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travel / adventure / guides / summer 2005
| Travel & Adventure Guides |
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By Marion Harrison
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| Photo: Daryl Benson/Masterfile |
The wind immediately
trailed off as
our kayaks rounded the headland.
The rain, which had been lashing us
head-on for the past several hours, was
now only a drizzle, and we instantly felt
some relief. We were greeted by an
unusually calm Windy Bay, backed by sand
beach and giant old-growth forest. In a
clearing, there was a modern wood home,
and as we paddled closer, a sturdy Haida
longhouse took shape through the trees.
Photo: Peter Thompson
Word to the Wise
The sea is not to be taken lightly in
these parts. Independent kayakers
must be self-sufficient and skilled in
marine and wilderness travel. It is
critical to be able to read tide tables
and marine charts. At our campsite
each night, we'd pull out these
documents to plan our route. We also
routinely listened to weather forecasts
on our VHF radio.
Our group had decades of
experience in sea kayaks, which gave
us a healthy dose of respect for the
whims of wind and water. We paddled
on the east coast of Haida Gwaii,
where the sea is more protected and
landings are easier on sand and pebble
beaches. We still had to deal with
exposed crossings, however, as well as
headlands where the winds and tides
are fierce. Always add weather days to
your schedule. Many people would be
well advised to join a commercial
outfitter and leave the planning to an
experienced guide.
There are no designated campsites
within the park, and some restrictions
apply to environmentally sensitive
areas. These will be mentioned at the
orientation. Where permitted, camping
is randomly located and must be low-impact.
Fires must be contained below
the high-tide mark, and you must
hang food out of the reach of animals,
notably black bears. Reservation fees
and user fees are in effect. |
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We beached, and a man approached
the shore to lend us a hand. "Not a day to
be out in sea kayaks!" he exclaimed. I
managed a smile, but as I wriggled out of
the cockpit and stood trembling on land in
a flimsy windbreaker and nylon pants, it
was clear that my morning optimism had left me near-hypothermic. The man, who
introduced himself as Al, took one look
and said, "I'll go fire up the stove. You
better spend the night in the longhouse."
Nearly 20 years old, the longhouse to
which Al referred had been built to
accommodate Haida protestors involved
in the 1985 First Nations stand against
logging here on Lyell Island. Their
blockade, rooted in a deep sense of
connection to this isolated and beautiful
wilderness, eventually led to the creation
of Gwaii Haanas National Park Reserve and
Haida Heritage Site in 1993.
In a sense, therefore, the park had its
beginnings at Windy Bay, where we rested
near the end of our 11-day sea-kayaking
trip in Haida Gwaii (Queen Charlotte Islands). In keeping with this tradition, the
longhouse was once again offering
warmth and comfort, this time to a party
of four drenched sea kayakers.
In an area largely known to the outside
world for its lumber and fishing, Haida
Gwaii is the ancestral home of the Haida.
They have been connected to the land and
sea that make up this group of islands off
the west coast of British Columbia for
10,000 years. Between 10,000 and 30,000
Haida lived here at one time, until contact
with Europeans introduced diseases that
nearly wiped them out. By 1915, only
600 members remained. Now, the Haida
population has grown to 4,000.
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Today's Haida continue hunting, fishing
and traditional gathering. Intensely
proud of their history, they have taken
guardianship of the precious remaining
archaeological sites at Gwaii Haanas. Haida
custodians, in a program called the Haida
Gwaii Watchmen, safeguard the historical
artifacts of their people. During the tourist
season, from May through September,
they live at and protect five significant
sites: K'uuna llnagaay (Skedans); T'aanuu
llnagaay (Tanu); Hlk'yah llnagaay (Windy
Bay); Gandl K'in Gwaayaay (Hot Spring
Island); and SGang Gwaay (Anthony
Island). They also offer information to
visitors and conduct site tours.
As Al stoked the fire, we unloaded
our kayaks and ferried the gear to
the longhouse. Our wet clothes
festooned the rafters, and our happy and
dry party of four trooped to the main
house. We were greeted there by Gladys,
who served up hot fried bread with butter
and homemade jam, plus pots and pots of
tea. We added our meagre offering of
tinned shortbread, which our host
graciously accepted.
