Second Day touring Haida Gwaii

Today we took the same road north but went past Port Clements to the northern part of the Island.  There was a park there that had boardwalks over the marshy ground that took us to Tow Hill or to the Blow Hole.

A familywas gathered around the blow hole.

Some of our group walking on the beach.

Went for the walk out to the Blow Hole but the tide was out so didn't see it "blow" but we looked out over Dixon Entrance and could see Alaska on the horizon, unfortunately it didn't show up in my pictures.

 We did see a lot of moss covered trees and this totem pole at the entrance to the park.

After our walk we stopped and had a picnic lunch then continued our tour.  Drove into Masset and Old Massett.

This is a gift store we visited in Old Massett.

Took this picture from the bus.  The street signs are these boats with the Haida street names on them.

Touring Haida Gwaii

There is basically only one road on Haida Gwaii, other than logging roads.  It's part of  Highway 16 which is also on the mainland from Prince George to Prince Rupert.  On Graham Island (Haida Gwaii's north island, Highway 16 continues from Queen Charlotte City to Old Massett,  a distance of a hundred and some odd kilometers.  It follows the coastline to Tlell then turns inland to Port Clements then heads north to Masset and Old Massett, Old Massett being the native reserve.

We stopped at a couple places and walked down to the beach.  Here they made a lookout tower out of an old tree stump.

We stopped at St. Mary's fountain and drank some water from the spring.  Apparently if you drink water from the fountain you'll return to Haida Gwaii.  Right beside the fountain there is a sign saying that the water hasn't been proven safe to drink.  Should we or shouldn't we drink it?  Marla said the sign is there only because the water isn't tested on a regular basis.  She also told us that as far as she knew no one had ever gotten sick from drinking from the fountain!

It looks like Marla has a big hat on but it's the sign for the fountain...just the way the pic was taken!

We stopped in Port Clements at a pub for lunch and walked out this long pier.  

Look at all the bird houses!!

We had a lovely lunch at the pub.  They not only had a big electric roaster full of clam chowder but all these sandwiches and goodies.

Visited the Port Clements Museum.  They not only had a lot of displays inside but these logging machines outside.

Saw lots of old growth cedar along the way.

This was a church that had closed so it was purchased and made into a museum.  It had a nice garden outside in the back.  

Day 4..Ferry to Haida Gwaii

Up early this morning.  The hotel has a room off the lobby where breakfast is available.  They have dispensers for cereal, a basket of apples and oranges, muffins, yogurt, etc. and a machine to make waffles and one to make pancakes...so you can get a pretty nice breakfast there.

We take the bus to the ferry terminal and we wait, and wait and wait...they announced that they were loading provisions, but they took forever and ever...didn't know the ferry could hold that many "provisions" !!  Beginning to think they were on Mexican time.

 Seating area was really comfortable...good thing because it takes about 7 hours to cross Hecate Straight, and apparently the strait is quite shallow so you can get some pretty nasty sea conditions during the crossing.  It was a bit rainy and overcast but no winds so our crossing was quite comfortable...even if it was quite late leaving and arriving.

As the bus was taking us to our hotel, I managed to get this shot of the ferry at the dock in Haida Gwaii.

We were warned that the hotel in Queen Charlotte City on Haida Gwaii was built several years ago and is not up to today's standards...they were right...rooms were small and pretty "old" looking, but they were clean!  They still even use "keys" !

Smithers to Prince Rupert

Today we heading west along the Highway Of Tears...so many women, especially aboriginals have gone missing because they've hitch-hiked along this highway.  There are several bill boards saying how dangerous hitch hiking can be.

Our first stop was at Moricetown Gorge, an ancient First Nations fishing site.

Our next stop was at 'Ksan Village, an aboriginal museum located near the confluence of the Skeena and Bulkley Rivers.

Cedric, our bus driver has this neat powered unicycle that he uses at different stops to get out and explore the various towns he stops in.

Our next stop was at Hazleton on the banks of the Skeena River.

We had to drive over this bridge to get to 'Ksan Village and Hazleton but Cedric said on the way back he'd stop so if anyone wanted to walk over the bridge they could, so of course I walked across the bridge.  Only problem was I didn't realize the bridge deck was open grating...and I DO NOT LIKE WALKING OVER OPEN GRATING, but there was no turning back so I just kept telling myself, "DO NOT LOOK DOWN!!'  There was also a handrail so I clung to that only letting go long enough to take a quick picture!  

Day 3 continued...

Our next stop was New Hazleton Visitors Center

When we got to Kitwanga we turned up Hwy 37...the road leading to the Yukon and Alaska.  There is a café there called the "37 Grille".  It has all sorts of old cars in front, ashtrays and such made from old car parts.  Inside there are all sorts of antiques, but the soup and sandwiches they provided for our lunch were excellent.  Because they're "out in the boonies" they'd asked us to pre-order what kind of sandwich we wanted before we left on the trip.  The food was wonderful and the staff so efficient and friendly!  We couldn't eat all our sandwich so she gave us a foil sandwich bag to take it with us.

Did a bit more sightseeing along the way then checked into the Prestige Hotel in Prince Rupert.

Today was hubby's birthday.  The tour company has a policy that if you travel during your birthday month you'll get a $10 certificate for you next trip with them.  Stephen chose today to hand out the certificates--so that was a nice birthday present.  When we checked into the hotel neither of us were hungry enough to want to go for dinner, so while hubby was out of the room I set up the ironing board at the foot of the bed, covered it with a clean bath towel and set out our left over sandwiches and a glass of scotch for his "birthday dinner"! Too bad I didn't have a cupcake and a candle!