Raft River rising

On a recent journey, the muddy Raft River, tributary of the North Thompson, evoked the June spring floods of my childhood on the Skeena. My brother and I used to rush down to the bridge each day to see the rising water and throw in sticks to watch the river carry them downstream.

The Raft River is part time home to important salmon species: Sockeye, Coho, and Chinook. These important food fish must swim up the province's major salmon rivers and their tributaries to reach their home streams where they hatched. There, journey ended, they spawn and die.