Princess Louisa Inlet, British Columbia
Our transit during the night took us from the Humpback whales in open waters southeast of Victoria up the Georgia Strait to Prince of Wales Inlet. Some of our group started the morning with stretches lead by our Wellness Coordinator. The fog covered mountains were spectacular with their steep sides and large rocky outcroppings. We continued on into Jervis Inlet. After breakfast, we had our traditional nightly recap. Our recaps have been disturbed the last two evenings with Orca and Humpback whale sightings. Those are the kind of disturbances that we relish. During our recap, Ben Schwantes talked about the Hudson Bay Company’s effect on the history of British Columbia and Canada. Betty Lu Krause had a pictorial review of Butchart Gardens. Tom Ritchie showed a fossil seed pod of a Dawn Redwood similar to a tree in Butchart that was thought to be extinct for the last 70 million years before being rediscovered in China. Berit Solstad talked about the wonderful world on dock pilings – sounds strange, but these pilings have an incredible diversity of marine life. Tom finished with a reading from the diary of one of our guests that had traveled the area in 1939.
Later in the morning, Flip Nicklin, writer and photographer from National Geographic Society showed photos. He also talked about the advances in whale research during the last 30 years and ended with some short educational video clips of whale behavior.
Passage through Malibu Rapids at the entrance of Princess Louisa Inlet is the only way in and out. This passage can only be done at “slack tide” as the current is too rapid at other times of the day. After lunch, we anchored at the head of the inlet. Chatterbox Falls was nothing less than spectacular – what a difference a day or week makes. The falls was four to five times the size that the guests saw last week. Every trip is an absolutely new experience. You can travel dozens of times to the same location and every time offers something new. It may be the weather, temperature, clouds, rock, animals, plant flower or fruit, color changes in the leaves, a bear sign, diffused light, direct light, morning light …. Rain or shine the mountains and fjords of British Columbia create their own special mood. We started the afternoon by taking a short hike to the falls. The trail to Chatterbox falls is short, but chock full of cool stuff – mosses, ferns, lichens in addition to the big Douglas firs, Western Hemlocks and Western Redcedars. The Western Redcedar is the Pacific Northwest Native Peoples’ special tree. We will learn all about this tomorrow when we visit Alert Bay. This was a great example of a temperate rain forest. We saw old “springboard holes” in the old stumps– evidence of logging days in Princess Louisa Inlet. Those same stumps had new trees growing out of their tops. These nurse stumps and downed logs serve to return nutrients back to the soil as well as provide nutrients for a wide diversity of plants. They also provide shelter for small animals such as salamanders, mice, chipmunks, squirrels, and if big enough – bears.
A hardy group went straight from the hike to kayaking in the inlet. Exploration of the shoreline with the kayak is an excellent way to have the maximum solitude that the Pacific Northwest trips have to offer. Kayaking is also a great way to get up close with the tidepool zone without “skinning your knees”. Everything is right at your fingertips. Four or five species of seastars, numerous anemones and lots of kelp were visible.
Unfortunately, the nightly recap was not disrupted by whales this evening. Tom showed us some ingenious Native American artifacts. Berit had a fine presentation on barnacles and other marine invertebrate. Betty Lu talked about ocean currents and navigation in the narrow spots on the inside passage.
The soul of the Northwest Coast is the beauty of the clouds and moisture - quickly rising, lowering, flat and puffy covering and uncovering the steep mountain slopes with scores of waterfalls crashing tumbling to the sea.
Our transit during the night took us from the Humpback whales in open waters southeast of Victoria up the Georgia Strait to Prince of Wales Inlet. Some of our group started the morning with stretches lead by our Wellness Coordinator. The fog covered mountains were spectacular with their steep sides and large rocky outcroppings. We continued on into Jervis Inlet. After breakfast, we had our traditional nightly recap. Our recaps have been disturbed the last two evenings with Orca and Humpback whale sightings. Those are the kind of disturbances that we relish. During our recap, Ben Schwantes talked about the Hudson Bay Company’s effect on the history of British Columbia and Canada. Betty Lu Krause had a pictorial review of Butchart Gardens. Tom Ritchie showed a fossil seed pod of a Dawn Redwood similar to a tree in Butchart that was thought to be extinct for the last 70 million years before being rediscovered in China. Berit Solstad talked about the wonderful world on dock pilings – sounds strange, but these pilings have an incredible diversity of marine life. Tom finished with a reading from the diary of one of our guests that had traveled the area in 1939.
Later in the morning, Flip Nicklin, writer and photographer from National Geographic Society showed photos. He also talked about the advances in whale research during the last 30 years and ended with some short educational video clips of whale behavior.
Passage through Malibu Rapids at the entrance of Princess Louisa Inlet is the only way in and out. This passage can only be done at “slack tide” as the current is too rapid at other times of the day. After lunch, we anchored at the head of the inlet. Chatterbox Falls was nothing less than spectacular – what a difference a day or week makes. The falls was four to five times the size that the guests saw last week. Every trip is an absolutely new experience. You can travel dozens of times to the same location and every time offers something new. It may be the weather, temperature, clouds, rock, animals, plant flower or fruit, color changes in the leaves, a bear sign, diffused light, direct light, morning light …. Rain or shine the mountains and fjords of British Columbia create their own special mood. We started the afternoon by taking a short hike to the falls. The trail to Chatterbox falls is short, but chock full of cool stuff – mosses, ferns, lichens in addition to the big Douglas firs, Western Hemlocks and Western Redcedars. The Western Redcedar is the Pacific Northwest Native Peoples’ special tree. We will learn all about this tomorrow when we visit Alert Bay. This was a great example of a temperate rain forest. We saw old “springboard holes” in the old stumps– evidence of logging days in Princess Louisa Inlet. Those same stumps had new trees growing out of their tops. These nurse stumps and downed logs serve to return nutrients back to the soil as well as provide nutrients for a wide diversity of plants. They also provide shelter for small animals such as salamanders, mice, chipmunks, squirrels, and if big enough – bears.
A hardy group went straight from the hike to kayaking in the inlet. Exploration of the shoreline with the kayak is an excellent way to have the maximum solitude that the Pacific Northwest trips have to offer. Kayaking is also a great way to get up close with the tidepool zone without “skinning your knees”. Everything is right at your fingertips. Four or five species of seastars, numerous anemones and lots of kelp were visible.
Unfortunately, the nightly recap was not disrupted by whales this evening. Tom showed us some ingenious Native American artifacts. Berit had a fine presentation on barnacles and other marine invertebrate. Betty Lu talked about ocean currents and navigation in the narrow spots on the inside passage.
The soul of the Northwest Coast is the beauty of the clouds and moisture - quickly rising, lowering, flat and puffy covering and uncovering the steep mountain slopes with scores of waterfalls crashing tumbling to the sea.
