Clayoquot Wilderness Resort Blog

A Perfect Day

  September is typically a beautiful time of year to spend at Clayoquot Wilderness Resort; yesterday was exceptionally wonderful.  I have just got back from Missouri where my family and I were visiting the Bighorn Ranch www.theBIGHORNranch.com this was an invite from a couple of return guests… THANK-YOU! 

  On my first day back to work I was scheduled to take one lady hiking up the Ursus Valley.  The Ursus Valley is a pristine old growth forest which is a very beautiful and spiritual place.  In order to access the Ursus Valley we had to pack some wetsuit booties and cross the Bedwell River; luckily, the water level is fairly low, yet powerful nonetheless.  Once we conquered the Bedwell we had a short hike to arrive into the untouched forest where I had a game camera set up along the hiking trail.  As I was doing a quick scan through the photos I came across a blurry photo of a cougar’s

backside.  My guest and I were very excited to see the elusive animal but then there was another one.  The second photo was an amazing shot, the cougar was looking directly at the camera; he was so close you could see his bottom canines.  WOW!  My guest and I continued hiking where saw trees that measure over four meters in diameter, salmon who are starting to migrate up the rivers and an old bear den.  We reached the end of the hiking trail that stops at a beautiful river rock and sandy beach.  We each laid on the beach drifting in and out of a state of complete relaxation as we listened to the river, wind and birds singing.  As we forced ourselves to leave this

piece of paradise we were fortunate enough to follow a bear walking the shore of the river as he looked for salmon and berries.  Moreover, we stood within an arms reach of a squirrel that was having his lunch and could have cared less about us.  Of course we had to cross the Bedwell River again so off came the hiking boots; I have to be honest the Bedwell River is COLD but once your legs turn numb it is very refreshing.  What a beautiful way to spend a day.

The Month of August

  The month of August is always our busiest time of year; families galore!  Clayoquot Wilderness Resort has found a way to accommodate everyone in your family no matter what the age, 9 months to 80 years “young”.  Needless to say, all of our staff, including myself, have been extremely busy which is why I have not posted a blog entry lately.  Now that the August madness is over I am able to deflate and update you on the highlights of the past month.

  Chuck, our head fishing guide, has had a great season for monster fish.  An 18 pound Coho was caught on the fly which apparently fought like a Tyee.  In addition, he caught the biggest Chinook salmon, weighing in at a vast 40 pounds.  However, Tyee Salmon (above 30 pounds) have been a common occurrence for all our fishing guides.

   For those guests who come to the Resort to enjoy West Coast wildlife viewing, they are able to see a lot of eagles, whales, porpoise, seals ect.  Best of all, a few of our guests have had the pleasure of watching a bull elk up close and personal as they were riding through the forest.  The bear population is  not as abundant as last year, but as the salmon begin to migrate up the Bedwell River the bears are starting to move back into the valley.

  Sue, Cosy and Estella three of our staff members, were sent to Las Vegas to take part in an annual Virtuoso Travel Agent Convention.  This year, Clayoquot Wilderness Resort has met the criteria to become part of the Virtuoso Vast Adventure Travel category.  The ladies took part in six minute meetings with nine people per group, which in one day totaled approximately 325 people.  During the meetings they explained who we are, what we are about and then Estella gave a cedar weaving clinic.  The agents who completed a cedar headband by the end of the convention received a free stay at the Resort.  Sue stayed longer than the other girls, in  which she gave four minute meetings with singles, totaling 400 people.  So I guess the saying “whatever happens in Vegas stays in Vegas” is not always the case because these travel agents are equipped with all our information to spread it around worldwide. www.virtuoso.com   

  We have had a great season thus far; with amazing weather, excellent staff and great guests with a lot of positive feedback.  If you would like to read some guest comments you can check out the West Family Round the World Trip Blog under the Guest Blog section.

Traditional Native Art

Clayoquot Wilderness Resort has welcomed Qwayaciiq Sam, brother of longtime employee Qaamina Sam, while he has practiced his traditional carving. Qwayaciiq and Qaamina are from Ahousat, BC of the Nuu-Chah-Nulth tribe. For the past week, Qwaya has sat around our open fire pit carving masks and telling stories of the history of the art and his people. Qwaya will be at the Outpost camp off and on for the month of August in which our guests and staff will be able to learn this traditional way of carving. To learn more about Qwaya and to view his virtual portfolio or if you are interested in purchasing one of his pieces you can find this information at www.nativeonline.com/hugh_sam.htm

It's HOT!!

We have had hotter than usual temperatures at Clayoquot Wilderness Resort this summer but especially this past week.  As most of the province of British Columbia is experiencing a heat wave, the kids at the Outpost camp have figured out how to beat the heat.  After completing their morning guided activities, the guest kids come up to the pond and join the staff kids for a fun filled afternoon of swimming.  Of course, the parents are welcome as well.  However, if they would rather enjoy an afternoon activity or a few hours in the spa then a guide will supervise their kids at the swimming hole.

