Calm, clear mornings are not an expectation on the Northwest Coast but they are certainly a welcomed sight. Hardly a cloud interrupted today’s transition from lush, temperate rainforest to sinuous, glacially carved ridgelines capped with dark blue sky. Tucked into the bottom of the frame, at the edge of a glassy sea, were the jumbled facades and crooked boardwalks of Butedale. Only a lone gentleman, his cat Tiger and dog Buddy, live amongst the remains of this old canning operation. The dilapidated array of tanks, old canning houses and moss cloaked pylons offer us one of the better looks at the bygone era of pre-refrigeration fish canning operations that once dominated this part of the world.
As we waved goodbye to our three friends and headed north along the quarter mile wide Tolmie Channel we kept our eyes glued to the coast line for a hopeful glimpse of the elusive spirit bear (a light color phase of black bear). As the waterways widened around Wright Bay we did spot wildlife but in a much larger form. A lone young humpback whale offered a brief show of rolling, tail lobbing, and enthusiastic splashing during its breakfast hour.
A little further north we entered Grenville Channel for a few miles then turned east into Klewnuggit Inlet for our afternoon activities. The amphitheater style topography suggested little chance for hikes but, as it turns out, not much distance need be covered in a setting as wild and beautiful as coastal British Columbia. Our tiny landing site, at the mouth of a shady river, offered just enough purchase to get everyone ashore for our first exposure to the coastal, temperate rainforest. Some set off to focus on the finer details of the forest with our National Geographic photographer, Krista Rossow while others penetrated deeper into the verdant surroundings to learn about forest ecology. Past spiky Devil’s Club, over downed logs and under towering second growth trees this place, despite its incredible biomass, did show signs of logging. Signs that are slowly being patched up with moss, ferns, saplings and the persistent march of time which seems to heal even the ugliest of scars.
