WTD#18 - Island Adventure - Part 5

After Malcolm Island, we moved into a cabin at the Cluxewe Resort, a First Nations enterprise located just north of Port McNeill, and explored the north end of the island for the next few days.  The first day we drove to Cape Scott Provincial Park, which is a large park on the very northern part of the island.  It is a 60-odd km drive on a gravel road to get to the park entrance, where a network of trails provides access for hikers.

On the drive we spotted this young bear munching on roadside clover, making do with a salad until the main course (salmon) arrived.

The main trail is very well maintained.  We only had time to hike to the closest destination which was San Josef Bay, about 2.5 km.

After a short distance the trail splits, with the right fork leading to some of the more remote parts of the park.

This area receives a lot of rainfall, and the moisture allows the vegetation to survive well above the ground, on old logs and stumps, until eventually sending roots into the soil.  Does this scenario look a bit lewd, or do I just have an overactive imagination?

Here two Western Red Cedar trees are cradling a Western Hemlock.

Dwarf Dogwood have colonized a log protruding from the ground.

A very old cedar with a backdrop of younger forest. 

Some interesting mushrooms along the trail

Somehow a huckleberry bush is finding enough nutrients to survive on a limb forty feet high on this spruce tree.

We found some Labrador Tea growing in a boggy area

Are they trees or some kind of furry critters?  Mountain Gorillas perhaps?  Ewoks or Ents maybe?

San Josef Bay has two large sandy beaches and a bit of that outer coast feeling.

At low tide the beaches are connected by a passage through some standing rock outcrops.

I suppose that over the eons the waves have eroded the rock away, and for some reason these pillars were left behind.  Maybe they are harder rock?  Maybe they'll be gone in a few more centuries.  We'll have to come back and check.

It has a Japanese Garden feel to it, like natural bonsai.

There are also several cool caves that have been carved out by the sea.

In the rocky areas there were tidal pools.  This one had some nice green anenomes

At the second beach there is a fresh water source which allows for camping.  There were a couple of tents in the distance and a campfire burning.

On the drive back, not far from the park, we found this intriguing sign.

We walked the half mile and then, in the middle of the coastal rainforest wilderness, we found this magical botanical garden, filled with dozens of exotic trees and shrubs.

Subsequent research revealed that this land was settled by one Bernt Ronning in 1910.  He was part of an early Danish settlement in the area that did not really succeed due to the harsh conditions and lack of a road connection to markets for fish and furs.  Ronning, however, stayed until his death in the 1960's.  He collected specimens from around the world and planted them here, eventually covering about 5 acres with his garden.  There is a huge Monkey Puzzle tree which is apparently one of the oldest in BC, along with a Giant Sequoia and a host of other trees and shrubs.  After years of neglect following Ronning's death, a group of volunteers resurrected, and now maintains the garden.

What a lovely surprise at the end of another awesome day on the island!

Next time - Alert Bay and more ...

WTD#17 - Island Adventure - Part 4

We rushed to catch the 8 am ferry back to the main island and then drove south to a place called Alder Bay, where we connected with the Tuan, a forty-foot sailboat run by the Seasmoke whale-watching company.  We joined the other guests on board (we were 9 people all together, plus 2 crew) donned our survival overalls and headed out into the fog.

It was a bit chilly on the water, and we were wondering if we would be able to see anything with the fog, but were distracted with hot tea and coffee and fresh-baked muffins from the galley below.

After 15 or 20 minutes of sailing, and just as the sun was beginning to penetrate the fog, we passed a small island with a group of Steller Sea Lions.

The bulls were busy posturing and bellowing, and the cows were just catching some rays.  The one in the foreground looks very relaxed.

The Steller Sea Lion as well as the Steller's Jay and several other species native to BC, are named for Georg Wilhelm Steller, the German botanist and zoologist who explored Siberia and Alaska in 1740 and 1741 as a member of Vitus Bering's second Kamchatka expedition.  On the return voyage they were shipwrecked on what is now Bering Island.  Bering and about half the crew died in the aftermath of the wreck.  The remaining crew managed to construct another boat and sailed it back to Siberia.  Steller himself died two years later on his return voyage to Europe.

A short time later we entered Blackfish Sound, a body of water about 10 km or so wide, defined by a perimeter of several islands.  We heard this humpback blowing and then it emerged out of the fog.

