Wild West Adventures In The Great Bear Rainforest By Cindy Phillips and Gordon Baron Hakai Passage is located in the Hakai Luxvbalis Conservancy Marine Park. PAGE 6 Issue 79 Christmas 2015
British Columbia is Canada s most western Province. The coastline stretches over 600 miles (965 km) from Victoria, north of Seattle, to Portland Inlet on the Canadian/Alaska border. This Inside Passage consists of more than 40,000 islands. The mild and moist climates are influenced by the Pacific currents circulating the warm water along the outer coast. The steep mountains from the inland fjords hold in the low lying clouds, creating their own weather systems. Artists come from around the globe to paint the beautiful scenery in the Great Bear Rainforest. (Mark Hobson) Located in the middle of BC s coastline is the world s largest remaining area of unspoiled temperate rainforest left intact. In the mid 1990 s, over twelve hundred square miles of pristine, remote wilderness was named the Great Bear Rainforest. The biodiversity s dramatic combination of forest ecosystems, rugged landscape and marine ecology makes British Columbia s Great Bear Rainforest one of the most varied and scenic regions in Canada. Two hundred and twenty miles northwest of Vancouver, in BC s western edge of the Great Bear Rainforest, is the remote jewel of Hakai Luxvbalis Conservancy. The 122,998 hectare Provincial Marine Park is the largest in the Province. Archeological discoveries have provided physical evidence that people have inhabited the mid-coast of British Columbia for more than 10,000 years. History, traditions and cultures have revolved around fishing and salmon have been responsible for the economic development of these secluded communities on the Central Coast. The stunning archipelago of islands and the intricate networks of coves, channels and inlets; have kept us on an exploration journey lasting two decades. You are off the grid out here, which means you look after yourself. With a little knowledge of shellfish gathering and what to use as bait on your fishing pole, you can live off the sea just like in ancient times. In the winter months during the storm and hurricane season, (December to March) this can be a little difficult. Weather and tides are the biggest challenge paddling in the Great Bear Rainforest. In June, tides reach lows of 0.0 feet. The inter-tidal pools come alive with sealife and the Islands expose miles of white sand beaches. Calvert Island is one of these hidden treasures. This Island is twenty miles (32 km) long and Over 200 salmon canneries operated on the coast of BC. Issue 79 Christmas 2015 PAGE 7
Paddling in Hakai Pass looking out into the open waters of the Pacific Ocean PAGE 8 Issue 79 Christmas 2015
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Humpback whales return every summer to the Great Bear Rainforest from the waters off Mexico and Hawaii. ten miles (16 km) wide. The beaches have been rated as some of Canada s best. We have proof, as my partner and I lived alone on this secluded Island for three winters building trails, boardwalks and bridges to viewpoints and lookouts on the west side of the Island. The east side is protected from the westerly storms, big swells and open surfs. Sports fishermen have been coming to Hakai and Rivers Inlet areas for more than a century for the legendary salmon fishing. In the last decade, people have been coming for the wilderness adventure and educational learning experience living with nature in their natural environment. The safe anchorage on the east side of the Island in Pruth Bay is a destination for boaters heading north to Alaska. This is also a good starting point for kayaking. The summer months of June, July, August and September are the warmest, with the least amount of strong off-shore winds. Paddling north from Pruth Bay in Kawashua Channel we start to feel the strength of the Pacific Ocean swells entering Hakai Passage, northern tip of Calvert Island. In early January and June we can have a 16 foot (4.8 m) tide change in six hours. That is a lot of water moving through Hakai Pass producing swells so big that the shoreline, trees and mountains disappear on the low Mean part of the swell. In January you can add a chop to the waves. Timing is critical; we have to leave just before morning slack in the tide change and before the daily temperature warms up bringing westerly winds and sea fog. (August) This gives us enough time to get around the open waters of Hakai Pass into the cluster of Islands in Choked Passage. (North end of Calvert Island). The sealife and salmon fishing come alive. This is also the start of the Calvert Island chain of white sand beaches. Beach access to the five sand beaches on the northern tip of Calvert Island facing Hakai Passage can be challenging in the open surf for the rookie paddler. Trails have been built and up-graded linking North Beach to West Beach and trails heading south overlooking the Pacific Ocean, also connecting us back to Pruth Bay,(starting point). This means, if the water gets too rough we can walk back to the starting point and pick up our kayaks later? (BC Parks, Tula Foundation and First Nation communities have up-graded PAGE 10 Issue 79 Christmas 2015 Grizzly balancing on his hind legs getting mussels off the tree branches at low tide.
