Haida Gwaii

Ferry from Haida Gwaii to Prince George. Still a full moon.

Taking the BC Ferry from Haida Gwaii to Prince Rupert, and then from Prince Rupert to Shearwater where we met our sailing ship for the Great Bear Rainforest trip was something I really looked forward to. We took the overnight ferry from Haida Gwaii. It crosses Hecate Straight and we were told it might be heavy seas but I slept well, and so did Cathy who can be seasick.

They kicked us off in Prince Rupert pretty early and we made our way to our hotel, The Moby Dick. A quaint old place. I thought I had a picture, but I don’t. We set off to explore the town nearby and found many small local stores and restaurants.

Happy Place – right here. The local pride was hard to miss.

But so was the rain.

Before the rain came we found a walking trail and walked it. It started to rain as we approached the hotel at the end of the day, and it rained all the way to the ferry the next day.

It was an early start, not my favourite, to catch the ferry from Prince Rupert to Bella Bella and on to Shearwater.

This shows both ferry trips. The tip of Vancouver Island is on the bottom right to give some perspective.

You can see the Inside Passage route between my fingers. It was very smooth sailing as this route is mainly protected by islands except Milbanker Sound. And note Alaska at the top of the map.

Sadly, it rained all day. It chucked it down. We had booked reclining chairs in a locked lounge which were very comfortable and helped pass the time as we really did not want to be outside admiring the view. And of course I knitted. We did see many many many waterfalls, always a thrill, and we did explore some of the same waters on Ocean Wayfinder but even an hour of sunshine would have been welcome.

When we did venture outside there was not a waterfall in sight.

On to Shearwater. We arrived in Bella Bell and it continued to rain. Needed a taxi ride to the waterbus, and the waterbus to take us to from Bella Bella to Shearwater. We were tired and soaked, but had to have dinner first as the restaurant closed at 8 pm. It was the end of the season. The rain was a bit of a downer that day, but didn’t daunt our spirit too long, most days on our trip so far had been fair to lovely.

Cathy took me on several forced marches over the days we were in Shearwater, it appears I am quite daunted by muddy paths and dicey stream crossings, but the weather was lovely most of the time. So much so that when we reached our destination on one hike, Eddie Lake, we had a swim. Lovely. And we came home to our own little cabin overlooking Shearwater Lodge, which had laundry facilities for our muddy clothes.

We walked the Gullchuk Lake Trail and the Eddie Lake Trail, both starting on foot from Shearwater. The airport is not used but the runway is maintained.

The view from our balcony. Often this lovely.

We called out frequently to make bears aware of our presence but we did not encounter them until…. we arrived back in Shearwater. We stood still and they wandered away, as did we, carefully and slowly. They did look us over pretty thoroughly.

Our spot on the hill, they built the balcony around the tree.

Interesting name, and it was a hodge podge. And good coffee.

Because it is a rainforest, it rains a lot. So frequent rainbows. Hard to get bored of rainbows.

Ocean Wayfinder coming in to dock. And so on to the next part of our adventure. Imagine the excitement when we saw it arriving.

My cousin Cathy and I arrived a day late because a poor bird flew into the plane that Air Canada uses on this route and grounded it the day before, but we arrived safe and sound the next day.

During our time in Richmond, where Air Canada put us up, we were told about a fisherman’s village called Steveston and decided to spend some time there. Time well spent. It is a working fishing village and also full of quirky stores and of course, seafood restaurants.. We had a look around and had dinner. I recommend it before it is “discovered”.

The fisherman’s boats in the background. Cathy taking a call.

We arrived the next day in Sandspit, got a car sorted out, and drove by the ferry to Graham Island. This is posted where all the cars arriving by ferry have to pass.

It is well worth taking the time to read them. An ardent anti-trump person took the time to do this. Hope it vented his/her spleen.

On to Jags, our lodging.

Jags. Right on the ocean, the Hecate Straight.

Breakfast the next day, downstairs. Yum.

To be honest, I can’t remember what we did each day, but we did a lot of hikes, starting with the Spirit Lake Trail.

The island is full of carvings of course.

More trails followed. Agate Beach, up at the north end of the island, past Masset,

And on to Tow Hill and the Blow Hole. The walk up was pretty much straight up. Slight exaggeration. But steep. But the views were spectacular.

I hope this plays. It is not the blow hole, which I did not capture well, but this is also pretty impressive.

Not very successful blow hole video. Which one is the official blow hole?

We visited the Haida Gwaii Museum and Heritage. Everyone I spoke to about visiting Haida Gwaii said it was a must. In part it recounted the protests mounted by the Haida and others against logging on South Moresby Island of old growth cedar trees. I remember hearing about it in the news during the 80’s, and I know The David Suzuki Foundation, an environmental organization was one of those supporting the Haida. The result was the creation of Gwaii Haanas National Park Reserve, National Marine Conservation Area Reserve, and Haida Heritage Site. And the formation of Haida Nation.

The Heritage Centre and Museum was built to resemble a traditional long house.

As we hiked on trails we saw many stumps of very very large trees, and on Jungle Beach we saw these:

And this:

Clearly loved by locals and visitors. The desire to add to it was irresistible.

We had amazing weather. This day was forecast as a rainy day, but clearly was not. We watched a video of a totem pole being carved, in the 80’s at the Haida Museum, and then raised in Skidegate. The first in many years. You could see the happiness on the faces of the elders, and the eagerness of the people helping to raise it in the video. Sadly, I did not write down the carver’s name, although he is now a famous carver, but we did see the actual pole while exploring Skidegate

It was very moving to see it in place. It felt like a beginning of reclaiming heritage.

We saw many interesting things on our hikes, but no bears or other animals. But lots of plant life.

I didn’t look this one up, but it was soft to the touch.

Light through the trees on the Spirit Trail

Moss covered everything that did not move

From the Parmeliaceae family, a lichen forming fungi

And a little sea life, lots of shells of all sorts.

This reminds me of the jellyfish on Talisker Bay when we stayed there in the early 60’s.

Cathy had discovered Persephone cider and I had a almost IPA, along with delicious food.

It was so busy the first time we ate at Gather that we shared a table with a couple from Nova Scotia. They had been there a few days, and Kate was born in Haida Gwaii when her father was the doctor. They gave us great ideas, including eating at Haida House in Tllaal. I had the most delicious seared tuna. We walked along the river afterwards and saw:

We had intended to eat here on our last night, at Blacktail, which opened at 5 pm. We arrived at less than 5.05 and it was packed to the gills, go we went back to Gather.

Some last pictures:

As we planned this trip around going on the Ocean Wayfinder, a 72ft, 2 masted ketch to the Great Bear Rain Forest we were in Haida Gwaii late in the season. If I came again I would make sure I could do a tour of Moresby Island where you can visit ancient Haida villages and learn from the Guardian Watchmen. Only accessible by water, the tours had ended for the season.

Thoughts, quirky insights and experiences in my meandering life.

Tag: Haida Gwaii

Intermission, travelling from Haida Gwaii to Shearwater