Haida Gwaii Day 1: Kayaking from Masset to Port Clements

The red line on the map above indicates the route I paddled and the yellow mark is where I camped

I landed in Masset on Friday May 8th at noon with my kayak, camping gear and of course, Smudge. By the same time on Monday I had to be back in the same place, hopefully, with all the same things. I had only 72 hrs to scratch the surface of a place I had been fascinated by for years Of course more time would have been ideal but you work with what you got and this is what i did with my 3 days .

Day 1 - Paddling from Masset to Port Clements

By the time I put my boat in the water I was already down 3 hours. But the tide was going my way which was crucial in this narrow inlet. It was so narrow I felt like I was on a river. However once it opened up, it turned into my own private paradise.

After a few hours the sky started to fill with clouds and the unseasonably warm day began to cool. It was time to look for a campsite. I paddled along the shore of Kumdis Island until I found a suitable spot and went straight to work on making a fire then setting up camp.

After I set up my tent in the forest above the beach, I sat down with Smudge and enjoyed the pristine landscape.

In the morning I quickly wandered through the forest to get my first real encounter with the one of a kind lush mossy rainforest.

After that, I ate a quick breafast, packed up my stuff and was back on the water as soon as possible. It was a warm and beautiful day and I was out to make the most of it.

Now normally I'm not the biggest fan of dead calm water as it slows me right down in my kind of boat but this was the exception for sure. I wandered around in open water towards the west coast of the inlet and circle navigated a couple of smaller islands. I had never experienced anything quite like that morning. I swear it was as close to perfect as possible. Every detail was in place to make it the most relaxing and enjoyable experience I'd ever had in my boat. From the temperature to the reflection of of the sky in the water. When I stopped paddling to take pictures the sounds of life stirring around the forest over a kilometer away was so loud I felt like I was in it. The only possible way I could have enjoyed it more was if Smudge was with me. Oh nevermind, she was. This was truly heaven.

The Inlet was much bigger than I had anticipated and I realized that I was going to need to come back and spend a couple weeks here and really explore it. Happy with my experience I decided to head towards Port Clements. I was hoping to hitch hike back towards Masset and see more of the north shore of Graham Island instead of just paddling back up the same way I came down. I ended up paddling about 40 kilometers or so by the time I reached Port Clements 24 hrs after landing. I pulled up to the dock and started to pack up. It was time to move on to the next part of my trip.

"Queen Charlotte Islands Map" by ​English Wikipedia user Kelisi. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons