|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
What are the Queen Charlotte Islands you ask? They are a truly special place. Surprisingly, it’s a place that most people haven’t even heard of, let alone able to get to, as it is remote and a somewhat difficult place to see. Our friends would ask “Where are you going?” and we’d say "the Queen Charlotte Islands” and they really didn’t know where they were or what was there to see. I guess they assumed it was just more anchorages and remote scenery but it is so much more than that. I remember years ago having read an article about them in the National Geographic. I had never heard of them either but I was immediately struck by the article and its photographs showing the beauty of the islands. It was an amazing story of the native people that lived here, their demise and their survival, a fascinating history and exposure of their creative talents. I showed the article to Larry and said “I’d like to go there someday,” never really even dreaming that I really would get to such a remote place. Sure enough though, Larry didn’t forget and ten years or more later he was taking us to see these islands by boat, our own boat. What are they? They are “islands on the edge”. You say, “On the edge of the world?” I could answer, “Yes, it feels that way.” What makes them even more special for us was the long hard journey to get here. It was like traveling to the edge of the world. It was in away, like traveling back in time. It took us weeks to get here by boat, traveling through remote places, crossing dangerous waters, and always on a schedule of time as “the season” in these northern waters is short. Why didn’t we fly? We could’ve, but once here, you can only see the old village sights by water, so…..the perfect way to see it is by boat, our boat. It’s the best way I think, if you can do it, to immerse yourself into what these islands have to offer. There are no hotels or restaurants, or fuel or water stations on the southern half of the islands and actually barely any people on the populated part of the northern half of the islands. Some people come here to explore by kayak and they camp along the way on their journey. Moresby Island Adventure Group makes those trips possible for the younger more athletic adventurous set. That too would be a great experience too but not now for us old fogies.
HAIDA GWAII The Queen Charlottes are
also known as Haida Gwaii by the First Nations People. They are islands
that lie approximately 100 nautical miles off the already remote and
isolated coast of British Columbia. They are an archipelago of islands
surrounded by the open Pacific and wild stormy seas and extreme weather
systems, yet when you come here you feel a peacefulness, a naivety of
perfect nature, pure and pristine. The islands, having always been mostly
ignored by the passing crowds, those heading up and down the well traveled
route of the Inside Passage, had a glimmer of recognition in the 1970s.
People began writing about the amazing culture of the Haida people and
the beauty of their unique landscape and the plentiful gentle wildlife here. It
stirred interest in the islands. And then, the last few surviving Haida
gained personal strength and courage again by making a stand to protect
their native sites, to stop the logging and relentless development and
destruction of the island’s primal undisturbed ecology, and to take back what
was once their land and ancient burial grounds. Fortunately for these
events, the lower half of the islands is now permanently protected from
logging and fishing and anything else destructive to the environment and
the native sites. In 1987, as a final act of guaranteeing their cultural
survival and protecting their ancient village sites, the entire southern
half of the islands was declared the Gwaii Haanas National Park Reserve
and Haida Heritage Site.
Though these acts were not economically enriching for these people, as it cut off their primary economic livelihood generated by logging (their brave and unselfish choice), it did give them a renewed sense of respect for their cultural history, a new self confidence and it also gave them ownership and control of their sacred lands again in joint cooperation with the Canadian Parks Department. These people, having lost almost all of their population, tragically within a short period of time in the late 1800’s through disease unknowingly brought to the islands by the Europeans, had nothing, literally nothing left. Their families and dwellings were gone, their folklore and history was almost completely gone as their culture was an unwritten kind. Their stories, history and legends were held secret in their totems, a story pole holding the meanings only passed down by word of mouth between tight family ties, generation after generation. Their stories were protected and only the individual clans had permission to repeat them. The totems along with their history were decaying and fading away. At one point in the mid 1900’s, as a desperate act to save these archaelogical remnants of their society, scholars and museums removed many of these treasures from their village sights. Many archeological totems were shipped off all over the world, to museums and the like for preservation and for everyone’s view and appreciation. Many of these totems were mortuary poles, encasing remains of their chiefs and other important ancestors. They were meant to decay into the earth so their spirit would be released into what they believed was their heaven within nature. Without understanding, they were removed. These people have lost so much already with illness and death and now the remains of their culture was disappearing too. Little has been recovered of their historical folklore but the little gathered is enormous in beauty and meaning. Only a small amount of their stories have been captured and recorded from the few surviving Haida who remembered and passed them on for the people of the world to appreciate. For so long after the great illness, their culture was misunderstood by the Christian missionaries as a kind of pagan worship. In many cases, totems were destroyed as icons of pagan images, and the Haida children were shipped off, away from their families, to Christian schools, many forbidden to practice their native customs forced to adapt a new unfamiliar lifestyle. Their culture and history was on the brink of complete irradication, a lost and forbidden memory of a culture once the most powerful along the Pacific Northwest. It’s thanks to only a few scholars, that we now have as much information as we do as they painstakingly documented the remains of the ancient sights, recording them with photographs, drawing the details of the totems and long houses and interviewing the remaining elders to put down, for the first time in writing, what the meaning of all their symbology was. We are lucky now to have a small morsel of it, a brief glimpse into these great people. So perhaps you can see now why we have journeyed so far and made such great efforts to come here. We are excited about our next leg of this journey, to meet the Haida watchmen that now watch over their protected land and the scattered remains of their ancient villages. We will hear their stories and see the last and rapidly fading archeaological remains of this great people. This is our chance to get a glimpse of their villages and what is left before they are completely gone to the elements of the ever encompassing rain forest which is not too long in the near future.
