FRIED EGG JELLYFISH AND TOTEMS

There is a gentle rocking to the kayak as it is pushed along by the tidal forces. I rest my paddle, lean back, turn my face to the sun and close my eyes. I want to remember the smells, the feeling of deep solitude and the incredible life force of the landscape that I have been enveloped in. It is the final day of our sea kayaking trip in Haida Gwaii, and I am already plotting my return.

Haida Gwaii captured my imagination as a wide-eyed child spellbound by images of mysterious, weather-beaten totem poles shrouded in mist. My siblings and I grew up near the Six Nations reservation in southern Ontario. My mother wanted us to experience First Nations culture, so she took us to annual pow wows and introduced us to the poetry of Pauline Johnson. Years later, after I migrated west, a growing passion for multi-day trips in both canoes and kayaks, as well as stories and images of Haida Gwaii, continued to whisper my name. The allure of tall trees and cold seas, a place some call the Galapagos of the North, was simply too tempting to resist.

Geography 101

Over 100 km (62 miles) from mainland British Columbia, Haida Gwaii