It’s nice to see a ball of healthy looking coho salmon in Leagh Creek. This little creek flows into the Conuma River, the hatchery I have travelled up-Island to end up at.
I’ve come to these parts to reconnect with one of our hatcheries and spawn some of these amazing fish. I have loads of experience with pinks, chum, Chinook, and sockeye but, for some odd reason, I’ve rarely had my hands on coho around the province. It was also a good time to visit because the bigger programs have wound down (Chinook and chum) and that means that most of the biologists have filled their fun quota and aren’t travelling. Which means that things are quieter…making it easier to have conversations and listen to questions.
I left the hotel in Campbell River a bit later than I intended this morning. I made the mistake of turning the news on when I got up and had to sit down and digest the results of the election. I feel like we are going backwards to a time when things were so much worse for so many, a time when the worst in people was somehow acceptable.
When I eventually turned the TV off I headed out onto the road that would take me from the east coast of Vancouver Island, over and to the other side. To that part of the province that always catches my breath with its quintessential vibe, its misty and moody landscape. Some people think the grey and rainy coastal weather is depressing…and I am one of them….but not when I am on the West Coast. Here, the weather that depresses me back in the city is welcome and has a strangely aching beauty to it.
Buttle Narrows is a short stretch of water that links two lakes; I often stop here and walk back across the bridge to look at the view. There is something so wonderfully moody about this spot at this time of year that it always draws me to pause and enjoy it, no matter how my time is working out….later or early. It just needs to be appreciated for a few moments.
