Blogs from Queen Charlotte Islands, British Columbia, Canada, North America

Thursday September 8, 2011 Rennell Sound I went to bed super late; in fact I wouldn’t even look at my watch because I knew it was that late. That’s what happens when you put me in front of a TV after a few months of no TV. I had thought about staying another day (at the hostel) but the weather looked like it was improving and I got a fair bit accomplished last night (laundry & most of the blogs). I got a bit of a later start this morning but it was only 40 km’s to Rennell Sound; how bad could things get? The gravel road was in much worse shape than I had hoped for. I don’t want to say it was the worst I had ridden on; but maybe it was. The road ... read more

Saturday September 3, 2011 Queen Charlotte Islands It rained last night, surprise, surprise. I am sure thankful for the covered shelter. Very overcast this morning. I was told that there is a family from South Africa that moved to Prince Rupert because they have a rare skin condition. This skin condition is somehow agitated by the sun. They moved to Prince Rupert because all of their research indicated that Prince Rupert was the one city in the world that received the least amount of sun in the entire world per year. I don’t know if this is true or not but they do have a store in town called “Slickers” that sells exclusively raingear. I bought a tarp there this morning. Either I will get all sun from now on and it will be a waste ... read more

Welcome to the Pacific Northwest, the heart of the temperate rainforest. It is a thin strip of islands and fiords hemmed in by the Coast Mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west, taking its shape from jagged rocks that were pushed up from the ocean floor eons ago. If this wasn't enough of a primoridal and wild place, I am in the remote islands of Haida Gwaii (formerly the Queen Charlotte Islands), which lie on the extremity of the extreme; a fang-shaped archipelago on the edge of the continental shelf, a day's sail west of British Columbia and just south of the Alaskan panhandle. This archipelago is made up of 2 main islands (Graham to the north, Moresby to the south) and approximately 150 other smaller islands shrewn about them, with a ... read more

Priorities (prahy-awr-i-tees) highest or higher in importance, rank, privilege. So here we are in the Queen Charlotte Islands. Where do we begin to describe this beautiful, tranquil island, these amazing communities and the kind and genuine people? I will try, but it really won't be the same as being here and experiencing it for yourselves. The Queen Charlotte Islands are about 300 km long, in a rough triangular shape from 100 km wide across the top, tapering to a point at Cape St. James at the south end. Tucked under the coastline of islands that form the Alaska panhandle they are 75 km from the American border, approximately 120 km west of the outer islands of the northern BC coastline. The Islands have just had a name change. In honor of the Haida First Nations People ... read more

Our only full day in the Charlottes was Sunday, July 10. We got up relatively early, and took the short walk to the beach before breakfast. It’s a beautiful, long, sand beach, with some pebbles, and utterly deserted. We then breakfasted in the camper, before heading north towards Masset. Along this perhaps 50 km trip, we must have seen at least 100 deer browsing along the roadside. Shortly after setting out on the road, around 10 am, we encountered a pickup truck badly stuck in the right ditch, but heading in our direction. A couple of other vehicles were also stopped but we also pulled over to see if we could be of any assistance. The truck was in pretty bad shape, but there was a young couple on and in it, who were obviously the ... read more