Each autumn, we take a drive to Adams Lake, BC. Adams Lake is located east of Chase. While at Adams Lake, we saw something I will never forget. What we saw was the annual salmon run. I have seen coho and chinook salmon before in Ontario but nothing compares to what we saw here.

The type of salmon that we saw at Adams Lake were sockeye salmon and they are pure red with a grey coloured mouth. We saw thousands of them in the river. This is the time of year for the salmon to spawn.

While there, even though some of the salmon were in good shape, I noticed that many of the salmon were pretty messed up. Some of them had their jaws torn right off. I'm pretty sure that this would have been caused from their treacherous trek from the Pacific Ocean, up the Fraser River to the Thompson Rivers and then to Adams Lake, BC. Many of the salmon were already dead, too. You could clearly smell the dead fish. Adams Lake is their spawning grounds and also their death-beds.

There is a four year cycle with the salmon. They are hatched in Adams Lake and in their second year of life, they follow the Thompson Rivers to the Fraser River and end up in the Pacific Ocean. Not all the salmon make it. Some are eaten by predators, others are fished and still others just don't make the treacherous trip. Their fourth year of life sees them make their long journey back to Adams Lake, where they will now either lay eggs or spawn. This is the end of their trip now, the end of their lives.

I loved seeing the sockeye salmon so much. It felt that I had witnessed a natural wonder. What I witnessed was Mother Nature at work. Seeing the salmon was definitely a highlight in my life and I will be at Adams Lake every year to see them.

Every four years the number of salmon that return to Adams Lake is The biggest salmon run that I saw was in 2006. There were millions of salmon. In 2007, I noticed a bit of difference in the numbers and in 2008, I only seen maybe ten salmon altogether. This year I am again, not expecting to see very many. The next biggest salmon run will be in 2010 when there should be millions of salmon again. I will definitely be there!