It wasn't easy leaving the water. After the morning I had just experienced I never wanted to leave the water again. I was torn but I knew I had to see as much of the whole area as I could. I also needed to make sure I made it back to the north end of the island for my flight and with no buses of any kind available on the island I was going to have to rely on luck to get a ride. I was going to need someone with a kind heart and a big truck as I was not traveling light.
I opted for the dock instead of the beach as it's easier to unload my boat. I quickly unpacked and started pulling my stuff up the ramp to get it out of the way. While I was doing this I caught the attention of an elderly gentleman working away on his houseboat. He introduced himself as "Cliff" and he was quite interested in what my story was. We had a short exchange and before I knew it I had a ride back up to Masset. I packed up , went and bought juice (what Cliff asked for when I offered him money for the ride) and then we were on our way.
As we drove down the road and got to talking I realized I had met one of the most incredible people I will ever meet. This guy makes 80 the new 20. He had an energy to him and a passion for the coast that I had never seen. We trade stories about being on the water and he helped confirm and add some info to a route for a kayak trip I had coming up.
I could go on and on about the impact our 3 hours together had on me. He truly lived and contiues to live a life of excitment and adventure and that I look up to and respect.
By the time we made it to Masset, Cliff had decided that he was going to go for a short hike in the park I was heading to so we stopped in town for what we both needed and then we headed east towards Naikoon Provincial Park.
This Park takes up a good chunk of the North Eastern side of Graham Island and is an extremely special place. The Native People believe that this is where life started for mankind. It's a stunning park with all types of beaches including Agate beach where if you look hard enough, you can still find one what used to be be an abundence of agates.
Cliff dropped me off at the campsite and headed off to hike up Tow Hill. I quickly set up camp and then walked the couple of kilometers down the road to the trailhead. The trail is just a quick 2 to 3 kilometers loop (do the full 3k loop if you go) that is on an elevated boardwalk and gains 400ft of elevation and the pay off is unbelievable. Most people seem to like the view from the lookout on the top but to me it was hard to beat what I was looking at from the base of the hill.
Tow hill Is a small volcano that was literally ripped in half by Glacier movement. Along the beach are unique lava formations and broken away pieces from the hill but nothing beats looking up at the exposed core of the disected volcano. It stopped me in my tracks.
I walked back along the water to my campsite at Agate Beach. Met a few of my neighbors for the night along the way and then made dinner and a fire. In the distance I could see the faint outline of the most southernly Alaskan Islands. There was something exciting about being that close to Alaska, but I seemed to get excited about pretty much everything during this trip. It was hard not too.
The sunset would be no exception. The night before had been mostly overcast so there wasn't a whole lot to see but tonight was much clearer. Unfortunately I had to be patient as the sun wasn't setting until about 11pm.
With a beer in my hand and Smudge in my lap I watched as the sun slowly started it's decent towards the horizon. This was the first time on the trip I had no agenda. I could finally just sit and take it in.
As the sun got lower and lower I documented every slight change with one picture after another.
In all reality there was nothing really extrodinairy about what I did with my second day on the islands, I was a standard tourists that stuck to the beaten path, but that day there was no need to wander. I learned that Haida Gwaii is more then a destination, it's a lifestyle. It's stuck in an era where the land and sea provide the people with a lot of what they need and good old fashioned hard work is still common place. People are genuine and life is rugged but it is much simplier. To me, it's very appealing.
With the last of the glow of the sun fading away I put away my camera, grabbed a beer and headed back towards Tow Hill. No camera needed, it was time for a little one on one time with one of my new favorite places. Have fun out there.