Six Days on Haida Gwaii: Queen Charlotte to Misty Meadows

After over 1,000 kilometres from Mt. Robson and seven hours on the ferry, we finally arrived in Haida Gwaii on a cloudy August evening.  Our first night we stayed in Queen Charlotte City ("Queen Charlotte") on Graham Island (the North island), just a few kilometres west of Skidegate where the ferry docks.

First views of the "Misty Isles".

Welcome to Haida Gwaii.  This lady, of dubious friendliness, greets you at the Visitor's Centre.

A look out at the bay in Queen Charlotte.

Chad surveys the Queen Charlotte harbour.

The island is plastered with many types of signs protesting any new oil pipeline or tanker traffic to the region.  I have to say that I agree, particularly after travelling through those waters.

The next day, after a hearty breakfast prepared in the comfort of our hotel room, we headed up the island.  Our destination for the night was Misty Meadows campground in Naikoon Provincial Park, about halfway up Graham Island.

Blue cheese and bacon omelette, with blueberries and cheese bread with Chad's homemade Oregon Grape jelly.  Amazing what Chad can throw together with a kitchenette and a little bit of pre-planning.

Our first stop was Balance Rock, a large boulder left behind from the last ice age and balancing precariously on another rock.  Apparently some refer to the Rock as a centre of spirituality, though we didn't find much there.

Chad isn't trying to knock it over, we promise!

Tiny snails cling to the rocks on the beach.

We next made a random stop to check out all the driftwood on the beach.  It would be fair to say that it is bountiful on most of the island, and when it's dry enough can be used to build campfires.

On the road again, we found some deer alongside the road.  They are non-native, but their introduction to the island has been nothing less than totally successful (for the deer, not so much for those who don't want their gardens eaten by them).

Relaxing lunch

For lunch we stopped at a rest area on the beach, just off the main highway.  We sat there for almost two hours eating our lunch, drinking our tea, and reading our books.  A total of two cars drove by.  Believe me when I tell you that Haida Gwaii is quiet.

Tlell is a tiny community of 300 people on the way up the island.  We were lucky enough to hit their newly formed farmers market, which had about five vendors, and included these tasty looking potatoes.  We walked away with some organic lettuce for the night's dinner.

After checking out the Misty Meadows campground and ensuring there were lots of sites available (not a problem apparently even in the middle of summer, but we wanted to see for ourselves) we headed to the slightly less tiny (about 500 people) community of Port Clements (or "Port" to the locals).  Port is famous as being the home to the golden spruce, which was chopped down in an odd protest against logging several years ago.  The golden spruce was about 160 feet tall and one of a kind in that it had golden needles instead of green.  It was made famous by an excellent book by John Vaillant that I read on the ferry over to Haida Gwaii and Chad read while we were there; we both recommend it.

One of the other highlights of Port is its logging museum.

This is a stuffed white raven, also very rare, that died around the time the golden spruce was cut down.  John Vaillant remarked that between the golden spruce and the white raven Port Clements had cornered the market on freaks of nature.

A pair of caulk (pronounced cork) boots - with spiked soles - worn by loggers as they go about their risky work.

A preserved piece of the golden spruce.

The Pesuta, a log barge that was shipwrecked on the shores of Graham Island in 1929.  You can (and we did) visit the remains of the wreck.

Life jackets salvaged from the ill-fated Queen of the North.

Miscellaneous logging equipment is scattered around the grounds of the museum.  For $2, not a bad deal.

At that point we were done with wandering around for the day, so we headed back to Misty Meadows to set up for the night and walk the lovely beach.

Tent sweet tent.

Low tide - tides are huge in Haida Gwaii, often 7 metres or more

Next up: Masset and North Beach!