Our first day, we got up at a leisurely pace, totally rested. We were now just waiting for our friends, Joe and Fran to arrive, so we can begin this great journey. We had a few days to just hang out and explore the surrounding area. We were anxious to take Zig out for a walk and decided to head up the only road to see what was here. We ended up walking the whole length of the only road all the way out to the airport which is about 3 miles. We kept our eyes peeled for a little place to stop for coffee and a roll or something light to eat but there’s nothing like that around here. It was clear right away that you had better plan on being self sufficient here. We had no idea it was such a walk but you couldn’t help yourself as you just wanted to go to the end of that road to see all that was here.
We walked by the community center and a woman poked her head out the front door and waved a friendly “Hello!” and said “What a beautiful day!” Which we answered, “Yes, isn’t it!” The weather was spectacular, warm, clear and the sun was out. There were some beautiful clouds in the sky but they were unthreatening and they were content to just hang back over the interior of the islands. They were big and puffy and beautiful and the skies were blue as a Robin’s egg as they say.
EAGLES AND RAVENS As we walked further down
the road we came across another fellow who had just finished throwing out
his fishing scraps from the day. He was tossing them out onto the drying
beach that the extreme low tides up here had exposed.
We watched in awe for a long time as this display was performed over and over again by other eagles and ravens, each squawking at the other if they were bragging that they were more successful than the other in snatching up their booty. CLEAR VIEW As we continued on down
the road I suddenly realized I had dropped my sun glasses somewhere along
the way, probably leaning over to take a picture of some amazing wild
flower, as there were many. Though tired by now, we had to double back to
at least give it a try to find them. No luck though. Funny thing is I
haven’t really worn them the whole summer on our journey to get here as
we’ve had no sun until now. Today was so unusual. It was like a bright
warm sunny southern California day. It was almost like as if the island
grabbed those glasses and said to “enjoy this beautiful land with a clear
view”. It was a small sacrifice to pay for the opportunity to be here.
I can’t explain the feeling you have here. You just feel like you are on the edge of the earth. It is total nature at its best, at least for me, a city girl all my life. WHALE BONES We passed a little B&B. It was a bit rustic and worn around the edges but what caught my eye were these huge bone remnants of a whale, just casually leaning against the post at the gate entrance. It was a huge vertebrae and a rib bone. They were just leaning against this sign like something you’d just take for granted, a simple vignette like someone leaning an old anchor, life ring or buoy against the fence for decoration. I guess something like that is such a common sight here that they can prop them up against a post and let the weeds grow up around them and no one even thinks twice about it. FLOTSUM GALORE We passed another house
whose yard was filled with flotsam. It was obvious they spent many years gathering
and collecting flotsam debris that the
ocean has coughed up along these shores. It was an amazing collection.
There were floats of all kinds, neatly piled in uniform rows according to
size and color. There were many other things too that had obviously
washed up on shore that had been tirelessly collected and sorted, many things that I
did not even recognize. There were pieces off boats, old shoes, bottles, and well
you’d be amazed what was here.
WHERE TO GO Since we are now safely at the Queen Charlotte Islands, we are spending these couple days that we are waiting for Joe and Fran, just researching places to go on our journey south into the park reserve. We are reading whatever we can find and talking to others about places to go and how safe certain passages are, like Louise Narrows. The Coast Guard and RCMP (water police) have been really helpful. NO MAN’S LAND Our biggest dilemma was trying to figure out how to see the highlights of the lower part of the islands in a limited amount of time, (which was the amount of time our friends were going to be here) and be able to get our friends back to the airport in time to catch their plane back home. That in itself was no easy task. First of all we were in unfamiliar territory and everything was new to us. A lot of the stops were exposed to Hecate Strait and so much depended on the weather. Second of all, there are no services whatsoever in the lower half of the islands. Once we left the Sandspit Marina that was it. That means no more docks, villages, no fuel (not a problem), no more potable water (not a problem) and no contact with the outside world. We were going to be in “no man’s land”.
