Haida Gwaii and Prince Rupert: 7-Nights

Welcome to Prince Rupert, a scenic coastal town, and a gateway to British Columbia's pristine north. Our arrival at the Prince Rupert airport, located on Digby Island, and the following transfer to the main town, located on Kaien Island, introduces the lush coastal temperate rainforest environment that we will explore over the following days. Meet your fellow travellers this evening at the welcome dinner and hear your Tour Leader provide detailed guidelines on the program for the coming week. For those arriving early, we recommend a walk to the nearby Museum of Northern British Columbia to learn more about the history of this area.

We discover more of the Great Bear Rainforest Coast today on our full-day tour on a catamaran boat to view the wildlife of the area. In June and July, we prepare for a full day of bear watching at the Khutzeymateen Grizzly Bear Sanctuary, part of the Great Bear Rainforest of Northern British Columbia. On our August tours, we board the vessel for a full day of whale watching off the rugged coastline of Northern British Columbia. Upon return, there will be some free time to explore Cow Bay and the many shops and restaurants along Prince Rupert's waterfront.

After breakfast, we will drive a short distance to the magnificent Northwest Coast longhouse overlooking Prince Rupert Harbour which is home to the Museum of Northern BC. Internationally known for its exceptional collection and quality of its exhibits, this museum draws visitors from around the world. Prince Rupert is in the centre of a culturally rich area and the gateway to the northern part of British Columbia’s coastline with diverse Indigenous groups. The history and the culture of this region find expression in the museum’s existing and expanding collection of artifacts and research material. From the Museum we will drive 25 km to the community of Port Edward, just south of Prince Rupert and the National Historic Site of the North Pacific Cannery, the oldest West Coast cannery still standing. Typical of most canneries in its isolation and operations, North Pacific relied more on Indigenous labour than those closer to urban centres like Vancouver, was slower to adopt new technology, and had lower production costs. Ethnically segregated living and work areas divided Chinese, Japanese, Indigenous, and white workers. The main cannery structure, completed in 1895, is a 19th- and early 20th-century era typical salmon cannery complex. In 1889, the trustees received a crown grant for 183 acres of land at a cost of $32 and the plant was constructed. It had almost 90 years of continuous salmon production and fish processing until ending in the late 1970s. There will be a guided walk through the many buildings of the complex and then lunch served in The Mess House within the cannery. On return to the hotel, you may choose to accompany your Tour Leader to the Rotary Waterfront Park to see the Kwinitsa Railway Museum from the outside and then the heritage Sunken Gardens with a display of colourful flowers, shrubs, and trees. The space is the only large garden used extensively by the Prince Rupert community for their family picnics, photography sessions, wedding ceremonies, and park activities. This evening there will be some free time to explore Cow Bay and the many shops and restaurants along Prince Rupert's waterfront.

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Important Note: The planned boat tour excursions in Haida Gwaii are heavily dependent on the constantly changing weather. Our aim is to include these boat tours but please be advised that we could be providing alternative programs in the event that unfavourable weather, wind, and sea conditions. This will be this day tour to the village of Skedans or Ḵ'uuna Llnagaay, in the Haida language. Skedans was a village of 26 to 30 longhouses at its height. Today, the poles that remain and the depressions of several longhouses give you a sense of the former grandeur of the village, splayed out along Skedans Bay. We pass through the Laskeek Bay area, where we visit Ḵay (sea lion) rookeries, explore the shoreline, search for taan (bear) and cruise the seas looking for whales. Along the way, our guides will incorporate a combination of storytelling, songs and/or local history, giving guests a unique glimpse into our heritage. Alternatively, we may go to Windy Bay and Hotspring Island. This evening we plan for our Haida Style dinner experience.

Our first stop on a full day of touring is a visit to the magnificent Haida Heritage Centre. The Haida Gwaii Museum is a magnificent showcase of the Haida People, culture, and way of life, highlighting the traditions of all fourteen Haida Clans. With an interpreter of the museum, we enjoy an interpretive tour of the facility followed by some time to experience the exhibits at leisure. We then visit Balance Rock, a remnant of the Ice Age that looks precariously posed on the coast, but is in fact, firmly in place and immovable. The trail to the rock may be slippery and we may opt to view this from a distance. We drive to Tlell, home to a variety of local artisans and take time at leisure to visit their shops and learn of their crafts firsthand. A short distance from the village of Tlell is the south entrance of the Naikoon Provincial Park. Part of the traditional territory of the Haida people, the park figures prominently in their culture and history and holds many sites of cultural importance as well as historic villages and important traditional food gathering locations throughout the park. A walk along the East Beach Trail is a great experience. We strongly suggest bringing a pair of binoculars and your camera and reading up in advance about the natural and human history of Haida Gwaii before you start to gain in-depth knowledge and appreciation of the landscape you are travelling through. Travelling a short distance further to Port Clements, an active forestry area, we visit the Port Clements Museum and learn about the past conditions of the forest industry in Haida Gwaii. Nearby is a short, easy hike from the museum to the Golden Spruce Trail. The trail is named after the Golden Sitka Spruce that grew at the end of the trail for nearly 300 years and had a mutation causing the spruce to grow needles of a golden yellow colour. The tree was cut down by a protester in 1997 leading to a Canada-wide outcry. A sapling was saved when the original tree grew and had been nurtured and grown at the Port Clements Memorial Park which we will visit after our walk along the trail. We finally continue to the northern shore of Haida Gwaii and the town of Masset.

The village of Masset is located at the entrance to the Masset Inlet, an important centre for sport fishing. A short walk takes us to the Dixon Entrance Maritime Museum housed in a restored heritage building. The museum offers a look back at the early settlement and maritime history of the Greater Masset area. We will then do a quick drive through nearby Old Masset, located 2 km north of Masset. The community of Old Masset is connected by road and a well-used sidewalk and sits on the site of three traditional Haida villages. Old Masset is one of 2 villages where the Haida Nation regrouped in the late 1800s, having been forced to leave most of their ancient villages due to their declining numbers, a severe consequence of smallpox introduced by Europeans. The Hudson's Bay Company operated a trading post at the far end of the village from 1869 to 1898. Old Masset is named after Maast Island, a small island in Masset Sound, which is believed to have been named after an early European sailor who was buried on the Island. Today, Old Masset is the administrative seat of the Council of the Haida Nation and is home to about 800 Haida people, including some well-known Indigenous carvers. 10 km east of Masset is an easily walkable boardwalk trail that allows access to a blowhole as well as to Tow Hill, both important landmarks in Naikoon Provincial Park. The evening is free in Masset.

We bid farewell to Haida Gwaii as we board a transfer to Masset Airport to begin the journey home.