Photo: Brian Woodward
Trip Tips
There are many ways to see Gwaii
Haanas other than by sea kayak. All
visitors to the park must make
advance reservations and take an
orientation offered by the park staff
or by a licensed commercial tour
operator. After flying from
Vancouver to Sandspit, on Moresby
Island, we took our orientation at
the airport. The Gwaii Haanas
website lists all commercial
companies licensed to operate in the
park. It's a good starting point to
research whether you want to travel
by air charter, sailboat, powerboat,
mother ship or Zodiac. Each trip has
its own feel.
The website provides complete
information on how to get there,
reservations, registration and
orientation, travel, weather and
safety. You can also read about the
park history, its flora and fauna,
Haida culture, the Haida Gwaii
Watchmen Program and the five
heritage sites.
Gwaii Haanas National Park
Reserve and Haida Heritage Site
Telephone: (250) 559-8818
Website:
www.pc.gc.ca/pn-np/ gwaiihaanas |
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Gladys, a Haida elder, and Al were the
resident Watchmen at Windy Bay. As
Watchmen occasionally move from site to
site, they'd be relocating to Hot Spring Island in a few weeks. Gladys pulled out
her photo albums and showed us pictures
of her family and images of her basketry.
She is an artist, and her work - which I
later saw at the museum in Skidegate -
sells for thousands of dollars. Gladys
explained how she harvests cedar and
spruce root to make her baskets, then
showed us how to fashion cedar-strip roses.
Following our rose-weaving tutorial,
we left to hike through the old-growth
forest. The trail led us past giant Sitka
spruce, western red cedar and western
hemlock draped with brilliant green
mosses and grey-green lichen. Photos
show us dwarfed by thousand-year-old
trees, our outstretched arms encompassing
only a fraction of their girth.
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The human history
of Windy Bay
is relatively recent, but at other
Haida sites, it is as ancient as the
old-growth forest itself. Many tourists
come to visit the archaeological remains
of Haida villages, most notably those on
SGang Gwaay (Anthony Island), which
was declared a UNESCO World Heritage
Site in 1981.
Early in our trip, we made an hour-long
crossing by sea kayak from our tiny
island campsite on one of the Gordon
Islands to SGang Gwaay. Frank, another
Watchman, guided us to the village of
SGang Gwaay llnagaay along trails lined
with bleached shells. We were awestruck
by the 20 or so totem poles in various
stages of decay. We listened attentively as
Frank spoke of his ancestors, conveying
the utmost respect and reverence for the
past. Here at SGang Gwaay and, to a
lesser degree, at Tanu and Skedans,
visitors see mortuary poles, memorial
poles and totem poles, many of which
are intricately carved with bird and
animal symbols of the Haida spirit world.
There are also cavernous house pits that
once sheltered chiefs, along with their
families and servants. We were humbled by the significance of the Haida culture
and saddened by its decline at the hands
of our forefathers. On our return trip, a
whale - perhaps a grey or a minke -
surfaced 10 metres from us. The rush of
adrenaline from the sighting propelled us
through the ebbing tide.
We expected to meet other kayaking
groups, but it wasn't until the fifth day at
Hot Spring Island that our solitude was
broken by visitors. That's because, like
nearly every visitor to Haida Gwaii, we
wanted to stop at the pools on Hot Spring
Island. A sacred site for the Haida, the
natural thermal pools have healing powers
for the overworked muscles of sea-weary
kayakers. Once simple pools carved out of
the hillside, they have been upgraded to
accommodate increasing numbers of
visitors, with boardwalks, change houses
and showers.
A view of the ocean from the hot springs brings the beauty and
the bounty of the Haida's ancestral home into sharp
focus. The sea is teeming with life. Grey,
humpback, minke and orca whales are
often visible. Seals are ever-present, their
whiskered noses popping up at every turn.
Channels, inlets and rocky shores host
sea urchins, anemones, bat stars, multicoloured
sea stars and fish of every
description. With the abundance of the
forest, sea and sky, it's easy to understand
how the land sustained the Haida for
millennia.
We had planned our trip with the goal
of experiencing the natural wonders of
this isolated wilderness. We were
unprepared, however, for the warm
welcome from the Haida people we met,
especially Gladys, Al and Frank. They
connected us deeply to their culture. Their
heritage and their homeland are treasures
well worth protecting.
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