Month: June 2015

BEARLY POSING

Bears, Tofino Wildlife

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It was hot when I took this. Normally bears go lay down in the coolness of the forest during the heat of the day. It was high tide too! Fewer bears are around during high tide. This fellow was out & about however. I’m not familiar with him,so he kept a eye on me wondering what I was up to?
After half a dozen more trips,he’ll pay no attention to me.

KEEPING A EYE ON ME

Harbour seal, Tofino Wildlife

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I did get out today. Went looking for my furry friends up in Fortune & Gunner but because of the tide being high,couldn’t find a single one out & about.
I always go out around the same time each day (3 hours before sunset) & the tide varies of course. Sometimes it’s high when I go out & I know the odds of finding a bear along the shore line is far less than when it’s low.
Headed back empty handed today. Stopped at Tsapee Narrows to visit with both the Daredevil & Delilah. They both seemed chirpy tonight! I bet their eaglet is getting much bigger by now!
They both chased me as I left. It now seems like a game with them!
Went straight to Deadman island to see Romeo & Juliette. They both came over to say hello. Juliette knocked poor Romeo off of his perch. She seems to do that from time to time.
They both posed for me in fantastic light! Their eaglet must be doing well as they were both off of the nest for awhile.
The sun went behind some clouds & I called it a night.
Just my eagle friends tonight,but it was still great to get out!

SPIRE LAKE ENTRANCE

Spire lake

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A friend came by yesterday & asked me If I was up to going to Spire lake with our bikes? We had talked about this several times previous,so wasn’t surprised by him asking.
I said sure! My friend is Adrian Dorst. A avid birder,carver,photographer & successful writer!
He’s also a believer in Sasquatch. I’m a fence sitter on that one,but If it’s out there I want to be the first one to get a “crisp” picture of it!
Adrian has wanted to go up into this remote valley to check for signs of Sasquatch activity for awhile.
So today was the day!
Woke up at 5am,had a big breakfast & waited for a early pick up by Adrian. We had to drive about a hour or so east of Tofino to the “Summit”. The summit is basically a range of mountains running north/south down the island. It’s like the spine of the island.
We found the logging road,parked & got our bikes ready. The air was fresh & cool,but I knew that it would get hot soon enough. I took along plenty of food & drink,as well as my camera gear.
The road was fairly good at the beginning but soon started to get rough with the washouts from the winter rains! We had to dismount & either walk through or carry our bikes across. Some of them were huge! One we jokingly referred to as the “Grand Canyon”! It had to be 100 feet across!
It took us 3 hours of riding (mostly uphill btw) to get to the end of the road.
It’s more open near the end,so the sun is received more so here. The shrubs & small trees have taken hold of the road making walking through them difficult. We had to ditch the bikes around this point,but it was close to the end anyways.
We found the small wooden Pagoda like structure at the end. This was built as part of the “Witness Trail”. The Witness Trail was built to support this & many other pristine valleys from being logged. Not many people use this trail.Trying to get up to the lake has become difficult to say the least! Dozens of naturally flowing streams become torrents in the high rain season of Winter. This added force erodes the road ditches & makes them into huge ditches that even a 4X4 can’t get across! Because nobody can get up there & nobody can drive up there,the roadway has become congested with growth.
Once you leave the road,there is a wooden boardwalk that was built to make hiking easier. Unfortunately this boardwalk has begun to decay! It has become dangerous to walk on. One could twist their ankle real easy. So I found it much safer to walk beside the boardwalk.
We hiked from the end of the road where that Pagoda structure was up to the plateau over looking the lake.
It’s called “Spire” lake because thousands of trees are poking up through the water.
Back in the fifties there was a huge rockslide that blocked the waters natural route out of the valley. The valley flooded & a new lake was formed. All the trees died of course leaving their tops sticking out of the newly formed lake.
We made it to the plateau that overlooks the lake & had our lunch. From this spot the view down the valley is fantastic & you can clearly see where that rock slide happened across the valley. I can only imagine the tremendous explosion that happened when the slide hit the bottom of the valley! Don’t know the volume that came down,but it had to thousands of tons! It must of been a terrifying sight!
I took some shots & video from here. We finished our lunch & left. We both agreed that it would most likely be the last time we saw the lake. It was tough getting up here on bikes. I jokingly said next time we’ll use a helicopter!
It was mostly downhill on the way back,so we cut a hour off our time coming in. It only 2 hours going out!
We never did see a Sasquatch or any wildlife for that matter……….not even a bear! Saw lots of scat on the road but no bears.
Great trip but it won’t be happening again any time soon.