Gwaii Haanas National Park

I feel alive. When coming to Haida Gwaii, Bonnie and I were committed to doing everything possible to get to Gwaii Haanas National Park. It was our indulgence for ourselves but well worth the money spent. The park is world renowned as well as a UNESCO World Heritage site, and for the most part the landscape is out-of-this-world!

It turns out that the park is not even open in April because it is still so early in the tourist season, nevertheless, we were able to find a local outfitter that would take us if we had at least four participants for a two day trip. Bonnie and I started canvassing the new people we met and before we knew it we had two young German travelors eager to join us on our exploration of Gwaii Haanas. One of the benefits of visiting the park so early in the season is that we did not have to pay the $20.00 per day fee to be in the park, nor did we have to worry about bumping into other tourists at some of the more popular sites.

So, we started our trip getting all dressed up in our rain proof Helly Hanson gear that we would be wearing for the next two days. Once we had waddled over to the zodiac, we were ready to go.

There were a number of highlights from the time that followed.

First we went to visit an old logging village that was active from around 1920 to 1960. This logging site was unique because it was the only one that used trains on the island to move the logs directly onto the ships. It is hard to imagine that the decaying wood that now supports the remains of what use to be an active loading dock could even hold a train and all the supporting equipment that went along with such a production. The sitka spruce that were harvested from the area were used during the second world war to build mosquito planes. A design was developed for the wood planes when metal became too scare or pricy due to its other uses, and the benefit of a wood plane was that it wasn't trackable on radar.

As we ventured into the long abandoned village, we saw other remains including old cars from the 1950s left in place and a giant oil tank. Bonnie and I crawled through the small opening in the oil tank into darkness. It turns out that a local choir group used the tank for a number of performances because the acoustics within the cylinder are most unique.

Back on the boat, we went to explore some of the intertidal life. Right now it is very close to the full moon, so the difference between the high and low tide is currently 21ft. This means that you have to be very careful where you leave your life jacket and gear on the beach when you go exploring in the forest.This also means that there is a lot of really fascinating intertidal life to observe!
First we picked up some giant kelp on the way to shore. The giant kelp is edible raw (it has a crunchy texture with a slightly salty and slimy after taste) and it can also be pickled. In optimal conditions, the kelp can grow up to a meter a day.

On shore, we saw a number of creatures. Favourites included the multicoloured bat starfish, the 18-legged sunflower starfish, leather starfish, anemones, massive sea oysters, a handful of very rare abelone and sea urchins. We fished out a red sea urchin, cut it up in our boat and ate the gonads from the still moving urchin! It was neat to try, but I wouldn't eat it again.

Our guide had been told by a friend that she had found a dead whale carcass on the shore of one of the islands on a recent hike. So we set out to find the dead whale. I spotted it on the shore almost in perfect condition. Once closer, we could see a number of bones that had separated from the carcass during its decomposition - I made a point of collecting them and returning them to the skeleton. Anyway, the dead whale was quite a sight! It was not very large, maybe 18 ft, but it was obviously large by sea creature standards. The birds had done their best with the body, but there was still some soft matter that had to be worn away. In short what this means is the body smelled putrid.

As a consolation, our next exploration was to go seek out some live whales. April is the month when the humpbacks are migrating through Haida Gwaii to Alaska for the summer. They hang out in the islands to feed, so we certaintly saw a lot of activity. From the afternoon of day one until midday day two, we were constantly able to see humpbacks in the channels we were visiting.

Luckily we did not have to return to Sandspit for the night, but instead got to stay in a floating cabin just north of the park boundary overnight. The two story cabin was very homely, though a little cold because the fireplace had broken the day before. Still, we had a personal chef for the evening and we were quite warm once we had stuffed our bellies full!

I was just in awe of the environment in which we were able to stay - I was living in a wood cabin floating on the pacific ocean surrounded by snow covered mountains and massive pacific northwest trees. Beautiful!

On day two, the sun was shinging and the water was calm though the air was crisp. As I sat in the zodiac as we raced over the sea, I couldn't help but feel lucky. British Columbia is beautiful. The mountains that emerge majestically from the depths of the ocean are incomparable to any other landscape I have witnessed on this earth. This is my paradise.

The first creatures we came across were some sun tanning sealions. They had their fins raised high into the air to soak up the warmth of the sun while their bodies floated in the cold salt water. We on the other hand were heading to the hot springs. We sat in the 40 degree hot spring pools under the warm spring time sun and it almost felt tropical. The sky was spattered with a few clouds, but for the most part we were able to use our lookout to eye the humpbacks in the distance and birds in the sky.

Now the absolute highlight of the trip to Gwaii Haanas - the trees! My favourite moments were being able to come face-to-face with hundred- or even thousand-year-old trees. These magnificent organisms are so unique, each one seems to have a character of its own. I learned that some trees have such large canopies that it is though they have their own miniature ecosystems thriving among their branches. The trees that we were witnessing definitely have interesting histories. The first was an alder, and it is the second largest alder recorded in the world. Next we visited some cedar trees, many of which have been culturally modified. Cultural modification implies that in the last 150 years the trees have been cut, proded or burned for a variety of reasons and you are able to see the scars of these modifications on the trees today. Last we visited the site where the battle was waged out between logging protestors and the loggers in teh 1980s. Here I got to stand at the base of a thousand-year-old sitka spruce. I hope that I have been able to capture some of its magnificence here in my photos. It makes me sad to think of these trees coming to their end, but so honoured to be in their presence while they are still alive.

Of course, no visit to Gwaii Haanas would be complete without visiting some of the Haida remains. We went to two villages to see totem poles, motuary poles and where the houses were built. Obviously, when everything is made of wood and abandoned in a forest, the environment reclaims the village at quite a rapid rate. We could still observe what the various artifacts were or represented with instruction from our guide, but I fear that these remains will soon be lost to the wilderness that surrounds them and the Haida artifacts will be best seen in museums. I am glad I got a chance to see it now!

One of the most interesting revelations that came from the trip was the fact that the Haida culture as we know it only developed after first contact when they experienced an artistic boom. The art and the totem poles are a direct result of the metal tools that were all of a sudden provided to the First Nationas group by traders that allowed the Haida more time in their day to day and the ability to create more precise forms. Also, the totem poles were a demonstration of wealth. The Haida are knows as a waring people and werew constantly trying to outmatch the other - this could be achieved by the tallest totem pole for one, or extravagant potlatches. The Haida also had slaves and were prone to fighting for territory. Not always what one thinks of the Haida. It is easy to see though how the death of close to 7,000 (from 10,000 to 3,000) Haida from smallpox in a short time can overshadow the fact that the 'conquered' group were also human.

All in all, the trip was a success. I can now leave this place feeling that I have accomplished what I set out to do on this part of my adventure - experience the awe-inspiring beauty of British Columbia.

P.S. Check out the full photo album on Facebook.