MORESBY ADVENTURERS, AN ANSWER TO OUR DILEMA? So, as we continued on down the road to the airport, we saw Moresby Adventurers headquarters (the main guide group on the island) and we went in to see about the possibilities of hiring one of their boats to come pick up our guests and bring them back to Sandspit. This group drops kayakers off at different parts of the islands and picks them up at a specific location a few days later so why couldn't they pick Joe and Fran up too? So Moresby Adventurers may be our only way to get Fran and Joe back in time. We don’t like schedules like this but there was no choice. Schedules are usually when you get yourself into trouble. Moresby said they could pick them up at the Hot Springs (that’s about half way back up the islands again) and then could take them to Moresby Camp on the south side of Moresby Island and then transfer them from boat to a truck there and transport them over several miles of dirt back country logging roads back to Sandspit. That would take a day and then they would then have to spend the night in a lodge and then could catch their flight the following afternoon. That was two whole days consumed in uncomfortable traveling for them. I asked about float planes, they said that we’d “have to check on that in Queen Charlotte City but that it is really expensive”. Well, we came away thinking Moresby is one option but not the most ideal. That would be two wasted days of our friend’s trip just trying to get back to the airport and a lot of work doubling back and risk trying to get them back up to a remote place that is exposed to weather and the Hecate Strait if the conditions aren't ideal. We decided we’re going to check out hiring a float plane and hopefully it won’t be that expensive. ALMOST TO THE AIRPORT
We take a short cut and crossed over a large grassy area near some simple white cottages that must have been built back during the war to house those serving in the armed services. They look like they are now used by the families that work at the airport. By now we haven’t had a bite to eat and are really hungry as it’s about noon. We find the one and only cafe that we’ve come across all morning and that’s in the lodge by the airport. I see an open side door to the restaurant that is propped open for some air. I tie Zig up outside and go in. The waitress gives me a table by the door so I can watch Ziggy. Larry walks over to the small airport to see about getting us a rental car and to get info on B&Bs in case Fran and Joe will need to stay in one the night before they leave. Larry also needed another marine chart which we were told are sold in the visitors shop at the airport (of all places). Zig and I wait for Larry. I sip on some coffee until he comes. The walk has taken so long that we are well beyond the breakfast menu now and order some lunch when Larry returns. I have what the native looking waitress recommended, the blackened halibut sandwich. I figure she knows what’s good here. Larry has the always safe stand by, a hamburger. After some much needed nourishment, we got our energy back and headed back over to the airport and visitor center. I stopped in the little store in the lodge first and bought a local hand drawn map of the islands with all sorts of interesting drawings and local wildlife information on it. We also bought our usual token tourist coffee cup that we collect from unusual places we have visited. They had some very nice limited edition prints and reproductions there by well known Haida artists plus some nice argillite carvings and some good books about the local history and sights. We then checked with the visitor center in the airpot for some B&Bs on the north of Graham Island, mostly to find out if any would allow dogs. We were planning to rent a car in a couple weeks to explore the northern part of the islands when we brought the boat back up to Sandspit after Fran and Joe flew home. The northern half of the islands has a road unlike the lower half of the islands. The highway allows you to drive to the top of Graham Island and to the old port and village of Masset and Port Clements. The girl that worked in the visitor’s center didn’t know which B&Bs would allow dogs but gave us the number of the visitor center in Masset that might be able to help us. The visitor’s center has a nice collection of displays including shells that you are likely to find on the islands, information on the local wild life, several good books on the history and nature of the islands and of course the local nautical charts. I noticed some nice Haida jewelry and the regular tourist souvenirs all with the Haida flair. We also noticed a small little coffee sandwich counter in the airport that boasts cappuccinos and lattes which seem so totally out of character around here. Also, anything on the run, like fast food, is inconceivable as it’s very laid back around here. BIJABOJI In the airport lobby on display are are many old black and white photos of the air force days during the war on the islands and some even older photos of the Haida villages when the totems and long houses were intact. They are quite amazing to see. What interested me most though was a red dugout canoe that was on display. It was the very canoe, named Bijaboji, owned by Betty Lowman, who as a young of woman of 22 paddled it alone from Puget Sound all the way to Alaska in the 1930s! What an amazing journey for a woman alone and at that time and to actually be able to see the canoe in the flesh was really exciting. Betty now at 90 plus years lives in Skidegate I heard and actually I think we may have walked by her house today. There’s a wonderful book out now, a journal of her trip that you can read if you are interested. It gives you an insight into what the BC Coast was like back in the 30’s. Her stops then are still many of the same stops current cruisers make today and many of the villages and fish camps that she mentions that were thriving are just ghostly remains now. It’s called Bijaboji of course and I don’t think you’ll be disappointed. I never cease to be amazed at the incredible people that we meet and read about up here in the Northwest. FINDING THE TAXI DRVER Fortunately we see a taxi
(van) and have high hopes of paying for a ride back to the marina although
the challenge now is to find the taxi driver. Everybody in the small
airport is looking for him for us (which is not a lot of people as its a
small airport). Finally
some guy came running out of a side door of the little airport building
and as he ran over to us he was taking off his vest that he wears to
direct the planes in and says he’ll take us. Larry says, “Oh you’re
the taxi guy” and he says “Well, I am right now ” and we all
laugh.