Saving the Baby Salmon

 It has been a very dry summer at Clayoquot Wilderness Resort and although our guests and staff have appreciated it, our watershed is extremely low.  Due to the low water levels, river kayaking has not been offered but more importantly side channels are drying up.  You may ask why this is an issue?  Baby salmon fry utilize these side channels before they migrate out to the sea and if the channel dries up, so do the fish.  For the past three summers, I have been trapping these baby salmon in minnow traps and releasing them into the Bedwell River in which they will have a better chance of surviving.  Unfortunately, we are getting into a really busy time of year and it is hard for me to find time during the day to do this project.  However, I have found a very eager group to take over.   The six staff kids, with the help of their nanny Jessica, have learned how to catch the fish without causing a lot of stress as well as how to identify the species.  This is a very  exciting and educational project that is not only beneficial for our kids but also it is an option for guests.  Keep up the good work kids!    

New Activities

  We have a few new activities to offer our guests at Clayoquot Wilderness Resort this season.  For the past week we have been challenging people of all ages with a paintball course.  Personally, I was skeptical of this activity but as it turns out, people love to dress up in commando attire and play out their predator instincts.  The youngest competitor, so far, was only seven years old, although, he had numerous layers of protective clothing.

Ian Green and his team, from Greenheart Conservation Company Ltd, completed our zip line last week.  It was not open to our guests for a few days in order for a board walk and platform to be built; however, almost all our staff has taken the plunge.  The zip line runs for approximately 275 meters through old growth forests and over top Bedwell Sound and landing on a beautiful beach lookout.  This will be a good pick me up in the morning or a nice way to end off your day of activities.  

Wild Visitors

We have a few “wild” visitors at the Resort this summer.  Paul Harder, award winning wildlife  sculptor, visited the resort last week and left behind three life size bronze sculptures for sale.  We have an owl, an eagle and a cougar displayed around the camp which are all being watched suspiciously by the twelve Bedwell dogs.  In addition, our guests have the opportunity to take part in an introductory bronze sculpture class with Paul; however, we need to know prior to their arrival in order to schedule this add-on.  You can see pictures of these sculptures in the photo album titled "Bronze Sculptures" and to view more examples of Paul's work go to www.paulharder.com      

Another Busy Week

We have cut a new trail in the Bedwell Valley last week.  For those guests who want to experience a river crossing on horseback, without having to take an all day ride, we accommodated this desire by blazing trail on the other side of Bedwell River closer to the camp.  The trail goes through lush fern gardens and a beautiful tree stand of Douglas fir and Sitka Spruce.  Moreover, our guests will see a lot of wildlife sign such as droppings, tree rubs, bedding and grazing areas.  Dickson, another wrangler, was fortunate enough to find a massive elk antler which is now on display in his cabin.

In addition, we released the rest of our hatchery fish.  In the end we ended up releasing 23640 Chinook salmon fry.  We will not know the results of this project for another 4 years which is the life cycle of this particular salmon species; however, the estimated survival rate of hatchery fish is 1%.  A possible 236 fish is better than none.  Follow the link to see more video of the Chinook and to see pictures of the Hatchery project from the beginning check out the “Bedwell Chinook Hatchery” photo album.

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24000 Chinook Salmon

  It has been an exciting week for our Chinook salmon hatchery fish.  On Monday, I was sent to the Tofino Fish Hatchery, to help five people employed by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO).  We clipped off the adipose fin, which identifies the fish as hatchery when in the wild and then they were tagged.  The tags are no more than a millimeter long with a number inscribed on all four sides which are inserted into cartilage in the fish’s snout.   The number determines the river in which the fish was released; this was a requirement, by DFO, due to the fact that the Bedwell River is classified as an indicator river.   The fish are anesthetized before they are handled to help reduce to possibility of stress and injury.   It took us from 8:30am until 4:30pm to clip and tag 24000 fish.

  Once the fish reach a weight of approximately 5 grams they are ready to be released into the Bedwell River.  Tuesday, Doug Palfry and his crew, from the Tofino Fish Hatchery, released 12000 fish into the river.  He plans on releasing the remainder fish once they are closer to the ideal weight of 5 grams; within the next two weeks.   Please check out the pictures added to the photo album titled “Bedwell Fish Hatchery” and click on the following link to view a video clip of the salmon being released.  Download P6050001      Download P6050003  

Game Camera

  For the past few years, I have been attempting to capture a picture of deer or elk on the game cameras.  I originally thought that this would be an easier task than some of the more elusive  animals, cougars and wolves; however, this has not been the case.                                                                                                                  As I walked up to the camera I was not expecting to see not only a doe (picture taken on May 13^th) but also a buck (picture taken May 14^th).  I was  super excited, especially considering I just finishing checking another camera which took 287 pictures of vegetation growing, directly in front of the camera, in a one month span.