After a two day drive from Squamish we made it to Prince Rupert last night and our team left on the 4 hr ferry ride to Hartley Bay this morning. Lance, Todd, Steph, Jamie and Diana have all been really excited to get the expedition underway. The wildlife count included numerous eagles, some white sided dolphins and a couple of humpbacks on our journey down. The group spent the afternoon listening to elder Helen Clifton talk about the traditional territory and food harvesting locations of the Gitga'at people. Helen is an amazing speaker and story teller and the two hours with her went by very quickly. After speaking with Helen our group was invited over by Ernie, Lynne and Jodi to their house for a traditional dinner. It was one of the most incredible traditional dinners I have ever had up here. The Hill's were gracious enough to share smoked sockeye salmon bellies, dungeness crabs, seaweed, coho salmon, cold smoked salmon and calm strips. The food just kept coming and coming and even Lance had to tap out. After dinner i had a chance to catch up with friends in the village while Todd, Diana and Lance went for a short paddle. Jen and I closed the evening getting gear ready for the expedition.
It has been raining heavy all day today. I am happy about this because it has been so dry. This rain will get the salmon moving and excited to head up to the rivers......the miracle of life begins......the great Pacific Northwest salmon migration. We will depart Hartley Bay tomorrow morning at 8am and we will head into the majestic and stunning Cornwall Inlet where we will spend tomorrow evening around a campfire in a traditional Gitga'at Raven Longhouse. Everyone is super excited about paddling the SUP's and getting some miles in.........our itinerary remains somewhat flexible as we wait for incredible opportunities gifted to us by the Great Bear.
You will be able to follow the expedition live by
SPOT TRACKER from this link.
