Animal watching is always a tricky mix of luck & making your own luck. We'd maybe left it a bit late in the season for both whales & bears but the planets aligned for us & the days of frustration with the weather & the tour company paid off. We were booked on a grizzly tour & the weather was perfect! No wind... check. No clouds... check. No rain... check. Enough other interested parties for the boat to sail... check. 
As we were boarding the captain said to us, "what would you say if I told you we were going to see orcas today?". We could hardly believe our ears because the whales had been making themselves scarce for some days & we had almost resigned ourselves to not seeing them. Not 10 minutes from the marina we were in the middle of a super-pod of Orcas! Two or three resident pods had come together in a massive group of 20-30. In the background of the photo above you can see Campbell River.
We were surrounded by these awesome creatures that are nearly as intelligent as us & 10 times as heavy. The family group above are part of one of G-Pod who are one of the northern resident pods. They are rarely seen as far south as Campbell River. The big male is called Shushartie (G39), the bigger of the females is his younger sister Tatchu (G52), another female Glide (G54) (far left) and a very young & unnamed calf. The calf is believed to be Tatchu's. I sent some of the photos to the Vancouver Aquarium who are the central point for all things orca. It turns out these are the first ones they've seen of this calf. 
Everywhere we looked they were surfacing & acting up.
I would have been quite happy to hang around them for hours, but we had a tight schedule to meet the grizzlies two hours away. 20 minutes would have to be enough that day.
We crossed the straights to Bute Inlet that cuts into the mainland (grizzlies don't live on Vancouver Island). It was a little cloudy but conditions were great for boating. Bute Inlet can be a nasty place for a boat if the wind & the tides are fighting each other (and often do). The only problem was the debris (mainly trees) littering the inlet thanks to storms the previous week.
We arrived at the Homalco First Nations land.
We had lunch at the dock before boarding the bus for the bumpy ride along a dirt logging track to visit the grizzlies.
We were surrounded by these awesome creatures that are nearly as intelligent as us & 10 times as heavy. The family group above are part of one of G-Pod who are one of the northern resident pods. They are rarely seen as far south as Campbell River. The big male is called Shushartie (G39), the bigger of the females is his younger sister Tatchu (G52), another female Glide (G54) (far left) and a very young & unnamed calf. The calf is believed to be Tatchu's. I sent some of the photos to the Vancouver Aquarium who are the central point for all things orca. It turns out these are the first ones they've seen of this calf. Everywhere we looked they were surfacing & acting up.I would have been quite happy to hang around them for hours, but we had a tight schedule to meet the grizzlies two hours away. 20 minutes would have to be enough that day.We crossed the straights to Bute Inlet that cuts into the mainland (grizzlies don't live on Vancouver Island). It was a little cloudy but conditions were great for boating. Bute Inlet can be a nasty place for a boat if the wind & the tides are fighting each other (and often do). The only problem was the debris (mainly trees) littering the inlet thanks to storms the previous week.We arrived at the Homalco First Nations land.We had lunch at the dock before boarding the bus for the bumpy ride along a dirt logging track to visit the grizzlies. We passed a number of towers like the one below before stopping at tower 4. The guides walked us 50m down the road to tower 5 (below). It's the very last one that is positioned right where two rivers meet.
From the tower we had a clear view of some prime salmon fishing grounds (below).
After 10 minutes we saw our first bear & he was a big one.
The bear was so intent on hunting fish that he didn't even notice the excited tourists in our tower.
He crossed in front of us before crossing the river to the far bank still searching for food.
Before the first bear had vanished into the bush, another had appeared from straight in front of us (below). The two hour procession had begun.
A juvenile bald eagle (below) interrupted briefly.
Our second bear spotted a target & suddenly leapt into the water but unfortunately failed in its bid for a meal.
Bear after bear appeared from around the bend.
Eventually the guides herded us reluctantly back into the bus. They stopped at Tower 1 for only 5 minutes but even then we saw two bears.
As we left tower 1, our path was blocked by a huge male (below). He wasn't moving for any bus full of tourists. On his own terms he took a left turn into the bush & merged into the shadows.
After 10 minutes we saw our first bear & he was a big one.The bear was so intent on hunting fish that he didn't even notice the excited tourists in our tower.
He crossed in front of us before crossing the river to the far bank still searching for food.
Before the first bear had vanished into the bush, another had appeared from straight in front of us (below). The two hour procession had begun.
A juvenile bald eagle (below) interrupted briefly. Our second bear spotted a target & suddenly leapt into the water but unfortunately failed in its bid for a meal.
Bear after bear appeared from around the bend.
Eventually the guides herded us reluctantly back into the bus. They stopped at Tower 1 for only 5 minutes but even then we saw two bears.