As we head back down the road I told him I lost my sunglasses somewhere along the way and so without asking, he slows down and we poked along all the way , all three of us looking for those glasses as we go. He, like it seems everyone else around here, works at least two jobs and mostly three just to make ends meet. He helps fill the fuel tanks on the planes, and does what ever else comes up, like driving the local taxi, and working at night as a janitor. He’s a nice guy named Dan. I guess when you live up in a remote place like this, jobs are few and far between and you need to combine a few to make a living. We told him our friends were flying up and should be here in two days. He asked what day and then said he’d try to make a mental note to be there at the airport to pick them when they arrive on Wednesday afternoon. BACK AT THE MARINA When we got back to the
marina we washed the boat completely as we had lots of water here. That
in itself was such a luxury after being so many places where water
supplies were minimal, usually not potable, and definitely not to be
wasted for things as frivilous as washing a boat. I cleaned the inside
too getting ready for our friends. Larry spent the rest of the afternoon
chit chatting around the docks getting more local knowledge on places to
go and where not to go.
One boat here at the docks called Spirit Chaser has been here before. They are going to the West side of the islands to fish when their friends arrive. Pelorus said they have been here before about 6 years ago. They also have friends that are coming. There’s another big boat in the marina called Saginaw Bay but we don’t know anything about them yet. Spirit Chaser’s friends soon arrive and we watched as they left almost immediately. Soon after they left the police boat named Inkster came in and took their dock space. Unfortunately they had to run their generator nonstop throughout their stay, which was a couple days, right behind us. Fortunately though the wind was blowing the other direction and the hull is shaped like a catamaran and so it funneled the noise up to the shore and didn’t really bother us too much.
We even have great TV reception here. It’s amazing after the places we’ve been, just trying to get here, and then to find such luxuries. We even had better power here than anywhere the whole trip. This place was too good to be true.
We decided to get the bikes down as the road is newly paved and the terrain is flat and perfect for bike riding. This is Tuesday and supposedly the local market gets fresh “stuff” on Tuesdays. So we decided to ride the bikes to the market. Otherwise, it’s at least a 2 mile walk or another expensive taxi ride to the market. Taxis though we’ve found out are few and far between. The taxis on this end of the island are amazingly expensive too. Also, rental cars are few and far between too. We couldn’t get one for this week but have one rented for two weeks from now when we return from our trip exploring the southern part of Queen Charlotte Islands. GO TO MARKET ON TUESDAY It was a nice bike ride. The market was better than I imagined. It looks like a typical 7 Eleven back in the states but had fresh homemade breads (I think they are baked in the store), some great lettuce and produce, good wines, gourmet cheeses and well actually lots of good things all the way around. We loaded up the best we could on the bikes (with Ziggy taking up one basket because that's where he rides when we go out on our bikes) and bought a bottle of wine called Fat Bastard (thought we had to try that) and headed back. SMOKIES We stopped along the way at a small trailer court where we had noticed earlier on our way to market a little hot dog cart set out on a concrete pad. It had small hand painted sign that merely said: “Open at
12:00
We stopped on the way back. It was Tuesday and 11:50 AM and no one was around yet. We decided to wait and see what happens. Precisely at 12:00 noon, two people come out of one of the trailers carrying an ice chest. I asked them if those are the dogs (pointing to the chest) and they say “Yes”. The woman, who was a tall, physically fit, beautiful Haida girl, said it would be about 10 minutes and she would let us know when they were ready. So we parked the bikes and crossed the road to check out the beach and do a little beach combing for moon shells. Precisely ten minutes later we came back to get the dogs. The woman and her husband who also was Haida were very nice. We were surprised to find out that this was their first day with the hot dog stand. He said his is a fishing guide and has a boat in the marina that he takes people out on. She asked if we wanted "smokies" and we said “sure” not really knowing what the other option was. We found a little log nearby to sit on while we devoured those delicious dogs. We watched the couple work and soon, they had quite a crowd of people as every one coming down the road would stop their cars and get out to buy a hot dog. Some came out of the nearby houses too. It became quite a social gathering and was fun to see. We got back on our bikes and headed back to the boat, packed the groceries away and just enjoyed a nice warm day on the boat. I couldn’t help but take a nice long nap out on the deck on the cockpit. It was so unusual to have sunshine and warm weather that my body just seemed to need to soak it up. The warmth felt so good. ANOTHER FRONT HEADED THIS WAY Our friends should arrive
tomorrow and we’re ready. Larry called to find out about a float plane
with Moresby Air. It was soon decided and Larry made the arrangements for
a float plane to fly down to Rose Harbor (the southern part of the
islands) in seven days to pick Joe and Fran up.
