Last Days.

New Aiyansch and Gingolx.

Here are 2 places that few have ever heard of. 

They lie in the heart of the Nisga'a nation north of Terrace on the Nass river. This is a tribe of 8,000 First Nations people, but only 2,000 actually live on the nation. 

They were one of the tribes who staunchly refused to give up their lands to the "White Man" in the late 1800's. They were the first to fight Ottawa and Victoria. In  2000 they won the right of self government, their lands and hundreds of Indian artifacts that had been take by governments, people and museums over the last century were slated for return. 

They now have a self governing people and land base, and one of the most incredible cultural centres in the country. Hundreds of their artifacts have been returned and are now housed in the most impressive of museums. Inside the 50 foot high stunning structure are  totem poles, carvings, clothing, sleds, weapons to hunt with, and even weapons of war plus countless other artifacts. There is even a to-scale long house!

In the early 1700's the Nisga'a people almost got wiped out by the eruption of Canada's last  active volcano. Three villages and 2,000 people were instantly wiped out when the mountain literally exploded and covered a large area over the valley floor with  up to 12 meters of lava. Since the volcano exploded, there was no lava flow. The molten lava cooled in the air and fell as rocks! The lava area is barren rock today covered with 2 to 4 inches of lichen. A valley that was once fertile and abundant with game will never support much growth for thousands of years. The Nass River found a new course and provides excellent fishing. The traditional native oolachan fishery still occurs at the mouth of the Nass at Gingolx. 

Next we drove out to the ocean village of Gingolx.  This native settlement is at the mouth of the Nass river where it empties into a long isolated inlet with an abundance of fish for the people. It is also a Mecca for the very few sports fisherman who make it there. 

This village rarely sees tourists, so in one of the 2 restaurants in town we were really treated to the best fresh halibut and chips I have ever eaten. The native lady owner was getting married on Sunday so the whole town and area of 450 residents were invited--as were us but we sadly had to say we were leaving for home. A number of people were busy cleaning up the town for the big event that would take place in the village's enormous community center that would have no problem hosting this event. So big was this building, I know we don't have any community hall building comparable in the Okanagan!

So remote was this village that there were many road signs saying to beware of Grizzlies. We actually watched a big sow with 3 cubs for a few minutes as they crossed the road. We later found out that she had recently chased several cars and actually ran a SUV off the road and down an embankment. No one was badly hurt but they had the scare of their lives. 

That night it was back to Terrace. 

Thursday was a driving day from Terrace to Quesnel. 

A couple of stops, first at Pioneer Log Homes in Williams Lake then at the historic 108 ranch.  Friday was our last driving day and we arrived home at 8:00. The sun and warmth really were noticeable as we stepped out of our vehicles in Vernon for supper. 

Home now, we are unpacking from a truly fantastic and memorable holiday. 

44 days were definitely a squeeze to fit in all the things we did and experienced, but it did give us enough time to find the highlights of this 10,000 km trip. Some of the stops will definitely be a focus for us to revisit and really spend some time experiencing the history, culture, landscapes and definitely the people of these wonderful spots, that so few people have ever experienced. 

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Random pictures of Haida Gwai etc.

Random pictures from the last few weeks

Sunday in Haida Gwai

Haida Gwai. Sunday

A rainy morning slowed us down a bit, but by 10:00we were out the door and heading to the ferry for Morsby island. Once across the short ferry ride we visited the damp town of Sandspit--a small but well organized and clean village with an airport that actually had three small jets parked on the runway, and 2 helijets. The federal airport was small but full of Haida influences and a bit of modern aviation history as it related to the area and its role in WWII defence of our country. 

As we start driving the northern perimeter of Morsby we notice numerous beautiful sandy beaches. 

As seems to be the norm around here, the misty rain turns to pure sunshine--very strange. Within a half hour we find an oceanfront pullout and end up popping through the green belt to another sandy and sunny beachfront where to our surprise we found a very small beach cabin tucked into the green jungle-forest. We decided this was a great place for lunch. 

Our next spot about an hour later was Gray Bay provincial campsite, on the ocean front. Only 3 or 4 campers were set up here. What a beautiful location. We parked and again walked on the beach. It was incredibly warm. All of us took off our fleeces and laid back in the sun. All the many days I had spent lying on the beach in the summer months at White Rock were not any warmer than we experienced at Gray Bay beach. It was truly remarkable how warm we were in this protected, windless sandy bay. It seems that each day at this place we find an even nicer spot that appears to be all our own at the moment. 

