A great speech by Alexandra Morton, "Salmon are Sacred," this past week at the 2009 Fraser River Sockeye Inquiry. Alexandra is a hero and has been working tirelessly on our coast to protect our wild salmon from fish farms.
ABC Nightline: Spirit Bears
This is the ABC Nightline segment that was done during the iLCP RAVE in Hartley Bay this past September. ABC obviously has a huge audience so it was great for our battle to keep oil tankers off our coast. Enjoy, there is some amazing Spirit Bear footage here in the rivers we visit. Our Mountain Surf Great Bear Expedition trips takes you to this incredible area to view Spirit Bears, enjoy amazing wildlife and experience the rich culture of the Gitga'at People.
Click here for ABC Nightline Special
Click here for ABC Nightline Special
What happened to our Fraser River Sockeye in 2009?
Although this year was a banner year for the Fraser River Sockeye 2009 experienced a complete collapse. Twyla Roscovich has put this video together to explain theories as to what happened. It is important to watch this. Salmon are the lifeblood of our coast and healthy salmon mean healthy people. Celebrate our wild pacific salmon!!
iLCP GreatBear RAVE.
This is what the iLCP GreatBear RAVE was all about. All of these shots and videos were taken while in the GreatBear Rainforest over a two week period. Christina was also there when i arrived in Bella Bella for my Standup4Greatbear expedition this past May.
Great Bear Rainforest RAVE from iLCP on Vimeo.
Great Bear Rainforest RAVE from iLCP on Vimeo.
Oil and the GreatBear Rainforest
Ian McAllister and his crew at Pacific Wild have put together this incredible video to show what's at risk with the tar sands and tankers. I had a chance to preview this film with Ian on his sailboat this fall during the iLCP Greatbear Rave and it was exciting and powerful to watch. Great job to Damien Gillis for his production. Enjoy. If you are interested in going to the GreatBear.......contact me.
Oil in Eden: The Battle to Protect Canada's Pacific Coast from Pacific Wild on Vimeo.
Oil in Eden: The Battle to Protect Canada's Pacific Coast from Pacific Wild on Vimeo.
The 14' Surftech Joe Bark Expedition Board Review
I have been asked by a number of people what i think about my Surftech Joe Bark Expedition board. I recently wrote a response to a fellow SUPer in So Cal so i thought i would copy my response here so others can see it.
"To start with, I love my JoeBark Expedition board. I was sponsored by Surftech and given the Bark Expedition to take on my 400km SUP down the coast of BC on my Standup4greatbear trip. The board was amazing and it performed incredibly well for the variable ocean conditions i experienced. I feel it is the best board out there right now for expeditions and touring. I have not even tapped the potential of the board in downwinders but i have surfed some strong outflow winds here in Squamish and it's performance was pretty amazing. This board does everything well.........cruise, tour, carry gear, surf, downwind race and general racing if your not trying to compete with guys who are on race boards. It's also a great training and fitness tool. With SUP being a multi-discipline sport it's at a point where you either need a board for every discipline or one board that does everything well. Most of us can't afford that but in 2011 I will be paddling Molokai and will return to the Battle of the Paddle with Surftech race boards. I paddle a 12 1" Laird board in surf and general lake paddling but whenever i get on the ocean or compete in "recreational" racing, anything downwind, or big training runs, I am rockin my Expedition Bark. I will be running more big Standup4Greatbear Expeditions this summer and JBX will be coming with me. After the board carried me 400kms safely down the coast I feel pretty connected to it. There is a lot more for this board to see on the coast and throughout NorthAmerica. Nothing can replace the feeling of comfort and safety on the ocean. The JBX is just solid.