They will be able to fly them to Queen Charlotte City by late morning
where they will be shuttled by van across the ferry to Moresby Island and
then on to the airport at Sandspit. It wasn’t that terribly expensive and the
convenience of it would make life much easier for everyone all around. We
hope the weather holds out for them but it looks like another Front is
heading this way. It really didn’t seem possible that we could have this
perfect weather for much longer. We have met some very
interesting people on this trip doing amazing things. Yesterday evening
we met a fellow traveling by himself who started his journey in his small
boat leaving several weeks ago from Anacortes. He named the boat
Kentucky
Colonel as he is a retired colonel in the armed services. It was
cute as a bug this little boat. They are called Ranger Tugs. You can Google them
for more information. It was only about 18 feet in length or not much
more than that although the specs from the website say 21 feet, it’s hard
to believe as it looked so small. His, he built from the fiber glass body
on up and it was beautiful, old in style with very traditional beautiful
lines, and beautifully painted and obviously very trusty. It kind of
reminded us of a modified model of a little lobster boat. He had come all
this way on his boat and was just now starting to head south again by
himself. We were only hearing this second hand from Spirit Chaser
as he told us Kentucky Colonel left earlier this afternoon to head
back across Hecate Strait. Guess the weather was settled as he came
back a few hours later and said “it was a little rough out
there”. WHAT THE COAST GUARD AND POLICE HAVE TO SAY I’m still not overconfident of Hecate Strait even though we had an easy crossing and the Coast Guard, who we’ve gotten pretty friendly with here, says “Surprisingly there are many days that are nice on the Hecate, more than you’d think.” But the guys from the police boat had a different more recent story. They are also a really nice bunch of guys. We got to talking with them and asked what their job entails on a daily basis. One guy said they had 8-10 meter seas just a couple weeks ago and they had to cross the Hecate regardless. He said they all got sick. The Coast Guard guys run shifts 21 days on and 21 days off. The police go for a week on and a week off. The police said they cruise the area from the top of BC all the way down to Rivers Inlet, year round. Imagine that. The Coast Guard said they have no police powers that they are only search and rescue in Canada (different from the US Coast Guard) which is a powerful task just in itself because they “have to go out in anything to make a rescue” (the police guy said) . The Police have the power to search boats and confiscate. In other words all the regular police powers. They are all really nice people. We really enjoyed our stay just to be able to hear about their experiences. The policeman said the Hecate Strait is a dangerous place. “The worst place of all is the Northwest corner at Rose Spit.” He said “the waters meet from the Pacific and from Hecate at the Spit area and crash together. It’s a powerful sight to see.” He said “You don’t ever want to go up there on a boat.” TRUE GRIT UP HERE Larry talked a lot to the captain on MV Spirit Chaser as he has quite a bit of experience cruising here having gone most everywhere on the islands. But I must say, when I heard that he and his daughter came across Hecate Strait (by choice) in an 18 foot open boat in bad seas, that’s when I stopped believing that we could go places he goes. He’s a risk taker and we’re not. Some people have been on boats and cruising seas like this all their lives and assume we have done the same and think we know the ocean better than we do. Each journey for us is a new learning experience. We rarely have gone back to the same place twice so each area is a new kind of challenge and it’s a bit nerve wracking, I have to say. Larry also talked to the captain of Ocean Light 2, Tom Ellison, who has been sailing his charter boat in these waters for 30 years. Ocean Light 2 was actually the first charter boat to come to Haida Gwaii. Tom Ellison is famous in his own right just for that, but more importantly for his very important work with bears. He has been an instrumental force in helping get the Khutzeymateen Valley, near Prince Rupert on the BC Coast, declared a Grizzly Bear Sanctuary. And now more recently he is working with the Valhalla Society to protect the amazing Spirit Bears by working hard to help enact The Spirit Bear Park Proposal. The Spirit Bears, the rare white bear only known to this small geographical island, are living in a small threatened environment and are on the brink of losing their small habitat by logging. Anyway.…though the Coast Guard said we could get through Burnaby Narrows, (a narrow pass on the lower portion of the islands) as they said “it’s well marked”, Tom Ellison warned Larry. He said, “It’s not worth the risk. There are dangers in there and I myself wouldn’t take your boat through it.” That was sufficient advice for us.