Our goal today was a loop trail on the island's north end, through an evergreen jungle dirt road. Within a half hour we were suddenly in another weather system. Rain and more rain!  What a change. Suddenly also the road quality went "downhill". Muddy potholes everywhere. Bouncing from mud hole to pothole and back, suddenly saw Terry have to suddenly stop as one of out four bikes (attached to the sides of the truck rack) partially broke loose. 10 minutes later and mud everywhere we were again on our way. Another few minutes passed with us swerving from mud hole to bump and suddenly Terry abruptly stopped again. His bike had completely fallen from the truck and lay back on the road side covered in mud--another repair job. 

With all these stops we had missed the second last ferry home. We had no real idea where we were. Another bike partially slipped from its berth--more time waisted. We came across a large inland lake but still had no idea how far we had to go. Time was ticking down and it started to look like we might be stranded on Morsby overnight, since the last ferry was in 40 minutes!  The road actually narrowed even more and we passed  several intersections, each time hoping we would choose the right direction. 

Suddenly another body of water appeared. We debated as to whether it was another lake or the ocean. After a few more minutes it became obvious we had reached an inlet. We were hoping that we might catch the last ferry home. In a crazy twist, the skies cleared up, yet again, and to our surprise and relief we were within minutes of the ferry wharf. 

Attesting to the remoteness of this place, we were the only ferry vehicle on the last trip of the day, under sunny skies and a serene ocean, spotted with several small islands highlighted by the setting sun rays. -- a great as well as suspenseful day!

A final highlight of the day was watching Pittsburgh win the Stanley Cup.  

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Haida Gwai. Saturday

Haida Gwai  Saturday 

A misty morning saw us heading the 1.5 hours north to Masset. 

Crazy weather in this country. One hour of misty rain then suddenly the skies open to sunshine. Later in the day the weather was misty again. 

Even though Masset was in the sunshine, the town has a permanent cloud of poverty shrouding it. With much of the town being a First Nations reserve, little attention was being focussed on home maintenance or town infrastructure upgrades.  Even though the Haida community center was a well kept building with a totem pole outside, the homes of the residents were in a terrible state of disrepair and neglect. Many houses were vandalized and neglected to the point where they were uninhabitable. Broken windows, torn off siding, partly destroyed exterior walls and derelict roofing were common place. 

However we were hungry by noon and after a time of searching for a restaurant we found a seedy looking small diner, took a deep breath and headed in for lunch. What a surprise. It was busy inside and when we were served, the food was "top shelf" with service to match. A pleasant treat, warrenting a decent tip!

From here it was on to the north most tip of Haida Gwai. Before reaching Tow Hill we passed a very large decommissioned national defence facility that played a roll in defending our West Coast during WWII. It is now reduced to a communications post in our national defence strategy. 

The ride along the gravel road to Tow Hill was almost mystical. 

Large trees covered with 6 to 12 inch moss clothing lined the roadside swampy areas. Bright sunshine filtered through the greenery that formed a Tierra crowning over the road as we drove under it. Occasionally where the swamp retreated, we saw a driveway through the trees, leading to an oceanfront beach. At one point we found a trail-road leading in the direction of the ocean. In the truck we ducked through the lush green tunnel and came out on an enormous expanse of sandy beach with no one in sight for miles. 

Another amazing thing we experienced was, NO MOSQUITOES OR BUGS!!  So far everywhere we have been has been bug free-- amazing since there is water and swamp in many of the locations we have travelled in Haida Gwai. 

The other strange thing we have experienced is how warm it is on this remote northern location. Often we are just in out shirt sleeves or at most with a fleece on. Our temperatures in the last few days have been at least as warm as in Kelowna!  I guess the effects of the Japanese current are more than we thought. They even have a surfing competition here in OCTOBER!! The island only saw frost a couple of days all last winter with only a few days of snow also. 

After spending an hour or so exploring the isolated sandy beach area, we head on to Tow Hill. 

Mist started to creep in on us but did not dampen our spirits or even cool the air much. Here we hiked the sands and watched a few people with kids enjoy the water. There was even a surf board on the beach, but waves were not cooperating for the hopeful surfer. 

A hike up the kilometre long board walk to the top of Tow Hill and another stroll on Agate beach near the oceanfront government campsite wrapped up another wonderful day.  

Once back at our home base it did start to rain--west coast rain. However we were back in our cozy appartment having another great meal prepared by the ladies. 

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Haida Gwai Friday

Haida Gwai Friday

Seven hours of good seas and sunshine on the Northern Adventure were easy to take. 5:00 saw us docking at Skidigate, Haida Gwai our final destination on our trip. 

