Adams Lake Salmon Run

Baby Patrick and I got up very early one morning. Baby Patrick was very excited because he knew we were going on a trip but he had no idea where.

“Where are we going Travelin’ Rick?” he asked as he got into the truck.

“It is a surprise,” I said to him.

“Hmmm” said Baby Patrick. “A good surprise or a bad one?”

“Oh don’t worry” I said to him. “You will love it.”

We drove from my home in Kamloops, BC to Chase BC and then we drove north from just past Chase to Adams Lake. We arrived at the Roderick Haig Provincial Park. The park was just packed with people and there were a lot of booths setup.

“Wow!” exclaimed Baby Patrick. “This looks like fun.”

“This isn’t the surprise,” I said to him.

I took Baby Patrick by the hand and we walked along a pathway. The pathway led to a wooden platform. There were tons of people on the platform, many with cameras. They were all looking over the edge of the platform into the water below them.

“Oh my!” exclaimed Baby Patrick getting his camera out. “Wow

Baby Patrick was so excited about what he saw. He saw hundreds of sockeye salmon in the water directly below him and they were not exactly small either. They were huge.

“Wow!” he exclaimed again. “Just look at them!”

“This is where the sockeye salmon spawn,” I explained to him. “After they spawn here they die.”

“Is that what that horrible smell is that I am smelling?” asked Bab Patrick.

“Yes!” I laughed.

The salmon definitely did smell once they died. I pointed across to an island and showed Baby Patrick a mound of dead salmon carcasses.

“Ew!” he exclaimed.

“Well it is all part of the life cycle of the sockeye salmon” I said.

“Seems like such a waste” said Baby Patrick.

“Not really,” I said to him. “These salmon come all the way here from the Pacific Ocean and bears, eagles and humans do feed on them.”

“Oh okay,” said Baby Patrick. “That isn’t so bad then.”

That night Travelin’ Rick had one more surprise for Baby Patrick. He had a barbecue salmon all ready for him for dinner.

“Oh this is soo good!” exclaimed Baby Patrick. “I can see now why bears and eagles eat salmon.”

Baby Patrick enjoyed his two surprises very much and so did I.