Haida Gwaii

If you read no further, here is the gist of Haifa Gwaii: it is awesome and you should go.

In case you are like us and are mostly unaware of Haida Gwaii, it’s an archipelago that lies 80 km off the west coast of BC. It consists of 154 islands which are sparsely populated with people but heavily populated with flaura and fauna. It has huge old growth trees, rainforests and beaches that stretch as far as the eye can see. It has many species that are unique in the world because of its remoteness and the fact that it was spared from being covered by the huge ice sheets that covered the rest of Alaska, BC and northern states.

We took BC Ferries to get there, which as you may have read in Kim’s post, was an adventure in itself. We were one of the last vehicles to be loaded so we ended up being one of the first to unload (the ferry only has one loading bay so we had to back onto it). As we drove the first couple of kilometers towards one of the main towns, Queen Charlotte, there was a break in the clouds and a narrow ray of sunshine illuminated the bay. It was breathtaking! We were told that it was a magical place and this seemed to confirm it.

We met up with our high school pal Pete who works for Parks Canada in Gwaii Haanas National Park. He moved their about a year and a half ago for work and they fell in love with the place. They have now anchored themselves in and bought an Inn and his parents have joined him and his family. They were awesome and let us camp out in their driveway and leech off their utilities and indoor plumbing. :) Pete, Alison and the kids were also awesome for tips on where to travel and what to see. Pete even joined us for a day on the west coast to visit the beaches of Rennel Sound and hike into Yakoun Lake. It was great having a terrestrial biologist on hand to answer our questions.

We hiked a few of the trails around Queen Charlotte and checked out their awesome museum. One of the highlights was an hour long totem pole tour. It really opened our eyes to the cultural importance of totem poles and gave us some insight into how to interpret the animals and stories that are carved into them.

After spending another night with Pete and his family, we headed north and made our way up Graham Island towards Tlell, Port Clements and Masset and up towards the northern end of Naikoon Provincial Park. The eastern and northern edge of Naikoon is pretty much all beach which is pretty incredible! The route I've highlighted below is pretty much the only paved road on the island other than streets in towns and there are very few roads other than logging roads that access the western shores.

By chance, we happened to be in Haida Gwaii at the same time as our friend (and our dog's vet) NIcole. It was a fun reunion and we got to catch up while we spent the day hiking around North and South Beach and Tow Hill.

The next day we headed south and hiked the famous Golden Spruce trail. There is a book by the same name that chronicles the history and demise of the Golden Sitka Spruce at the hands of a disgruntled forestry worker. The trail is short and kind of anti-climactic as it leads to the place where the tree used to stand.

We spent our last few days doing some more hiking around Queen Charlotte and took the ferry over to Sandspit to check out a few more trails and beaches. The highlight was hiking up a trail called Sleeping Beauty which took us up a steep climb through the trees and then continued above the tree line up to a peak which had 360 degree views of the surrounding area. We had a warm clear day so there were very few clouds obscuring the view.

Unfortunately we didn't make it down to Gwaii Hannas National Park. It is only accessible by boat or float plane so you need to book a tour. We didn't really plan to be there this early so we didn't have anything booked, plus it's a bit of a logistical challenge with the dogs. But that's okay, we'll just have to make another trip over there! :)