THE FRONT IS COMING! The weather has been perfectly beautiful and suddenly this Front is heading this way timing his arrival just in time to greet Fran and Joe. Who invited him? Larry and I have been diligently reading everything we can find on cruising here (which isn’t a whole lot) and making notes of good anchorages and safe anchorages and we think we've got a good plan now. Larry has picked the brains of practically everyone including the few experienced cruisers here and the locals for info on safe passages, weather, and whatever will be helpful. But, now our unwelcome guest looks like he’s going to delay our departure at least until Friday. That put a dent in our plans. We tried again to get a rental car thinking we’ll explore Graham Island to the north with F&J, but the rental cars are still unavailable. I have an idea why. Once you get a rental car up here, you tend to hang on to it, because they are hard to get and a long time to come by. Spirit Chaser was the envy of everyone at the marina because he had one but he had it rented for the whole summer. We drewled as we saw it parked, unused, in the marina parking lot day after day while he was cruising and fishing on the West Coast for a few days. So, a rental car was out.
OLD FORGETFUL DAN, FORGETS FRAN AND JOE AT THE AIRPORT It was great to see Fran and Joe as they came down the ramp. Their journey was a long one, first from Santa Barbara to LA where they caught their flight to Vancouver, BC and then their second flight from Vancouver to Sandspit on Moresby Island, Queen Charlottes. We called them by satellite phone the day before and said that Dan, the taxi driver, would be there to pick them up, but I guess Dan forgot to make that “mental note” and first filled up the van with loggers and quickly shuffled them off to some logging camp. F&J eventually got the taxi to the marina. We watched for them from the marina parking lot (as you can see the few cars traveling the length of the road from the airport). We knew something was amiss when we saw old forgetful Dan go straight by the marina parking lot with the load of loggers and not our two friends. But soon, F&J arrived, smiley faces and all. One thing about them, they are always good sports, no matter where they join us in these crazy remote places. THEY KNOW THE ROPES NOW They settled in quickly on the boat, as they know the ropes now, so to speak, as this is their third adventure with us (first the northern coast of Maine, then the Exumas, and now Haida Gwaii). We didn’t let them rest much though as time was limited and I wanted them to see the nearby coast and walk a trail through the rain forest that we discovered during our stay. It would be good exercise and build up an appetite for dinner and a good night’s sleep. RAIN FOREST I mean, where else on earth, can you walk through a thick moss covered forest, seeing perhaps, culturally altered trees (those cedar trees tested by the Haida for suitable bark for making baskets, and hats, or testing the inner core by burning the surface to the inner core of a large cedar to identify it’s strength for canoe making), and then step across the road to see a magnificent volcanic shoreline, undulated with unusual rock formations and depressions, like sea bowls, plentifully filled and served up with a perfect presentation of sea anemones and egg shaped rocks, and next to it discover fossils embedded within the black rock, thousands of years old? All this while gazing across the most beautiful stretch of water, the Hecate Strait and Graham Islands to the left as a backdrop, a multi layered landscaped of mountains surrounded by dramatic clouds? Those dramatic clouds by the way are the coming Front, trying to get around the island mountains, soon they will be knocking on our door. What a spectacular place! NEXT DAY, OFF TO SKIDEGATE Going the next day to
Skidegate Museum was not without a few simple problems of merely getting a
taxi ride which are one and far between. You just have to have
patience and faith that it will eventually come. They are expensive
too.
Qay ‘Llnagaay Heritage Center Once across the channel, we
hoofed it down the road about a mile to the Qay ‘Ilnagaay Heritage
Center. The new buildings are architecturally based on the old Haida
architectural designs and village that once stood there but now these
structures are embellished with modern enhancements, like glass fronts and
metal hardware for doors and windows, but you get the idea and it is
impressive, even more so for us when we saw it coming by sea, as you don’t
see the modern details up close but get the full impression from a
distance. The buildings are under construction now but nearly finished
and look like they will be ready for their official 2007 opening.
LOO TAAS The crescent shaped shoreline is perfectly shaped for canoe landings and it’s easy to imagine the Haida’s canoes resting on the beach in front of the totem lined village with smoke emanating from the centers of the several masterful long houses. What was the most amazing sight for me though was to see Loo Taas, the canoe that Bill Reid made with the help of other Haida carvers. There it was just floating peacefully off shore. There was no pretense about it, just alone sitting there a lasting reminder of the past. What an amazing sight to see in all its magnificence. It is a true symbol of these people and their hardships and presents a new hope for the future.