Before long we found ourselves in the midst of what seemed like ten or a dozen whales feeding throughout the sound, some near and some in the distance. 

Apparently humpbacks can stay submerged for up to 45 minutes, but usually come up to breathe every 5 or 10 minutes.  I noticed, in a few instances, that a whale would surface 2 or 3 times in fairly quick succession without showing it's tail, and then, on the final dive it's fluke would appear just before it went under and we wouldn't see that individual again, for a while anyway.

The narrow arch of it's back was telling me this whale's tail would come out of the water just before it disappeared.

Et voila!  It was amazing to be floating silently among these awesome beings, watching them and listening to the sounds of them emerging, blowing, and then sliding back under the surface.

Apparently each whale has unique markings on the flukes, and this is a way to identify individuals.

This is a Common Murre, one of the many birds hanging around where the whales were feeding - picking up scraps brought to the surface, maybe?

I finally clued in to what the term "sea smoke" means.  Here a couple of whales are blowing simultaneously on the far side of the sound.

Humpbacks were hunted to the brink of extinction until a moratorium was introduced in 1966.  Since then the population has been recovering worldwide, but they have only returned to the Johnstone Strait area in the past decade or so.

A beautiful day and a beautiful setting for hanging with the humpbacks.

There was one other (bigger and more crowded) whale-watching boat in the sound, but we rarely got close to them.

A couple of our fellow passengers.  This couple was from Switzerland and there was another group from Great Britain and I think the rest were Canadian.

Twice, TWICE!!  one whale breached, that is launched itself right out of the water and fell back in with a mighty splash, not far from our boat.  I was looking the other way both times :( 

I had to console myself with fresh-baked scones, jam and Devonshire Cream

All too soon we watched the last fluke slip beneath the sea, and headed back to the harbour.

This whale was navigating through the same narrow passage between islands that was part of our route back.

Back at the dock, and one last look back at the Tuan after a spectacular and moving day among the whales.

Next time - Cape Scott and more ...

WTD #16 - Island Aventure - Part 3

From Gold River we took a logging road shortcut across the island and re-connected with the island highway at Woss, then drove north to Port McNeill, from whence we took a ferry across to Malcolm Island and the village of Sointula - about a half hour trip.

This is the village of Sointula seen from the ferry.  The larger building is the hotel.

This is the beach in front of the lovely cabin we stayed in - Sea4 Miles Cabins.  We spent two nights on Malcolm Island.

The afternoon we arrived, we took a drive along the one main road that runs the length of the island.  The road follows the southern shoreline (facing Vancouver Island)

 I couldn't resist another heron photo.

It is a picturesque place - reminded us a bit of the Kootenays - a lot of artists and alternative folk, a bit like the Slocan Valley with oceanfront.

The next morning I got up early and joined this spider in our front yard enjoying the view.

The droplets on the web are from the fog that was coming in nightly.  I'm thinking the spider must have remained absolutely motionless  all night or the droplets would have shaken off??

We drove to the north side of the island to hike on the Bere Point trail as the fog was beginning to lift.

The trail starts out in dense salal, and follows the edge of a steep cliff/slope down to the ocean.

A tunnel through the lush vegetation

The trail entered a lovely second-growth forest just as the sun was burning through the last of the fog.

There were lots of mushrooms and other fungi along the trail.

I guess I had a thing for spiderwebs that day.

At one point there is a steep gorge and the trail descends a series of stairs down to the beach.

A telephoto view of some of the mountains of the mid-coast area of the mainland.

A red huckleberry bush growing out of a stump.

Far offshore we saw a couple of Dall's Porpoises.  They look a bit like small versions of Orcas, with a black upper body and white belly.  We had hoped to see some Orcas because there is a spot along the shore here where they sometimes come very close to the beach to rub on the rounded stones, but alas we missed each other.  I did notice that the hotel bar is called the "Rub Pub".

We had made arrangements to be let into the Sointula Museum later that afternoon.  Sointula ("Harmony" in Finnish) was founded by a group of Finnish communalists/socialists at the turn of the century.  The actual communal organization fizzled out after a few years but the people and the socialist ideals remained.  About half of the current inhabitants are descendents of the original Finnish settlers.  This banner once graced the stage of the community hall.

 This photo from the museum shows the location of the banner in the old hall.

The Young Pioneers youth group in 1932.  The museum has a lot of really interesting photos and artefacts from the rich history of this unique BC community.

Next time - Sea Smoke!