Thank you Majbritt and Mike for this report. Photos are here: Harrison River Report and Photos
No sleeping in for us on a foggy Saturday morning, 6 am and coffee in hand we headed of to meet rest of the group from SKABC, 25 heads were counted and 24 boats.
The plan was to follow our fearless leader Karin down Harrison river, a spawning channel as well as a conduit for fish that swim well into the interior of the province up the Lillooet Lake and Anderson Lake systems all the way into the Chilcotin.
We saw some old pictographs at the lunch spot and some on a rock wall on the way to the lunch spot. Have goggled the hell out of them and can’t find any more information to pass on other than they are by In-SHUCK-ch Nation – sorry. While we started the day in thick fog, it lifted pretty early into the day. As you can see from the pictures we did have bright sun in our eyes all day, right until the end when the fog returned. Saw lots of dead and spawning salmon – Coho, Pinks, Chum and a few Sockeye, we think. There was enough water in the river this year to go up the side stream (all the way to the lake if you did not mind scraping the bottom of your boat) and also down the east spawning channel (once again – you had to bear with a few scratches on your boat). How we love our plastic boats. Smell of the dead salmon was quite noticeable – especially in the lake. But it was great to see them struggling up the stream feeding the lake. Nice to put a camera underwater there and get a few pictures. The dead and dying fish definitely attracted a lot of seagulls, less eagles and a few harbour seals. The half salmon lying around make us think that there must be bears but we saw no sign.
The wind behind us all the way to lunch turned into a nasty head wind for the 12 km after lunch – even with the current it was a hard paddle in places. The group split at the spawning channel – those who went left got to walk their boats over the shallow bits, those who went right apparently had a rollercoaster ride down the main channel.
It was nice to see the end at Kilby – pity about the lack of parking facilities. After once again organising the vehicles into their desired locations, most of us headed over to the Sasquatch pub – OCTOBERFEST! Pity they got the month wrong and even more pity there were only 2 waitresses. For those who ordered the “Dead Frog” stein, we hoped you enjoyed your 30 to 45 minute wait for your beer. But what a beer it was – see the pictures.
A great (but long) day good company, excellent turnout and well organised by Karin.
Thank you Peter for BBQing the salmon again this year for the dinner. And thanks to Maureen, Barry, and everyone else who organized and attended the event!
