Great Blue Heron Nature Reserve and Chilliwack River
What a great way to spend a Saturday. We all met up at the Great Blue Heron nature reserve on the banks of the Chilliwack River, a tributary of the mighty Fraser. Eight of us set out on a dry, overcast morning with the threat of rain but the promise of lunch at the half way point - and not just sandwiches and trail mix while sitting on a log.
Glen was the walk leader and cheerfully imparted what was surely just a small part of his encyclopedic knowledge of the salmon cycle and the development of this Sumas Prairie region. The river was busy with salmon spawning and living out their final hours after their long journey home while Glen described how the scene would have looked twenty years ago, drifts of dead salmon on the gravel banks, two to three feet deep, and the river alive and noisy with thrashing salmon.
We saw the “reds”, cleaned areas of pebbly river bed where the salmon lay their eggs and dead salmon macheted in two to indicate that the body had been counted. We all know now to avoid walking on the cleaned pebbles in a salmon stream to give the eggs the best chance of success. The fish were difficult to see when underwater, well camouflaged and blending in to the pebbles but we were able to walk right up to some of the spawning areas and watch the salmon from nearby without disturbing them.
There were eagles aplenty, a camera shy kingfisher, mergansers having far too much fun in the fast flowing river, great blue herons too, some inflight and some chilling on branches and logs. Eagles were snacking on salmon while we ended up at Garrison Bistro for a fine lunch before heading back to the car park just as the rain started. It was a brisk walk back with fond farewells and tearful goodbyes kept to a minimum, getting in the cars seemed more important.
Check out Maya’s Relive track here and Iain’s Garmin track here
