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I've wanted to visit Haida Gwaii for a long time. And the last few years I kept having to burn a bunch of vacation time at the end of the year, which sucks. So earlier this month I took two ferries to Vancouver Island, drove to the northern tip, took a 16 hour ferry through the Inside Passage up to Prince Rupert, and then an 8 hour ferry the next day out to the archipelago. I spent a week biking around, then spent another 3 days getting home.
This is the Northern Expedition. Rather ominous in the mist at 5 in the morning.
Walk- (and bike-) on passengers loaded first, which was only a few people. Very weird feeling, being in a ship of this size, in the dark, with no one else around. It was like being in a 90s CD-ROM game.
The view made me wish I had brought Solaris to read, instead of Lyell's Principles of Geology.
The Inside Passage is ridiculously pretty. Still, 16 hours is a long time. Particularly in a mask.
The passage out to the Haida Gwaii was a lot rough. I was disappointed to find that I have completely lost my sea legs, and spent a lot of the time staring resolutely out at the horizon.
The view from my motel room in Daajing Giids.
This is Balance Rock beach, which has some fascinating geology. Seems to be pillow basalts, embedded in some kind of greenish sediment? I walked around a long time, but never really understood what I was seeing. This is part of the Wrangelia Terrane, which started as an island arc like Hawaii or maybe even New Zealand, before getting smashing into another terrane, possibly crust broken off from northern Eurasia, and then the combined unit getting smeared onto the side of North America. So it's definitely gone through changes.
It was pretty wet most days, so I didn't get many pictures while biking. But this is more or less what it looked like most times.
This is Agate Beach, on the north end of Graham Island (the main island with roads and whatnot). I did not find any agates.
The wave-weathered sandstone at the foot of Tow Hill was a lot of fun to explore.
Tow Hill, the only bit of topographic relief for many miles around. It's the core of an old volcano, worn down by the last ice age.
The view from the top, looking back towards Masset.
I had a full day in Tlell, which meant beach hiking to go see the old Petusa shipwreck. Unfortunately, I took the wrong route and ended up stranded at the end of a spit. But it was a nice day all the same.
People bike the beach sometimes, but not on a recumbent with 2" tires.
I first saw a copy of this old colonial map in a small museum, then found this print hanging in the BnB in Tlell. I will be getting my own copy soon!
Found this little lookout tower someone had made out of a big old stump on a beach closer to Skidegate.
The passage back to the mainland was overnight, so I splurged and got a cabin. It was the last one available, and a bit excessive for one person, but I did manage to get a good night's sleep.
Because of how the ferry schedule lines up, I had a full day free in Prince Rupert on the way back. So I biked down to the North Pacific Cannery National Historic Site, which is a mostly intact cannery that escaped destruction when they all started to close back in the 60s. My great-grandfather used to come up in the summers to work on the refrigeration at one more or less exactly like it.
One of the old net lofts had a display showing how nets were dyed different colors, depending on the color of the river where they were to be set.
Mold for casting lead weights onto the rope at the bottom of a net.
There was a nice little line-shaft machine shop. They said they're looking for someone to come run it during the summer months for tourists, which sounds pretty great... maybe after I retire?
How the lids used to be soldered onto the cans, before more modern crimp machines were introduced.
They have a packing line with the modern modern equipment up and running, though at much lower RPMs than it was originally designed for.
I really love line shaft systems.
One of the giant retorts where the cans were sterilized.
The ferry ride back down was much the same. More whales! Never got any good pictures, but we saw plenty of humpbacks and orcas.
Got back to Vancouver Island at 23:30, then just another day of driving and 1 more ferry and I was home.
This is the Northern Expedition. Rather ominous in the mist at 5 in the morning.
Walk- (and bike-) on passengers loaded first, which was only a few people. Very weird feeling, being in a ship of this size, in the dark, with no one else around. It was like being in a 90s CD-ROM game.
The view made me wish I had brought Solaris to read, instead of Lyell's Principles of Geology.
The Inside Passage is ridiculously pretty. Still, 16 hours is a long time. Particularly in a mask.
The passage out to the Haida Gwaii was a lot rough. I was disappointed to find that I have completely lost my sea legs, and spent a lot of the time staring resolutely out at the horizon.
The view from my motel room in Daajing Giids.
This is Balance Rock beach, which has some fascinating geology. Seems to be pillow basalts, embedded in some kind of greenish sediment? I walked around a long time, but never really understood what I was seeing. This is part of the Wrangelia Terrane, which started as an island arc like Hawaii or maybe even New Zealand, before getting smashing into another terrane, possibly crust broken off from northern Eurasia, and then the combined unit getting smeared onto the side of North America. So it's definitely gone through changes.
It was pretty wet most days, so I didn't get many pictures while biking. But this is more or less what it looked like most times.
This is Agate Beach, on the north end of Graham Island (the main island with roads and whatnot). I did not find any agates.
The wave-weathered sandstone at the foot of Tow Hill was a lot of fun to explore.
Tow Hill, the only bit of topographic relief for many miles around. It's the core of an old volcano, worn down by the last ice age.
The view from the top, looking back towards Masset.
I had a full day in Tlell, which meant beach hiking to go see the old Petusa shipwreck. Unfortunately, I took the wrong route and ended up stranded at the end of a spit. But it was a nice day all the same.
People bike the beach sometimes, but not on a recumbent with 2" tires.
I first saw a copy of this old colonial map in a small museum, then found this print hanging in the BnB in Tlell. I will be getting my own copy soon!
Found this little lookout tower someone had made out of a big old stump on a beach closer to Skidegate.
The passage back to the mainland was overnight, so I splurged and got a cabin. It was the last one available, and a bit excessive for one person, but I did manage to get a good night's sleep.
Because of how the ferry schedule lines up, I had a full day free in Prince Rupert on the way back. So I biked down to the North Pacific Cannery National Historic Site, which is a mostly intact cannery that escaped destruction when they all started to close back in the 60s. My great-grandfather used to come up in the summers to work on the refrigeration at one more or less exactly like it.
One of the old net lofts had a display showing how nets were dyed different colors, depending on the color of the river where they were to be set.
Mold for casting lead weights onto the rope at the bottom of a net.
There was a nice little line-shaft machine shop. They said they're looking for someone to come run it during the summer months for tourists, which sounds pretty great... maybe after I retire?
How the lids used to be soldered onto the cans, before more modern crimp machines were introduced.
They have a packing line with the modern modern equipment up and running, though at much lower RPMs than it was originally designed for.
I really love line shaft systems.
One of the giant retorts where the cans were sterilized.
The ferry ride back down was much the same. More whales! Never got any good pictures, but we saw plenty of humpbacks and orcas.
Got back to Vancouver Island at 23:30, then just another day of driving and 1 more ferry and I was home.