With only 800 residents, and obviously not many houses, it took us only about five minutes to find the house we had rented in advance.  It was owned by Jeff, a long time resident of the area. He had added on a small suite to an already existing house to allow for three separate apartment-like residences, located a short block from the ocean with a view. After unpacking, dinner, and a small walk along the beach, we were ready for the sack and looking forward to our adventures tomorrow. 

Friday saw us visit the incredible culture center downtown. A half a dozen long houses are situated on a shallow ocean point, overlooking several islands in this protected bay--truly beautiful setting.

Admission was $16 per person. Each building has focus on that particular aspect of the haida culture and history. Also Each of 6 long houses had a unique Totempole placed in front of them. Our guide gave us an enlightning insight into the stories behind each of the polls.  Each pole usually represents the story of a specific clan and traditionally is put up to indicate the history of the clan and celebrate a Potlatch held by the chief.  Each long-house is a very big, well constructed building. It has large cedar posts that support enormous rafters, with a roof that peaks at about 20 ft inside. Each roof has a removable vent to allow smoke to escape from the indoor heating and cooking fire. Architecture of these buildings is amazing and often a work of art with gigantic totem poles sometimes acting as the main supporting posts. The enormous natural cedar beams and rafters also add the the charm of the structure. The cedar wood splits so perfectly that some roofs are made from hand split shakes that could be 12 inches wide, nearly 1 inch thick and sometimes 6 ft or more long!

There are numerous clans within the culture, such as the raven clan, bear, Eagle, etc,  with each Clan represented by and important animal. Traditionally clans are matriarchal focussed, like we saw in Alaska , but a male chief is  stiljl the head figure.  Relationships with the different clans are usually positive, and I guess they have to be as Chiefs will not allow people in the same clan  to marry, you have to marry outside of your clan. This is a tradition that  carries on even today.

Because food was in abundance with fish, berries and game, the residents had ample time to devote to artistic endeavors.  This included creating garments, baskets, buildings and even weapons that were not only practical, but beautiful.  Modern day Craftsman-artists like the late Bill Reid have introduced the world to the beauty of their work to a point that Haida art is now an international simbol of our country and sought out by collectors around the world. This also has the effect of making it exceedingly pricy, with small baskets and carved argelite figures fetching thousand of dollars and totem poles in excess of $100,000! 

Very large handcrafted cedar ocean-going canoes are also an important part of Haida culture. These canoes were know to travel the 70 miles across the dangerous Hecate straight to the mainland. Here they traded such things as dried fish and berries and even copper for products produced by mainland first nations tribes. They were also known to explore and even colonize desirable areas as far south as Northern California. With a population of over 30,000 before white men arrived, they also put war parties together and occasionally would raid mainland tribes and even take slaves back to their island. 

The geological history of the area is also very interesting. 15,000 years ago during the last glacial age the ocean shoreline was 150 meters LOWER than today!  Over the next 5,000 years as sea levels steadily rose to a point where they were 15 meters higher than today! History has the ancestors of the Haida arriving here at least 10,000 years ago. 

The most disrupting events to the Haida occurred with the coming of the explorers and fur traders starting in the late 1700's. Small pox, chicken pox, other diseases and alcohol almost annihilated their numbers. By the early 1900's they were reduced from 30,000 to a mere 600 people. At this time the government of Canada tried to obliterate their culture by forcing children into residential schools, and banning use of their language as well as cultural activities. However that last 30 years has seen a robust resurrection of their population, cultural identity and language to a point where the people have regained their pride and confidence. This is evident everywhere throughout the islands. 

Next was a short drive up island to Port Clement at the base of Masset inlet. A great little logging museum captured our attention with numerous outdoor displays on a well-kept grassy lawn area and a wonderfully appointed little building with displays. 

Then it was on to a large nearby river which was a major salmon tributary. We actually helped one native and his friends haul in an ancient oversized row boat, nets and his disappointing catch of 5 sockeye. Quite the characters and fun to talk to as we participated in the "gong show" of loading a boat onto a rusty flat deck trailer with six of us and a broken down tow rope straining to the limits, what with the old boat being waterlogged and burdened with far too much water in the hull. 

It was one of those rivers where except for a couple of fisherman, time is its only visitor, with trees, roots and moss outlining the slow meandering riverbed. Truly a place that we had described to us as "therapeutic" by the residents. Also this location was the former sight of the legendary  Golden Spruce.  This tree met its sad demise when a wako environmentalist cut it down in protest to the island logging practices--go figure that one out!!! 

...back home to see Pittsburg lose its chance to win the Stanley cup. 

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Prince Rupert

Prince Rupert

Finally we are at the last leg of our trip, prince Rupert. 

Our downtown RV site was just perfect. A minute from downtown via George!  

