John Zada
the Coast
T
his area’s remote solitude and wild beauty has long drawn artists, photographers, naturalists and travellers looking for big adventures and the freshest of seafood. Whether you want to fish, hike, bike, ocean kayak, take a wildlife eco-tour, or just enjoy the natural splendour of this part of our region, you will be treated to many wonders and adventure opportunities that are found few places on earth. The Norwegian explorer, Thor Heyerdahl, became famous for his expeditions in and across the South Pacific. But, well before this fame, he explored British Columbia’s central coast extensively, researching the lifestyles and origins of the indigenous people who live here. As a result of his investigation, he was later able to theorize about similarities among the British Columbian First Nations people and those who lived on far-removed Pacific islands. That gave rise to his theories - and later explorations - about indigenous peoples around the Pacific having related roots. Even though his theories were never accepted by anthropologists, Heyerdahl’s life’s work began in the inlets, islands, and mainland of this craggy coastline and directly led to his legendary explorations. While time has changed some ways of life along the mist-shrouded fjords of B.C.’s central coast, the same mystical elements that drew Heyerdahl still call
out to the casual visitor today. Of course, Heyerdahl wasn’t the first non-native person to explore these shores. In 1793, an intrepid 29-year old Scotsman named Alexander Mackenzie - accompanied by seven French Canadian voyageurs and two First Nations porters - paddled into the Dean Channel near present-day Bella Coola. That event completed the first crossing of North America to the Pacific. Before returning east, the explorer scrawled an inscription on a rock using a reddish mixture of bear grease and vermilion: “Alex Mackenzie, from Canada, by land, 22nd July, 1793.” That rock still bears his words, permanently inscribed by surveyors who followed. Mackenzie could not have picked a better spot to conclude his epic journey to the Pacific Ocean. The mist-draped coastline is lined with towering, snow-crowned peaks, massive ice fields and some of the world’s longest fjords. Old-growth stands of cedar and spruce cover the land, and rich salmon streams weave through the valley bottoms, providing food for the magnificent creatures that inhabit the coast - killer whales, eagles, wolves and bears, including the mysterious white Spirit Bear, or Kermode. Great Bear Rainforest The landscape northwest of Bella Coola is some of the most isolated in the province. Across a 3,000,000hec/7,413,160ac area that lies
within the Great Bear Rainforest, the largest remaining tract of unspoiled temperate rainforest left in the world. Several ancient First Nations cultural sites can be found here, as well as a striking array of wildlife. The ocean harbours killer whales, porpoises, humpback whales, seals, sea lions, and dozens of seabird species. The forests are alive with black-tailed deer, wolves and bears - grizzly, black and the Kermode (or Spirit Bear), a rare, whitecoated variation of the black bear that is sacred to B.C.’s First Nation people. The main haunt of the Spirit Bear, or Kermode, is Princess Royal Island, a primordial expanse of wilderness accessible only by boat or air. Aside from the Tsimshian (sim-SHE-an), who once inhabited a coastal village here; few humans ever entered the island’s inland rainforest. Today, that has changed as guided tours offer kayakers and boaters a privileged, close-up view and a chance to see the majestic, powerful grizzly. Take a guided tour to drift through the grizzly’s backyard while experienced guides provide interpretation. Also off the beaten track is the Fiordland Conservancy, a provincial marine park set deep in the inner channels northeast of Klemtu. The preserve encompasses Kynoch and Mussel inlets, two glacially gouged fjords where sheer granite cliffs rise more than 1,000m/3,281ft; pristine beaches, including some particularly
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