British Columbia, Canada.
The Northern Sea Wolf is operated by BC Ferries and services the central coast of BC. It stops in Bella Coola, Shearwater, Bella Bella, and Ocean Falls as well as Port Hardy at the northern tip of Vancouver Island.
The road out of the Bella Coola Valley climbs "The Hill" to Heckman Pass in Tweedsmuir South Provincial Park, British Columbia. When completed in 1953 this became Canada's third route to the Pacific Ocean.
Burke Channel, BC, 2025.
Taken on the BC Ferries Coastal Sea Wolf passage from Bella Coola to Port Hardy, summer of 2025.
Glacier seracs near Mount Arjuna in the Coast Mountains southeast of Bella Coola, seen from the Nusatsum FSR
Taken in Bella Coola, BC
This is the only Grizzly that we saw from a total of 12 hours floating down the Atnarko River on a boat trip to view them which was a little disappointing. This year the weather in British Columbia has been unseasonably warm topping out at 28 degrees, couple this with a very good year for running salmon and the Grizzlies in this area were not behaving as they traditionally do. Instead of establishing territories along the river and staking them out for long periods of the day guaranteeing prolonged views the bears were simply popping down to the river, catching a few salmon and then heading back into the forest either to rest/digest or simply to escape the heat. Clearly the decent amount of Salmon meant they didn't need to be as fussy and there was enough to be shared around!
This meant the sightings have been well down, typical for the year I choose to visit! However, apart from only seeing 1 bear on the specific bear trips we did manage a good dozen other bear sightings in the 4 days we spent in the area, all of these were either from the car as we drove slowly down the roads scanning the river or simply by pulling up alongside good spots of the river and waiting. We visited the specific bear viewing platform in the area 4 times too and failed to see anything from it so it just goes to show what a tricky year it was to see bears but felt that we gave it our all with early mornings and staying out until it was dark and were rewarded by doing this, sometimes you have to make your own luck with wildlife and put in as much effort as possible.
Grouse Mountain, Vancouver. There is still snow here as we had a longer colder winter. There are two rescue bears living here and they have been "awake" for only a few weeks. Thanks for your appreciation, Gail
I saw these these three Grizzly Bears fishing on the Atnarko River in the Bella Coola Valley.
Thanks in advance for any and all comments.
You can view my Bears album at www.flickr.com/photos/40800216@N08/albums/72157633262015335/
Coola
In 2001, Coola was found orphaned on a highway near Bella Coola, BC. His mother had been killed by a truck and, of her three cubs, Coola was the only one to survive. Coola is an easygoing bear who’s content to let Grinder take the lead in new discoveries. He can usually be found submerged up to his neck in the large pond, carefully feeling around for his underwater 'bath toys' - a log, large bone and favourite rock.