Haida Gwaii

it was not easy to locate our lodging

 became an existential exercise

a few Haida live like this

most not

from our porch on Graham Island

 low tide

July is for thimbleberries and you have to compete with bears

Balance Rock

Haida extricated 350 skeletons from North American museums and built a graveyard for repatriated remains

wharf street

major slugs everywhere

so are loggers and they stop for no one

most of Haida Gwaii has been clear cut

but here and there you can still see remains of the giants

in this graveyard, you walk in high wind at your own risk

a gray top is all that remains of The Golden Spruce

luckily a few stands of the great Sitka spruce have eluded saws

                                              

                               

even some of the great Western Red Cedars

huge cedar burl

the totem poles of Old Masset

famous pole topped with a giant eagle

eagles here are plentiful as crows, flapping around in flocks and screaming at each other - we watched as one landed on his effigy

god rocks