В Британской Колумбии тысячи кижучей совершают героический, но обреченный прыжок через водопад Бейли

Getting your Trinity Audio player ready... Every autumn, from late August through September, people gather at Bailey’s Chute to witness the end of one of Nature’s great journeys. This is the homerun of the Chinook salmon, ending their lifespan at the end of an epic 600 km journey upriver from the ocean following the Fraser, Thompson, North Thompson, and Clearwater Rivers. Chinook are the largest of the Pacific salmon, weighing up to 20 kg. They were born just south of Bailey’s Chute in the quiet gravel bars of the meandering Horseshoe. After migrating through rivers to the Pacific Ocean, they spent their adult life of four to six years roaming as far north as the Aleutian Islands. About 4,000 Chinook salmon return to their birthplace in the Horseshoe to spawn each year. They successfully pass the rapids of the Kettle, the Sabre Tooth, and Gatling Gorge, but not surprisingly, Bailey’s Chute proves impassable. Still, a few make valiant attempts to leap these falls, eventually falling back to return to calmer areas downstream. Getting There: Travel north on the Wells Gray Park Road, 57.1 km from the Visitor Center. From the parking area there is a walk of 10 minutes to Bailey’s Chute. Anne Neave, with notes from Nature Wells Gray (T. Goward & C. Hickson) and Exploring Wells Gray Park (R. Neave).