Fish, Fur, and Family Feud - Canuck Chronicles day 34

One situation to describe how well family week went…I’m currently writing this blog update during a home made game of family feud using otter and gray whale trivia. Its genius, and some of the ridiculous guess answers are devastatingly gut-busting:

“What is the gestation period of gray whales?”

“2 YEARS 1 MONTH!!”

“2 years 1 month gestation period for a 900 pound infant?! I hope not!”

And this was only the end of the week. I can’t say I worked very hard today as it was one of my last full work days and I haven’t slept much in the last few days, but at the same time I don’t feel too regretful based on our level of success the days prior. Two days ago we saw a bear, multiple eagles, a seal, and an entire family of four river otters who put a show on for my kayakers and myself not once but twice during the transect. It was probably the best field day of the trip, and I doubt I’ll have a chance (and I don’t know if I want one) to have a better field day with the three days I have left in Ahousaht. And after seeing all that, we spent the afternoon dunking the kids with the kayak and having a big day on the water, jumping off the top of Stardust (which at high tide was higher from the water than the pier) and swimming across the inlet. The water was cold, but the heat from the past few days made it worth it.

My group wasn’t quite as lucky yesterday (or today for that matter) but all of our luck apparently got transferred to Drifter (our whale-watching boat) who ran into a fishing boat that had just finished a catch of over 70 Coho salmon and were generous enough to give two to us (granted Tyler knew the fishermen). So that night the boys (including myself) built up a cedar fire, burned it down to coals, threw on some wet alder wood and slow cooked the heck out of both of those fish. Everyone loved it and the best part was I didn’t have to do dishes post-perfectly-cooked-salmon-dinner.

And the highlight of highlights (drum roll please)…we saw a bear within 50 feet today. Around five pm, one of the Moms was getting a little antsy from being cooped up inside on a beautiful day, and wanted to go on a hike. So Jeff (the super cool Earthwatch director) and I rallied together and got a couple others to come with us. We hiked up to the reservoir up in the hills behind the house, and once we got into the trail we started finding bear scat that was relatively fresh. We had seen bear scat on the trail before, but never that fresh, so needless to say (me being the only staff member) I was on my toes. But we made it to the reservoir just fine, and I was relaxing on a log about 2 minutes before we heard crashing across the water and a Jeff saying good and loud, “BEAR.”

It never got to a point where it was a threat, because the bear was a cub and there was like I said about fifty feet of water between us and it. Nevertheless I knew that seeing a cub is the worst type of bear because it means Mom isn’t far away. We had a good time talking loud to it, taking photos and videos and watching it pick berries. But after about twenty minutes of that, we finally saw Mama, and she was heading down to our end of the reservoir, and at that point I decided it was time to head back. It was a super exciting last night of the trip, and it made Jeff’s whole trip because he’d never seen a bear before. I think he got quite first taste of one tonight. And me…I just can’t get over the fact that I’ve seen three in the last two weeks, not to mention probably having one within staring contest distance while checking a camera.

Tonight has of course been a slightly bittersweet last night for the volunteers, because it’s my last group of volunteers before I leave on Friday. I’m excited to go home, and the first week of being back in civilization will still be awesome, being part of my best friend’s wedding. But then it’s back to REAL real life, and even though I’ve been working here and getting paid to do it, I’d gladly pay it all back to spend another six weeks up here in this great place with all these great people. I know that all good things come to an end (or at least take a break before the next good thing), I’m thankful for what I’ve learned and seen and been a part of here; I’m ready for yet another phase of life to end and another begin, but one thing’s for sure: I’m going out with a BANG.

Smooth sailing, happy trails, always throw your hooks out because you never know what you’ll catch, and don’t be afraid to jump because more often than not, the water’s just fine. Oh and don’t forget to double-foil wrap when you fire-cook salmon, because losing those delicious juices when the foil tears is an EPIC party foul.