Rylee87

This is the story of gray. This is gray. He is a pink salmon. I met grey on Sept 07 2019 in Campbell river at a fishery. Let's start by talking about how I got to the meeting point. This was my very first photography trip, My first time being on an airplane and, My first time seeing the ocean. I was in a very toxic place in my life and this was my leap of faith to get away from it all. My best friend Amanda, knew I needed to go on this trip to get away. There wasn't even a spot left on the trip but Amanda made it happen (we shared a bed for the most part). The first struggle was getting on the plane, I am very scared of heights. It was hard but I wanted to go to Campbell river so bad I just pretended I wasn't scared, I was OK until the plane started to move . My heart started racing then we took off and I closed my eyes and shook, till I told myself just look out the window just once. I slowly opened my eyes and took a peek out the window. All of a sudden the sensation of fear was overtaken by wonder. I was amazed by the beauty below me the whole flight. I saw the mountains from above, the clouds blowing threw them. When I saw the ocean and was more than amazed I was speechless. The colors, the sparkle of the light breathtaking. After landing I realized that I wasn't scared anymore, I wanted to explore. I wanted to see everything.. we got our cars and went to a fishery that was close by. We didn't see any animals other than a few dead salmon. As I was examining one of these skeletons I knew I wanted to see one of these beauties alive, We packed up and went back to our hotel. The next day we were out on the water whale watching, I loved every second of being on the water, it felt like home. The waves rocking us, the dolphins playing and humpback whales blowing spouts. It was magical. That night we stayed in a floating lodge a few hours away from Campbell river.. I stayed up most of the night watching the stars on the dock. The stars were so bright in the sky in the middle of nowhere. I wanted to soak up every second. I didn't sleep that night, once I saw the light of morning I got up and enjoyed a coffee on the dock. I knew it was going to be an amazing day, we got on the boat to the fishery. They had to look outs for grizzly bears as it was the season for fish! Salmon to be exact. I was the first one to see a bear, “BEAR!!” I yelled out the back window. we got to our first look out and we saw nothing then to the next look out and there was a bear about 10 ft away from us I was so excited. We stayed for a while then off to the next stop. At this stop there was a bear up the river. I took a few shots then looked around. I saw a bald eagle down the other side of the river. Everyone was distracted by the bear when a salmon jumped out of the river. I was so excited that's when I got my camera up and that was when I met gray! Gray jumped out of the water and looked right at me! I was starstruck, I felt so unbelievably lucky to have been there at the very moment to capture this amazing experience. This was my absolute favorite moment from the trip by fair! I showed everyone and we all lit up with joy as a group. Gary made me believe in myself that day. When I got home I got out of my toxic relationship and pursued my passion for photography. I am a full time event photographer now and am absolutely in love with my life again. A simple experience as this had a much bigger butterfly effect than expected. Gary the Flying salmon changed my life for the better.