THE MUSEUM The museum is informative, and has several totems inside that have now been returned to the Haida and put on display in the museum after being removed from the original sights in the mid 1900’s. You will see the remains of some of the actual totems, in amazingly good shape, that were taken from the very village sites that we will soon see in the next week. There is a good collection of Haida argillite carvings and silver jewelry by the likes of the great Haida craftsmen like Endenshaw and Reid. The building is not a big prestigious building, nor is it even a nicely designed building to house these important pieces. In fact the artifacts are not displayed artfully or with good lighting but, nevertheless, it’s an amazingly great collection, as well as impressive images from the past, some with untold stories and forgotten history. It’s well worth the visit to get your juices flowing for your actual visit to the places where these monuments were made and where they sotically stood for over a hundred years or more. You will also learn about the geology and wildlife of the island which is unique only to this island, much the same as the unique species only found on Darwin's Galapagos Islands. It is equally something to look forward to seeing and their exhibits helped us in identifying what we were about to see on our next voyage. They also have a collection of books about the islands and its history that you will have difficulty finding in other places so take advantage to buy what you may need here. STOMACHS GROWLING We would have stayed longer but stomachs were growling and disturbing the quiet solitude of the museum space as it was already about 2:00 in the afternoon. We had the museum call us a taxi and wandered outside to wait. Outside we managed to flag down a curious character that drove up in a beat up old car that served up as a local taxi. He dropped off more people that had come to see the museum. We asked if he was the taxi the museum called for us. He said “No” but said he would return as soon as he could after taking his next fare to their required destination just to make sure we got a ride. He said the other taxi should be arriving soon if the museum called them. So we plopped down on a nearby group of logs that have managed to find their home on this ancient shoreline, washed ashore, I’m sure from the force of one of many fierce storms off the Hecate Strait. As we waited we admired the nearby newly carved totems stoically facing the beach, accurate replicas, standing as the originals once did, staring out to the bay at Loo Taas. We couldn’t help but be intrigued also though with the comical antics of two local ravens, kissing on top of the tallest totem, a replica of an old mortuary pole. Not long though, a van arrived and a young girl was driving. She was the taxi called by the museum and we hopped in. DRIVEBY THROUGH SKIDEGATE I had one request though, before we headed for nearby Queen Charlotte City, as we were so close to the modern day Haida village of Skidegate. I asked if she could drive us through the village so we could get a glimpse of Bill Reid’s totem and see if she would take us by the Haida Cemetery. She wasn’t too keen on going there but relented and obviously you can’t just drive by and see these things properly but we did see the totem in a swift dashing glance. She insisted that there was “nothing to see at the cemetery and you can’t take pictures there”, but I insisted and, sure enough, you can see the cemetery and on the gate it said “pictures only can be taken from outside”. It looked very interesting but no time today to see it but it will be on my list to come back to in the next few weeks. QUEEN CHARLOTTE CITY The taxi driver soon gets
back to her preferred route and makes the loop heading back down the road
to Queen Charlotte City but by the time we get there it was well after
2:30 PM and most of the few little cafes were closed. The only place open
was a little cappuccino coffee café.
It was raining pretty good about the time we finished our snacks so we didn’t walk around much to see the little shops in Queen Charlotte City but Larry was on a mission to get on the internet for some information he wanted. So we headed off by foot, getting a bit wet, towards what a nearby sign said “to center of town,” to find the local library. While Larry went to the library, we also stopped at the one and only grocery store and picked up bit more fresh produce (can’t pass up anything like fresh produce in remote places like this. No matter what it is, you get it and figure out a meal with it later.) A WILD RIDE WITH FAT AND STINKY While Larry was checking out the library, Joe flagged down the one of the two taxis that happened to pass by. It was the same character that we met back at Skidegate. He was a jovial type of strange guy, a little fat and stinky I’m sorry to say, with a couple teeth missing, a half done shaving job and his shirt unbuttoned to his belly button exposing more than you would like to imagine. He said “You only have 7 minutes to catch the 4:00 PM ferry back!” Larry by now was across the road at the market paying for the produce. The taxi driver yelled at us to “Hop in and I’ll drive into the parking lot to pick Larry up as we are losing time!” I’m not sure why but we all followed his orders and quickly hopped in except I was having a little more trouble getting in as I was struggling with Ziggy in one arm and my camera gear in the other. I was only halfway in, still had my door open and one foot on the asphalt with Ziggy precariously lodged on my knee hanging by a thread in my arms. Regardless, ole stinky put the peddle to the metal and off we went screeching across the highway and into the market parking lot while I held the open door with my leg hanging out. We waved at Larry as he came out the store door. “Hurry, hurry, we only have 5 minutes to catch the ferry!” He scrambled into the back seat unquestioning the situation, just reacting too and off we raced. Ole stinky “speeded” 100 kilometers in a 50 kilometer zone and by golly made it to the ferry landing just in the nick of time. All the while he was telling us to watch for the police (who he called by name) because surely he’ll get a ticket. How we got in this scenario is beyond me as ole stinky took it upon himself to get us there for the 4:00 even though the 5:00 ferry would’ve been just as fine. “Once you get in the ferry line you are safe, they can’t turn you away” or so ole stinky said. So we got out of that rat trap of a car and paid this mad but expedient driver and lined up at the ferry booth. The ferry ticket person offered to call another taxi for us on the other side which was a nice gesture because if you are on foot, you are dropped off the ferry in a remote area far from the marina, too far to comfortably walk. Jean, the taxi driver who met us on the other side was a nice calm lady, (quite a contrast to ole stinky). She was there waiting to pick us up when the ferry landed on the other side and it was again another $40 for a 6 mile ride to the marina.