Make loading kayaks easy Easy quick mounting and dismounting boat roller. No need for a heavy permanently mounted system that effects handling and fuel consumption. 2 mounting positions to fit most vehicle. Just apply to clean glass or paintwork when needed. Then use roller to roll kayak onto your vehicle. Paddling at sunset in Fitz Hugh Sound. Cape Calvert is in the distance. (South end of Calvert Island) Phone your closest kayak retailer or for further information email Great Stuff Ltd Distributed by Great Stuff. email greatstuffltd@orcon.net.nz SeattleAD-Jan14 Oh No? Not you again. When the tide is the lowest, we paddle to a section of shoreline to get images of grizzlies. After awhile they get used to seeing the kayaks Issue 79 Christmas 2015 PAGE 11
the trails making this into a first class hiking destination). Walking on the groomed paths, new bridges and boardwalks on the South Beach Trail climbs us up around the cliffs to Baron s Bluff lookout and beyond, connecting you to another string of white sand beaches on the west side of the Island. This is also a good safety feature for paddlers, should the weather change and you have to come ashore. All trails connect back to the starting point at Pruth Bay. Just a few miles east of Calvert Island, crossing Fitz Hugh Sound is the entrance to Rivers Inlet (Gateway to Grizzly Country and Cannery Row). Rivers Inlet is famous for the salmon fishing and the seventeen commercial salmon canneries that once operated in the thirty mile (48 km) long Inlet, with the last cannery closing in 1957. Rivers Inlet still holds the record for the world s biggest King salmon, weighing in at 126 pounds (57 kg). Salmon has made the Inlet a destination for sports fishermen and grizzlies. Starting in mid-march, the snow has melted off the lower levels on the mountains, arctic outflow winds have stopped and the weather begins to warm up. With our camera gear ready for another season, we are off paddling the shoreline looking for that ultimate image of a grizzly. This is not an easy task because so much has to come together. It has to be early morning; this is the grizzlies favourite feeding time. Tide has to be at its lowest point of the day, exposing mussels and sea grass. Need bright overcast, not sunshine to highlight the bears, and the water has to be glass calm so you have little camera shake with a long lens. It was hard to get used to the short open kayak after being in the luxury of a 21ft (6.3 m). Tofino kayak. But after doing a few Eskimo rolls trying to land on the beaches loaded with gear in an open surf,you start to get a little wiser, than faster. The waves on this section of shoreline are very close together making it just about impossible for me to pop out of the cockpit and control my watercraft before the next wave hits. Plus being able to stand in the kayak getting out from a support boat (Mothership) in rough seas with a packsack and paddle sure is a real bonus, not to mention the plexy glass PAGE 12 Issue 79 Christmas 2015
For generations First Nation people have used the natural resources of the ocean to supply seafood to their villages and old growth Red and Yellow Cedar trees to build their Long Houses, canoes, totems, masks and sections of the standing tree for planking, clothing and baskets etc. Today these standing trees have been labeled as Cultural Modified Trees. (CMT) The term describes the modification of a tree (any species) by the indigenous people as part of their tradition. Trees are registered by the government of British Columbia and are illegal to cut down. CMT dot British Columbia s coastline displaying living memories of First Nations coastal heritage. Exploration in the Great Bear Rainforest is a voyage through time that gives us the ultimate wilderness experience. bottom to photograph sea creatures. As the weather gets warmer during mid-day, the fjords inflow winds begin, surf up, and the grizzlies head for the shade until the late afternoon when the temperature cools down. This comes from living up-close with the grizzlies for five years. If you have never caught a Spring (King) salmon from your kayak, the experience is something you will never forget. The strong fighting fish will tow you all over the Inlet, taking hours to reel in if you re lucky. Getting the fish in the kayak is another story. Over the years, we had grizzlies swim out to the kayak to investigate; make false charges from the shoreline, (lightening fast) plus a group of four sleeping eight feet (2.4 m) from our front door. But the hairiest moment was when lying on a pier watching two grizzlies fighting 12 ft (3.6 m). below. I was looking through the lens, taking pictures, when one of the grizzlies spotted me, before pressing the shutter release button for the next image, the grizzly was on its hind legs, growling five feet (1.5 m) away from my face. Took the shot, but the lens could not focus fast enough. Talk about an adrenalin rush. Photos: Opposite page top: Bald eagle is perched on an old abandoned floating logging A frame. This float was once used to pull small logs down the mountainside into the ocean. Bottom left: This ancient western red cedar tree in the Great Bear Rainforest have been modified by the indigenous people to use as planking to make their traditional Long Houses over a century ago. Culturally Modified Tree (CMT) is a term that describes the modification of a tree by the First Nation people as part of their tradition. Bottom right : My partner and I lived alone on Calvert Island for three winters building trails, bridges, ladders and boardwalks to gain access to lookouts and beaches facing the open west side of the Island. (Trails have since been up-graded) This page top: First Nations Nuxalk carvers raven mask. Bottom: Archeologists have studied the rock carvings (Petroglyphs) in British Columbia s Great Bear Rainforest. They provide evidence that people have lived in this area more than 10,000 years. Some believe they have Polynesian origin? As June approaches, schools of herring start to enter the Inlets, bays and streams in the Great Bear Rainforest. This brings white sided dolphins, humpbacks, orcas, steller sea lions, seabirds and salmon in from the Pacific Ocean. This is also when the marine highway of the Inside passage starts getting busy with vessels heading northbound to Alaska. The Great Bear Rainforest is home to the First Nations Oweekeno people in Rivers Inlet, Heiltsuk from Bella Bella and Nuxalk from Bella Coola. Issue 79 Christmas 2015 PAGE 13