The Magic of Falling Leaves
Sense Memory from the Shuswap area of British Columbia in October 2019
When: October 2019
Where: Tsútswecw Park (pronounced choo-chwek, meaning many rivers) in the Shuswap
Road Trip: British Columbia loop
What: walk
Accompaniment: Invite Me In by Wild Ones
"I see one!" A red sockeye swam languidly in the shallows. We stood at the overlook, hunting for salmon in the water below. Eventually, we spotted five.
The Adams River salmon run happens in early October each year. In a peak year, millions of salmon make their way up the Fraser River, past Kamloops, and to the Adams River in the Shuswap. 2019 was supposed to be a sub-dominant year: not quite as many as a peak year, but still impressive. We were at the end of October, so we must have missed it. Shrugging, we decided to make the most of the beautiful afternoon and take a walk through the golden forest of cottonwoods.
We passed a couple of locals walking their dogs. “Did we come too late?”
They shook their heads. “There were no salmon this year.”
Not none, but a tiny run compared to what was expected. There’s no escaping the ripples of our impact, even on vacation. We walked down to the sandy lakeshore where the river poured into Shuswap Lake. Hopeful fishermen tried their luck on the swirling waters in inflatable fishing boats.
We followed the trail through sunlit trees, everything bright and golden. Heart-shaped leaves showered from the treetops in the light breeze, catching the light as they fell around us and carpeted the path. Despite the reminder of the salmon’s plight, the day felt magical. In the long, hard work of protecting and restoring the environment, sometimes what is needed is to experience and enjoy the world as it is.
British Columbia Roadtrip
From Vernon we took the "long way" to our hotel in Shuswap, driving up through Sicamous, which hosts houseboats in the summertime but seemed to be closed for the season. We strolled along an empty beach beside the beautiful still lake. Salmon Arm, in contrast, was hopping. Salmon Arm's famous pie shop was out of vegetarian pot pie when we stopped for lunch, so I "had to" have salad and dessert pie ;)
In the Shuswap, we stayed minutes from the salmon viewing area at Quaaot Lodge, owned by the Little Shuswap Lake Band. It was quiet while we were there -- I suspect they see few tourists in the late fall and winter. I was tickled that the front door handles were wooden carved eagles and bears. Very lodge, A+
Our next stop was Kamloops, a total change in ecology to sagebrush! It seemed like a mountain biker's dream town. A stroll through the grassy Lac du Bois hills above town gave beautiful vistas of the river and town below. I enjoyed a back alley walking tour of Kamloops' many murals. Our hotel was a little far from the nice part of downtown, but had a tasty brewery next door. My impression was a town doing its best to pivot from an industrial past (and present, with active trains running through town) to a tourism- and outdoor- centered economy.
We opted for the scenic route down to the Fraser Valley, taking the twisting Highway 1 through a mountain ravine. It was a beautiful drive, and not as terrifying as reports made it out to be. The road spat us out in a tiny town on the lake just in time for lunch. Then we headed to our roadside lodge in Harrison Mills, which I would not recommend, but I'd booked too late to get a room at the Hot Springs. We stayed there for two nights, but given the choice again I'd prefer to spend another night in the Okanagan instead.
In the Fraser Valley, we tried following a farm tour I'd found online, but started too late in the day and things were closed. (I did pet a cute goat.) We stopped for a pint at a hip brewery in an office park and scored some locally grown flour at a farm store. The morning we left, we stopped along the river to watch several bald eagles fighting over a dead salmon, a nice closing point to our walk in the Shuswap.
Editor’s Note
This is the final issue of Sense Memory! Over nine months, I’ve revisited and shared thirty-four outdoor memories drawn from the past twelve years. We snowshoed at Snoqualmie Pass, hiked at Mt. Rainier, camped for the solstice, tidepooled at Deception Pass, and road tripped across Vancouver Island.
To wrap up the series, I have a few goodies for you:
Sense Memory Spotify Playlist
I’ve collected all the music from Sense Memory into a playlist:
The Photos That Didn’t Make It
I’ve shared nine photos that didn’t quite make the cut for the newsletter:
Sense Memory Archives
If you missed any emails, or want to revisit any stories, archives are published at sensememory.cascadiainspired.com. Please share with anyone you think would enjoy!
Season One: Spring | Season Two: Summer | Season Three: Fall
Stories were published by month. For a different experience, you can see them by year:
2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020
Thank you for joining me on this adventure, from winter all the way around to fall! I’d love to hear any memories this project has raised for you, or what adventures you’re looking forward to in 2022.
Keep getting outside,
Tracy