Haida Gwaii: Windy Bay (Hlk'yah G̱awG̱a) and Wrap-up

 On May 31st, 2025, the Island Solitude sailed from anchorage #7 to Windy Bay, or Hlk'yah G̱awG̱a, the final watchmen site of our Haida Gwaii adventure. With this visit, we'll have visited all five sites. (Click on any image to enlarge.)

The day began with paddling or a zodiac cruise at the anchorage. Some went solo,

some double,

while Joan and I opted for the zodiac cruise.

Afterwards, with everyone back aboard the Solitude, a black bear -- Haida Gwaii subspecies -- decided it was safe to explore the tidal zone.

As we pulled into and along the main channel, the mix of clouds and sun created "god rays."

Eagles are always a treat ...

The watchmen site at Windy Bay sits behind a wide beach.

The watchman favored us with an extensive talk about the history of the island and the watchmen.

Don't cross the pebbled ring.

He is standing in front of the Legacy Pole, raised in 2013 to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the Gwaii Haanas Agreement. Its size makes it difficult to take it all in at once.

A side view.

A zoom into the midsection,

and a peek-a-boo.

This image of the nearby Blinking House is pulled from Wikipedia with some reformatting.

Those desiring an early return to the boat had a long walk to the zodiac (low tide).

Employing a pole to free the zodiac.

Many of us went for another walk in the woods.

More rain forest giants!

Inevitably, the time to sail on arrived.

We passed more clusters of Steller sea lions that had walked out of the water.

They seemed to be everywhere.

We arrived at our final anchorage, the same cove where we first boarded the Island Solitude, and settled in for the night.

 

The next morning, we had time to paddle or zodiac around the harbor before the van arrived to take us to the airport. Joan and I opted for the zodiac ride, and we wandered far.

Note the snow patches atop the peaks.

Here are the remains of a logging camp's pier. The Sitka spruce of the Pacific Northwest was prized for many uses, including aviation.

Cruising by the islets in the bay revealed an abundance of flora.

An automated weather station for a frequently used harbor.

 

The red dot is one of the kayak folk. Click on any image to enlarge!

Then it was time to reverse our arrival and meet the transfer van at the landing.

After a bumpy ride on logging roads and then better roads, we arrived at the airport. It was just starting to open for the daily flight to and from Vancouver, so we had time to grab a bite and shop.

At the Vancouver airport, we revisited the canoe sculpture. What a remarkable people the Haida were and are.

Back home, Joan and I applied Haida pole stickers to our cars.

Haida Gwaii: Two Days!

This map covers the first half of our next two days in Haida Gwaii, beginning in the morning of May 27, 2025, at anchorage #3.

The 27th was a wet day; our first adventure aboard the Island Solitude was an early, misty zodiac ride. My camera's timestamp claims it's 7:25 am, but I'm not sure I trust it. (Click on any image to enlarge.)

An optimistic snorkeler.

A starfish exposed by the low tide.

Photographing spiny urchins.

A critter securely attached.

A view of our anchorage, after re-boarding the Island Solitude.

Then we spent the rest of the day sailing down to anchorage #4, exploring on the way. Here's an overview.

We visited inlets and bays, and passed by islets,

The red circle highlights Skittagetan Lagoon and its tributaries.

under wet and misty conditions that prevented me from taking any photos, even if zodiac rides or landings were still possible. If only I had taken notes, I could be more specific. Next time!

  

 

On May 28, 2025, we sailed to anchorage #5, and it was quite a journey. First, we inspected the Burnaby Narrows, hoping that the passage, although a tight squeeze, would allow the Solitude to avoid going out into the Hecate Strait. Unfortunately, you can see in this map segment that we had to turn around.

Upper left quadrant; Click on any image to enlarge.

So we prepared for the Strait; our course was the wide sweep you see along the top and right edges of the map above. The Hecate separates the Haida Gwaii archipelago from the mainland, and is noted for its strong winds, seasonal fog, powerful tidal currents, frequent southeast gales, and shallow waters. I'm prone to seasickness in anything beyond a mild swell, so I took some medication and went below to our cabin for a 1½ - 2 hour lie down. There was bouncing and banging as the Solitude fought the waves, but I survived without any nausea. Hardier souls stayed above, and ginger was available for all to chew.