We cooked a nice dinner on the boat that night and had a fierce game of scrabble before going to bed looking forward to the weather calming down for perfect conditions to head out for a short trip south on the Hecate Strait and our first visit to a Haida village site. This would be K’uuna Ilnagaay or Skedans.
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
QUEEN
CHARLOTTES
SANDSPIT
There
are all sorts of unusual wild flowers along the way and shells along the
beach. We stopped repeatedly to gaze at the gorgeous views both out to
Hecate Strait and back towards the marina. Every step you took gave you a
different view point and it was enthralling. It was so quiet here and the
air so clean and crisp, probably the best I’ve ever inhaled. You don’t
hear a car or motor, just the sounds of nature.
He was “sharing the catch with the local eagles and ravens” he said. They
were familiar with the routine and were flying out from the trees of the
nearby forest to check out today’s buffet. It was a cacophony of strange
noises as they chattered and screeched at each other in delight excited at the
prospects of a free meal. They did a beautifully choreographed winged
dance in the skies showing off their soaring and diving techniques, all a
demonstration of their skill at making a quick grasp at getting the first
delicious morsel before their competitor. Once they got their piece it
was then an athletic race back to their nest in the forest without
having their morsel snatched away from their grip by a trickster raven.
It was a joy to see. We took particular delight in watching one
successful eagle who managed to snatch up in his powerful claw the biggest piece. He took an immediate heading, the
quickest route to get back quickly into the forest, all the while several
of his fellow eagle competitors, angrily followed trying to steal it out
from under him as he flew skillfully back to his nest. 
We
pretty much figured out that in order to see everything we wouldn’t be
able to get Joe and Fran back up to our starting point (Sandspit) in our
boat and be on time
for them to catch their plane. So our only hope was to find a way to hire
a fast boat or float plane to come where we ended up and pick them up and
take them back. It had to be a place that we thought we’d be in in 7 days (another difficult
task) and also a place where a boat or float plane would be able to get to. If
the weather turned for the worse we could get behind schedule and then our
rendezvous point with the boat or plane wouldn’t work and we would have no
way to contact them. Most of the stops were exposed to the Hecate Strait
so we had to keep a close watch on the weather system and hoped it would
hold up. All this we had to figure out soon. If we can get someone to
pick them up at the bottom of the islands then we’ll have enough time to
see all that we want to safely and be at a good pace to still get them
back to the airport in time. 
We
continued walking down the road and finally reached the "Welcome to
Sandspit" sign and the landmark gigantic salmon sculpture that is perched prominently at
the head of the spit looking out over Hecate Strait. 
SECOND
DAY
SPIRIT
BEAR
No
problem, we’ll catch the taxi to the ferry landing. We’ll then take the
little ferry across the channel to Graham Island to see the little towns
of Skidegate and Queen Charlotte City. Actually, this is serendipity in
disguise, as we’ll go to the Qay ‘llaganaay Heritage Center in Skidegate
and get some preliminary insight on the Haida people, their culture and
the ancient villages
and archaeological remains that we’ll see on our voyage. We can then
hopefully
get a ride to Queen Charlotte City for lunch (as they do have some cafes
there!) and see the town. Perfect. 
It
was too late to get regular food but we managed to get them to serve us
some apple pie and chocolate cake with some coffees which we enjoyed while
sitting out on their rustic porch overlooking the working harbor and
watched in the comfort of their protective awning as the nasty Front finally made its ugly appearance
with dark grey clouds and then rain. 
