I SURPRISED A BEAR AND CUBS WHILE I WAS OUT GEOCACHING IN THE HILLS.

Or maybe she surprised me.  I was up a logging road looking for geocaches and drove in a side road.  It wasn't far to where my GPS was pointing so when I came to a cross ditch I stopped rather than driving through it and started to walk the rest of the way.  Suddenly I spotted momma and two cubs a short distance away so I quickly went back to the car for my camera which I had with me.  When I got back to my original spot, Momma stood up and held the pose for a few seconds.  After a bit she decided to move on into the trees and that was the last I saw of them. 

While walking along the ocean side one evening, I spotted this wooden octopus.

Glaucous-winged Gull.

Glaucous-winged Gull.

The Serenade of the Seas passing between Campbell River and Quadra Island on its way to Alaska.

Momma Bear and two cubs.

She said she's going to retreat to the forest.

Tiger Lilies.

Four-spotted Skimmer seen while geocaching.

Four-spotted Skimmer seen while geocaching.

I took this as we left the car to walk along the oceanside trail at 8:10 with my 400 lens.

I handheld my 400 mm lens to shoot this bee spending the night on a thimbleberry.

The eagle was still in the same tree when we returned to the car at 9:18 so I used my 800 mm lens to get this shot.

DISCOVERY NARROWS WAS PRETTY BUSY THE OTHER EVENING.

We started out driving down to the Spit in North Campbell River to watch the ships sail past.  Then we decided to go up to Seymour Narrows to watch them go through.  Ripple Rock in the center of the Narrows was the scene of many tragedies until it was blown up in 1958.  With the narrow bottleneck still existing, the tides can create strong currents making their own hazards.  We had seen on our app that several ships were heading to meet up in the area which influenced own decision to go watch.  At one point four cruise ships and four tugs towing barges were visible at the same time.  Later we zipped back to the Spit in Campbell River to watch them go by with lights on as it got to be almost dark.

A local tug was towing two barges.

A seal popped up in front of me while I was watching the ships.

This barge that was towed by the Ocean Ranger from Seattle was heading for Alaska.

The Ocean Ranger.

The Koningsdam.

The Ocean Ranger in Seymour Narrows.

The Koningsdam approaching Seymour Narrows.

The Koningsdam in Seymour Narrows.

The local tug approaching Seymour Narrows.

The local tug in Seymour Narrows getting out of the way of the Roald Amundsen and Solstice cruise ships.

While we were waiting a whale gave us a little show.

A pleasure craft followed by the Roald Amundsen, Solstice and Noordam.

It was a busy place for a while!

Roald Amundsen, Solstice and Noordam heading south and the Koningsdam heading north to Alaska.

Roald Amundsen, Solstice and Noordam heading south into Seymour Narrows.

Roald Amundsen in the narrows.

Solstice followed by the Noordam.

The Celebrity Solstice.

Holland America Noordam.

Holland America Noordam.

The Celebrity Solstice passing the Spit in Campbell River.

Holland America Noordam passing the Spit in Campbell River.

FIRST PHOTOS TAKEN NEAR CAMPBELL RIVER.

Great Blue Heron takeoff.

Purple Martins.

Cormorants.

Immature Bald Eagle.

Maple leaf in the creek.

Trout Creek Falls, I saw these last year while geocaching but I didn't have the right camera gear so I have been thinking about them ever since.   I made a point of going there with my wide angle lens and tripod first thing when we got to Campbell River.

Trout Creek Falls.

Bald Eagle taken out the car window.

Seagulls.

Tony and Rita have some nice gardens so I took my camera for a walk.

Tony and Rita

Pond lily.  We visited our friend Gay in Berwick Senior's apartments and enjoyed their gardens and ponds.

Pond lily.

Pond lily.

There was a nice aquarium in the lobby at Gay's.

The After Eight.  Owned by the Wheaton family in Edmonton.  46m (152 ft), ten guests in five cabins and 12 crew in six cabins, built in 2007, cost $25,000,000, costs $1-2 million per year to operate.