 

We arrived hale and hearty at anchorage #5, but I hadn't taken any photos all day! Tomorrow, however, would be the complete opposite.

Haida Gwaii: Watchmen

A primary goal of our journey aboard the Island Solitude was to visit all five Watchmen sites within the Gwaii Haanas National Park Reserve, National Marine Conservation Area, and Haida Heritage Site, usually referred to simply as Gwaii Haanas. I must provide some background history, compiled and condensed from various sources.

 

The Backstory

 

The sites lie within the territory of the Haida people, who have lived there for at least 14,000 years. Oral histories say the Haida lived in Gwaii Haanas when the first trees arrived; pollen samples indicate they arrived 14,500 years ago with the retreat of the Ice Age glaciation.

 

From the 1970s through the early 1980s, attempts to expand logging of the old-growth forest, including towering spruce, sparked the first efforts to protect Gwaii Haanas. In 1980, the Haida Nation launched a land claim with the Canadian government, asserting its title to the territory. Also, environmental activists proposed designating much of the archipelago as a protected wilderness, but neither the federal nor provincial government acted, and logging continued.

 

In the fall of 1985, a major forestry company planned to log a fifth of Haida Gwaii’s 60,000 acres of Crown land; the Haida worried that further logging could endanger the local salmon they had long relied on. In October, a Haida chief led a nonviolent blockade of a logging road. Over the next three months, the Haida community and its allies stood fast, even though seventy-two blockaders were arrested.

 

And the Haida succeeded. In 1987, logging ended when Canada and British Columbia signed the South Moresby Memorandum of Understanding. In 1993, Canada and the Haida Nation signed the Gwaii Haanas Agreement. In a decision released on March 31, 2025, the B.C. Supreme Court dismissed a final $75 million lawsuit brought by a logging company.

 

The Watchmen 

The Haida Gwaii Watchmen program encourages young Haida to work alongside elders to protect and teach visitors about Gwaii Haanas National Park Reserve and Haida Heritage Site. Since the early 1990s, two to four Watchmen have been hired each summer to live at each of five sites, where they remain up to 4 months, acting as stewards of the historic sites and providing historical knowledge and tourist information to visitors. Our Story   A goal was to visit all five Watchmen sites during this voyage -- weather permitting. On the morning of May 25, 2025, we sailed from our anchorage at Moresby Camp to the Watchmen site Ḵ'uuna Llnagaay (Skedans). (Click on any image to enlarge.) All our landings were by zodiac. Here's a photo of the Island Solitude after getting ashore. Our watchmen at Skedans were this woman and her young daughter. White stones/shells mark the paths we're allowed to use. A glimpse of the watchmen cabin. This next photo is what remains of a plank house, a form of construction used by the indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest. It is the foundation pit, with rows around the central ground. Our watchman told us it was mandatory to start and finish the digging in one day; otherwise, noise from spirits underground would make the site unusable. Here, an old potlatch pole is held up by one of the trees. Our watchman also introduced us to the traditional Haida moiety system. The Haida nation was divided into two moieties, the Raven and the Eagle. Marriages within the same moiety were prohibited; any children belonged to the mother's moiety, and within each moiety were several clans.   All too soon it was time to depart ... as the saying goes, "time and tide wait for no one." We walked back to the beach and boarded our zodiacs. This visit was a great introduction to Haida culture.   We sailed on, passing many islets. The afternoon began with zodiac cruising, checking out the living organisms in the tidal zones. A starfish under shallow water. Aren't zodiacs great? Later in the afternoon, we went ashore for a walk and for natural history. It's definitely a rainforest. A spruce stump, sporting a cut notch two-thirds of the way up. It was a foothold for the loggers cutting down the tree. A tree with a history ... A bonsai-ish colony atop a fallen tree! The Island Solitude waited patiently. Here's a photo from a large map that the captain and the guide marked up to show our journey. You can see our descent from the upper right (Skedans is off the map to the north) through channels to our anchorage #2, lower left, with a side trip to McEchran Cove -- likely the source of the above photos. Click on any image to enlarge. A very busy first day of the expedition! All the staff -- Captain Jeremy, Mate Theo, NatHab guide Eddy, and Carly the chef -- had proved to be fabulous.