A group of 8 intrepid naturalists
left Nanoose Place at 9:15 a.m. on a beautiful Autumn day.
Driving west on hwy 4 we skirted
the shores of azure Cameron Lake, gazed in awe at the tall
timbers of Cathedral Grove and conquered Mt. Arrowsmith. After
passing through Port Alberni we arrived at Stamp River
Provincial Park at about 10:30 a.m.
A short hike from the parking lot
along a well-marked trail brought us to the top of a
magnificent, rugged spillway and narrow gorge through which the
Stamp River descends from the highlands around Great Central
Lake to the sea at Pt. Alberni.
It was at this difficult part of
the river course that DFO personnel constructed a elaborate
concrete fish ladder in the 1950s to assist fertile Salmonids on
the annual pilgrimage to spawning beds further up-river to
complete a primitive and ages-old life cycle.
At the fish ladder was a DFO van
from which was rigged a under-water camera connected to a
monitor on which we could observe salmon swimming through.
Beyond the fish ladder we
ascended a path which runs parallel to the steep-walled gorge.
It was from this section that we had an especially good vantage
point to observe the narrow channel below the falls congested
with large Chinook Salmon awaiting their turn to negotiate
either the falls or the fish ladder. In this area were many
large sign boards prepared by DFO to explain the intricate life
cycle of Pacific salmonids and to help differentiating Chinook,
Coho and Sockeye.
In the gorge we watched many
salmon splashing and breaching on their way up-river. There was
also a noisy Belted Kingfishers putting on a acrobatic show.
High above the base of the spillway we watched in awe as many
salmon shunned the fish ladder in favour of attempting to
conquer the cascade by themselves. On a shelf of slippery rock
next to the falls were several American Dippers (Cinclus
americanus), large wren-like gray birds which habituate
fast-flowing streams where they feed on aquatic insects, fish
eggs and small fish.
After returning to the parking
lot some of us retrieved picnic lunches which we enjoyed at
picnic tables next to the gurgling river, under tall Douglas
Fir. Just another day in Paradise!