Once again we lucked out on the weather and had relatively warm shirt sleeve weather with none of the famous "Rupert Rain". 

By its own admission, this town sees less sun than any city in Canada. However on a clear day it is beautiful. Flowers were in bloom downtown and they are so advanced in the season that their rhododendrons were almost over. However, when it rains, it is legendary. Everyone here tells us about how it even rains horizontally because of the coast winds. This is the only town we have seen with a specialty shop devoted to rainwear called Slickers!

The town of 14,000 is only one of three (the others being Terrance and Whitehorse) in the last few weeks of our travels that seems to be on the positive end of the scale when it comes to economic activity. 

A reasonably active deep sea port, logging, fishing, and tourism all seem to be ticking along. The sport fishing season has just begun and we saw guided tours coming in with many salmon. Also one of the whale watching boats arrived when we were at the pier with at least 75 paying customers coming off ship (at $245 per head!). 

Tourism is now picking up to a point where smaller cruise ships (less than 1,500 passengers) often do make the town a destination enroute to Alaska. The container port handles several thousand containers each year, and trains bring prairie wheat and coal for bulk shipment. Another big hope for the town is the Petronas LNG plant that has already begun infrastructure construction even though it has a few bureaucratic hurdles to pass through before the green light is finally given to the project. Finally, the imminent construction of a second rail line into town from Prince George bodes well for the town's future. One of the young worker-guides at the town's info enter provided us with a wonderful talk-tour of the town's potential as well as its historical past. 

The town has a very long and colourful indigenous history dating back over 5,000 years. With their access to fish, furs, and game meat, the native  population has always thrived in the distant past as they learned to trade with other native populations in the province. Their wealth enabled them time to become very skilled at jewelry making, carving, construction,  boat building, and sewing of ornate clothing.  Today over half the population of the town is of First Nations heritage and the indigenous skills are obvious all over town. 

After I spent a couple of hours spent in the hospital's emergency ward with an ear infection, our couple of days also consisted of checking out the very large cultural history Center, walking the shops of the pier area, and visiting one of Julie's long lost cousins. In the pleasant weather it was a great place to just hang out in the sunshine, and get Terry's truck ready with supplies and bikes for Haida Guai. Since it cost more than $600 for the 7 hour ferry ride, return, we decided to take only one vehicle. An RV is over $1,000,   On Haida Guai we rented a 2 bedroom House near the beach. 

We got our RV's ready to store at the campsite and got prepared for our Haida adventure. 

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Meziadin

Meziadin Lake

From Jade lakes our next short stop was Boya Lake south on the Stewart Cassiar. 

This government campsite may be the most beautiful British Columbia. The lake is crystal clear shades of green and blue.

Amazingly, the campsite is spotlessly clean. There is a beautiful log picnic gazebo area and if you can believe it, free canoes and kayaks along with paddles and lifejackets that you can take out on the lake. A well designed boat launch tops off this gem. Our camping in British Columbia we have never seen such a sweet little campsite and lake combination. 

Next stop in the southerly direction was Kinaskan lake provincial campsite. Once again here is a hidden gem within our province that very few people will actually get to enjoy. Beautiful lake with many campsites facing right on the lakefront.

Along this route another strange site presented itself. For many miles we followed a brand new and very large hydro line with countless brand new towers. What its purpose was is yet unclear, but it is certainly a large BC Hydro initiative. 

 After a long day of driving on the Stewart-Cassiar we finally make it to the provincial campsite at Mezziadin lake. To our surprise we found a lakefront campsite on the extremely calm lake with electricity. We have never stayed at  provincial government campsite before with an electrical hookups. We booked in for 3 days. 

On the second day we decided to head in to Stewart. This is a very old town that has its history back in the gold rush era of British Columbia. On our way and we passed the Bear glacier. We saw the tongue of a glacier that extends back about 21 km. Stewart is another example of a town where time has passed it by. Some mining is active with a new mine starting up soon and logging is also a small part of the economy. In a short minute we were through Stewart we entered Hyder Alaska. It was very odd because there is no US border check when you go from British Columbia to Alaska. In a a matter of minutes you pass out of Alaska again and back into British Columbia. Very strange.

30 km later we arrive at the Salmon glacier.  This is very amazing glacier. It looks much like a river of ice flowing down from an enormous glacier field. It has mountains of ice with it, crevasses, and even some small turquoise ponds of glacier water. It is definitely a once in a lifetime viewing spectacle for most people. The gravel road on the mountain side high above the glacier on our way to the viewing platform also offered many exciting and somewhat anxious moments as we seemed to be suspended a thousand feet, directly above the vast river of ice. 

