One of
the key ingredients of a stay at
Pitt River Lodge is the culinary
experience. Our cooks delight in
preparing good home cooked meals,
home-made breads and special
desserts. With bountiful supplies of
fresh wild salmon from the mighty
Fraser River, fresh vegetables, and
fruits with wonderful treats, dining
at Pitt River Lodge is always a
satisfying experience. Breakfast and
dinner are served buffet style at
our gorgeous 14 ft redwood table and
lunch is usually enjoyed streamside or
wherever your activities may take
you.
Danny and Lee Gerak have made their home on the Pitt River for more than 20 years, during which time they have fought repeated battles to save the valley, while building a family run operation that has become known to anglers around the world.
Danny first visited the Upper Pitt, as the river above the head of the lake is known, as a boy on fishing and hunting trips with his dad, Fred. Later the family acquired a small parcel of land on the banks of the river. Danny had followed in his father's footsteps as a commercial fisherman, chasing salmon all over the British Columbia coast, before focusing his efforts on the lower reaches of the mighty Fraser River, near Vancouver.
In the off season he worked with Lee, hosting sports anglers in a collection of small cabins on the Pitt.
The beautiful Pitt River Lodge now sits centre stage in a clearing in the forest with some of the original small cabins scattered nearby. A second majestic building, the Fly Fishing Lodge, stands on a bluff far up river, opening up to anglers a whole new section of remote water.
As the reputation of the Pitt River Lodge grew and grew, so did demands on Danny and Lee's time. Danny eventually sold his commercial fishing licence to concentrate full time on running the sports fishing operation with Lee.
 Along the way Danny and Lee took on numerous battles to save the river, turning back logging that would have seen side valleys clearcut, a massive gravel mine that would have polluted a watershed rich with coho habitat, a power project that would have dammed seven tributaries, and a proposed power line that would have slashed through old growth forest in an adjacent provincial park.
Twice, in 2000 and again in 2008, the Pitt River topped the list of British Columbia's 10 most endangered rivers because of the various developments that threatened it. But Danny and Lee rallied wide support and turned back all the projects that would have damaged the river and its surrounding landscape.
In 2005 they helped convince the provincial government to spend $1.3 million to clean up an old logging camp garbage dump that had been exposed when the river shifted in its bed. That year Danny and his guides picked up over 400 bags of garbage - helping to keep the Pitt River looking as pristine and wild as a river in remote Alaska.
Over the years Danny and Lee have hosted anglers from around the world, have housed timber fire fighting crews and have even helped a few adventurers who came to the valley seeking a lost gold mine that is supposed to lie somewhere in the big, gnarly mountains that surround the valley.
While Lee runs the lodge, keeping the rooms trim and filling her kitchen with wonderful aromas as she whips up gourmet meals in the wilderness, Danny is in charge of all the crazy logistics. He gets the anglers in an out to the remote lodges, hooks them up with some of the best guides in the business, shuttles rafts up and down the river, makes sure everyone is properly equipped to fish and unfailingly gets up well before dawn to start the lodge's stove so guests can get up to warm floors and the smell of fresh coffee. |
There are so many reasons why a guide is vital anywhere in the world but on the Pitt River the need is even more acute. The need for the raft is critical as the water levels change constantly making it hard to access many spots of the river without one. With the raft you will enjoy peacefully drifting the entire length of the river, stopping to walk and wade from both sides of the shore along the way.