As we left tower 1, our path was blocked by a huge male (below). He wasn't moving for any bus full of tourists. On his own terms he took a left turn into the bush & merged into the shadows.
There was no mucking around back at the boat. Late in the season the daylight hours are short & navigating the in the dark with all the floating logs isn't something any boat captain wants to do. 
What a great day! Whales & Bears in the same day!
With no whale watching on offer the backup plan to fill in the day was to explore nearby Strathcona Provincial Park. We didn't know too much about it, but we took the risk & went for a drive.
About 20 kms out of Campbell River the road stared to follow along the bank of Upper Campbell Lake (above). The weather wasn't helping, but I imagine the scenery is very nice on a good day. The area seems to be more set up for fishermen & other boaties. It wasn't until after we'd crossed between Upper Campbell & Buttle Lakes that we were actually in the provincial park. It was fairly noticeable as the logging activity suddenly disappeared & the type forest changed.
There are a number of short hiking trails in the park including the one to Lady Falls (below). The trail winds through some wonderful temperate rainforest (above). The influence of the warm Pacific Ocean currents prevents Vancouver Island from being hammered by the bitter winters that much of Canada is exposed to. This allows the forests on the island to thrive.
Lady Falls (above & below) was easily worth the walk despite the inclement conditions. 
The weather started to close in even more so we left the park & headed back to Campbell River. On the way back we stopped at the Salmon Hatchery on the edge of town. Not surprisingly we saw many salmon in the crystal clear waters leading away from the hatchery. The one thing that stuck in my head was the smell of rotting fish. Once the salmon spawn, they die & float down stream only to wash up on the bank or be picked up by scavenging birds & other animals. It's all part of the cycle when the nutrients are returned to the land.
By the time we arrived back in town the wet weather had gone leaving us with the late afternoon to wander along the waterfront of the marina. 
There were a few of the local residents inculding gulls & a harbour seal.
I drove up to Elk Falls where we were the day before with the hope of seeing bears again (Kerri wasn't feeling up to it). It was around 5pm when I arrived at Moose Falls & sure enough, there was 5 o'clock Charlie. 
Charlie was going about his business, fishing salmon out of the pond.
The light was better than the previous evening & I was able to get much closer to him.
He wandered off after a while, but not long after a second bear appeared on the other side of the falls (below).
When I eventually came back to the hotel, Kerri was feeling better & was at the water front taking some photos. We walked all the way to the end of the marina. After a bumpy start the weather had turned around which was a good omen because we'd booked ourselves onto a grizzly watching tour the next day.
We had dinner at a very nice seafood restaurant in front of the fishing fleet. It was so nice to have fresh seafood after a couple of weeks in Alberta 1100 kms from the ocean.
After an early start we dropped off the truck to Enterprise (car rental) who were good enough to show up to work a little early & drop us at the airport so we could meet our flight (above). We made it in good time. During the flight to Vancouver we were treated to a great view of the Rocky Mountains. It was a bit sad to say good-bye to the mountains as we knew it would likely be quite a few years before we would be back.
In hindsight we should have flown to Campbell River instead of Nainimo. I'm not too sure what was going through my head when I was planning this part of the trip, but it was too late to change by then. Nainimo Airport is quite a distance from the township so it was a fairly lengthy (and expensive) cab ride to pick up the hire car. We hadn't even left the airport concourse before our driver ran into the back of the cab in front! My poor planning decision was turning into a nightmare! We picked up our hire car (and it was a car this time) & set off for Campbell River about 140 kms to the north.
An hour & 45 mins later we arrived at our hotel. It was a great spot right at the marina overlooking the waters of Discovery Passage & Quadra island. After getting settled in the place we'd be for the next four nights we jumped back in the car & drove 10kms up Campbell River to the Elk Falls provincial Park. There are a number of trails in the small park & we chose a short loop that takes in Elk Falls (below). The park is full of old growth cedar & redwood trees. It was awesome to be surrounded by such colossal trees.
A couple of hundred metres along the path, I spotted movement across a pond. A black bear! It came down to the edge & jumped in! It took a little while to work out what it was doing, but it soon became clear. During the salmon run, the fish spawn, die & float down river. The black bear was scavenging the fish floating along the river. I guess it's easier to catch dead fish than live ones. Smart!
After breakfast we packed our gear into the car & set off back to Calgary. We stopped for a photo opportunity at Cameron Falls (below) on the edge of town. 
We stopped once more at the edge of the upper lake (above) before one last drive along the Akamina Parkway. The animals were already hiding in the forest, but finally Cameron Lake (below) was in the mood for being photographed. The cloudless, windless day was identical to the wonderful weather from the day before.
The actual jump site (above & below) doesn't look like much as but erosion has filled in the valley a little. The cliff is still high enough to kill bison. Thankfully he practice stopped long ago.
