The Outdoor Adventure Giving you tips, tricks & recommendations to help make adventuring in the Outdoors fun, safe & exciting for you and your kids.
Last weekend we headed out to Roderick Haig-Brown Provincial Park in the Shushway area of BC, Canada to watch the 2014 Sockeye run.
The park has several trails that meander along the Adam’s River, offering many options to see the remarkable red fish splashing up the river in pursuit of their spawning grounds.
The word Sockeye apparently comes from the First Nation word Sau-Kai meaning Chief – most likely a reference to the large hump on the back of the males.
The Sockeye return every 4 years, changing the river from it’s demure brown to a crimson red colour. When we were there, only about 5% of the expected run was there, and despite that, it was remarkable.
We stopped for lunch on the river and happened across a dead female and a teacher and student from the University of Victoria. These self professed “nerds” were quick to turn the adventure into an awesome learning experience for the kids. The kids were enthralled with what they learned and were delighted to hold the salmon roe.
After the crowd of kids started to disperse, my daughter got the prized job of returning the sockeye to the river where it could give back to the riparian zone that it had returned to after all those years.
If you haven’t seen the sockeye run, there are a few more weeks to do so. Check out your local parks to find out more, or if you want the trip, head out to Roderick Haig-Brown Provincial Park to see it for yourself.
We’d love to head back in a few weeks when the run is at its peak and get even more video of this amazing sight.