On a return trip to Hyder, we dropped in at a famous pub there and got our initiation rites of being hyderized. This requires that you take a shot of 190 proof Alaskan White lightening and take it down in one shot. The dregs from the shooter glass are then ignited into an almost clear blue flame to prove the strength of the drink. Definitely an experience, but not on the same level as the Sourtoe Cocktale in Dawson! 

Strangely enough it was a border crossing between Hyder and British Colombia. It seemed odd that it was not crossing when we entered into America, but we had a border crossing when we entered back into Canada.

Stuart you still at the Seaport. So we decided to drive into the port area and see if there was any activity there. To our surprise, there was a row after row of pipe that was about 10 feet in diameter. Next thing we saw was at least 70 enormous propeller blades.  Each of These blades measure approximately 200 feet in length. These blades were so enormous that they required a special truck to transport them to Chetwind. The back of the trailer that carried these blades ad a special stearable dolly to get them around the bends in the many curved roads on their way to Chetwyn. Here they would be pieced together to make an enormous wind generator for electricity. Another enormous BC Hydro initiative that few of us even know about!

Once back at the campsite, it was a futile fishing expedition then bedtime. One more day was spent at this beautiful spot to just lay back. 

However, finally we have encountered the legendary BC interior mosquitoe invasion. Thousands of them everywhere. Not since Fairbanks had we seen many mossies 

 This made up for it. Unlike the enormous, harmless "B 52 bomber" bugs in Fairbanks, theses were The "F-18 fighters" of the spicies. Spray "Off" was definitely the order of the day and it was only moderately effective  

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Jade lakes

Jade lakes (north border of BC just south of Watson lake 

 Long 7 hour drive took us from Skagway to the Yukon and back to BC

Our final stop was a beautiful pull-over on the side of the Stewart-Cassiar highway at Jade Lakes. 

The evening saw us have supper and a drink  under a partially cloudy sky beside the lake. Gorgeous spot, all of our own as we watched the sun reflect off the lake and eventually go down on the western horizon, siloetting the skeletons of trees in a burned out forest that was starting to regenerate itself. 

PICS HERE

Oh Canada

Oh CANADA! Whitehorse 5,358 km

From home)

Heading back to the Yukon, so we can get back to Alaska!  Sounds rather odd, but there are no roads in Alaska that can take you to Skagway. We will be heading back to Whitehorse, and then another route back into Alaska. 

Today is a travel day,but still very scenic, with 10,000 to 14,000 snow clad peaks at every bend in the highway. 

It still strikes us as odd that most of the roads that take you through such enormous mountain ranges are located in rolling hill valleys, and not clinging to mountain sides like in BC. The valleys are usually very wide and rolling between the ranges and the passes through them are wide. 

Alaskans seem to love the outdoors. Anywhere there is water, there are countless RV's and heavy duty fishing boats (no 18+ ft run-about ski boats to be seen, and almost no Seadoos). In the interior regions, you find countless numbers of RV's parked anywhere in the wilderness with their ATV's (very few backcountry motorbikes). With the ocean and countless lakes and rivers, Fishing seems to be a way of life here. 

People are outdoor active here. As Willie Nelson once put it in a song, they want to 

     Live fast

     Love hard

     Die young

     And leave a beautiful memory

As of May 29, we are in our 24th day on the road. 13 days of that time have been spent with about 5.5 hours of driving. 11 have been spent just laying back or hiking, biking or exploring scenic side roads with either George or Terry,s truck.  

We are averaging just under 450 km for each diving day. The whole trip will take just under 20 driving days. This is certainly not a trip that can be done in 3 or 4 weeks  if you really want to appreciate the unique places of interest.  

Our planned 44 days really is not enough, but we are starting to get an appreciation for the area, it's history, and the very gracious residents of the north. We cannot say enough about how nice and helpful people have been in every location. 

Also we have been blessed with the best weather imaginable. Sunshine and warmth have followed us everywhere!  Up here a person has so much time to do and see things in the day light. I am not really certain what time it gets dark here. We are usually in bed by midnight or earlier--the sun has gone down but it is not dark yet. When we get up at 7:00 or so, it is always very light outside, with the sun up quite sometime earlier. 

Before Whitehorse, it was a night in a beautiful campsite at Beaver Creek. The owner was a wonderful lady who actually lived in Lund, British Columbia. From April till September she ran her campsite in Beavercreek, and then headed back to Lund. This had been her routine for the last 11 years

We arrived at Whitehorse for the second time this evening--a complete loop! We ran into a wee bit of heavy duty thunder showers for a bit of the drive. It once again partially cleared up in Whitehorse. A car wash a bit of shopping and to bed with Skagway on our mind. 

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