On a racing front, you cant look at the Bark Ex. as a race board.....its like its namesake says......Expedition.....and as far as i can see this board is it on the coast. As I said, you can race it and i feel i could hold my own against most boards, even decent paddlers on race boards but when your competing against the best in the world then you need the best equipment or its apples and oranges.......it's just that different. I would race the Bark competitor in the 12 6" class and the Joe Bark Dominator or Surftech Jamie Mitchell Lahui Kai in the 14' class but neither of these boards would paddle as well as the Expedition in big or challenging coastal conditions. I like the challenge though of beating people on race boards with my Expedition. The JBX has a planing hull with great nose rocker for those downwind days or surf days and although its not a displacment hull it is more like a planing hull/displacement hull hybrid due to its efficient speed. On my last expedition I was on 4 hour crossings and it allowed me to hammer when conditions were flat which is key to safety on the big water. Move light, move fast, move far. I have some youtube videos from the expedition and you can see the board in action. I also paddled in ridiculous windchop, side swell mayhem and made it through but it really challenged me. And when there was any swell or wind chop behind me, the board took off. The Bark board is the one that sits in the back of the room while all the other boards pose around and then when the s#$% hits the fan on the ocean JBX shines. You will not be disappointed if you invested in this board. This board inspires confidence on the water.The only thing I would make sure about is that the decking goes right to the back of the board so when you step back on it to surf or downwind then your good to go. Right now i have short decking and when i step back my back foot slips.......so what i am doing right now is just waxing behind the decking but i will cover the back of the board with more decking. The Bark is a serious coastal board and a board that represents and handles the moods and power of Mother Ocean. I am totally confident taking my Bark any where on any ocean in any condition. It has a surf fin on it right now but i am going to replace the stock fin with a Futures Fins 10" Weed or one of their downwind fins. That way the board will not get hung up in any kelp that I run into on the coast or when surfing. I had a chance to check out these fins and a number of other ones at the Future Fins booth at the Battle of the Paddle this year. They are incredible fins, have amazing technology and they are working with some of the top paddlers in the world like Gerry Lopez and Jamie Mitchell. I will have this fin on for my upcoming 2011 expeditions.
I have also started to run commercial expeditions with Mountain Surf Adventures in the Great Rainforest and brought my Bark Expedition up for that and I could not keep people off the board. One gentleman upon returning home to Calgary bought one immediately. I was happy to have guests on it since it paddles so well and is so efficient yet stable. If i could have a fleet of these for my upcoming expeditions i would. The board has multiple attachment points for gear and comes with a handle on each rail that can also be taken off or moved to a different location on the board. The deck pad is comfortable on feet.
Lastly, this board and any Surftech Tuflight board is incredibly durable. This board has done a 400km expedition and an 8 day GreatBear Rainforest expedition, and numerous days trips along one of the most rugged and tough shorelines in the world. I have also had it on an open trailer for 3000km without a bag and it has gotten nailed by rocks and whatever else flies up off the road and it has held up amazingly well. Again i do not recommend this but i didn't have a board bag at the time. I am hoping i can refinish this board but for now it has "battle scars" on it and "experience." I love it. Now i waiting for some really big outflow conditions here in Howe Sound to really test the downwind capabilities.
I hope this helps people who are considering a Surftech Bark Expedition. If anyone is in Squamish or BC come on up for a test drive. See you on the water.
UPDATE: September 2011
For those who are reading this blog on the Bark Expedition, i thought i would give you a few updates. Not only did this board carry me along our coastline for the Standup4Greatbear Expedition but Bodie Shandro and i paddled it across the Molokai this past July. Although there are better boards out there to race Molokai with it was another example of the incredible versatility of this board. We crossed the channel on this board in 5hr 49 minutes. Since the Standup4Greatbear expeditions i have also completed two commercial expeditions with guests to the Greatbear Rainforest with my company Mountain Surf Adventures. Last September was the first and i bought JBX up there with me and clients spent more time on the board than i did and as a result, immediately after the expedition both clients went out and bought a Bark Expedition. As of two weeks ago as i write this i just completed the second commercial expedition and we had two Bark Expeditions and one Mickey Munoz Wateryder, basically a smaller version of the Bark. Needless to say the JBX is an amazing board for me and clients to paddle on in the Greatbear Rainforest as i need something efficient, durable, comfortable and something that can carry weight. Just more food for thought......norm
"To start with, I love my JoeBark Expedition board. I was sponsored by Surftech and given the Bark Expedition to take on my 400km SUP down the coast of BC on my Standup4greatbear trip. The board was amazing and it performed incredibly well for the variable ocean conditions i experienced. I feel it is the best board out there right now for expeditions and touring. I have not even tapped the potential of the board in downwinders but i have surfed some strong outflow winds here in Squamish and it's performance was pretty amazing. This board does everything well.........cruise, tour, carry gear, surf, downwind race and general racing if your not trying to compete with guys who are on race boards. It's also a great training and fitness tool. With SUP being a multi-discipline sport it's at a point where you either need a board for every discipline or one board that does everything well. Most of us can't afford that but in 2011 I will be paddling Molokai and will return to the Battle of the Paddle with Surftech race boards. I paddle a 12 1" Laird board in surf and general lake paddling but whenever i get on the ocean or compete in "recreational" racing, anything downwind, or big training runs, I am rockin my Expedition Bark. I will be running more big Standup4Greatbear Expeditions this summer and JBX will be coming with me. After the board carried me 400kms safely down the coast I feel pretty connected to it. There is a lot more for this board to see on the coast and throughout NorthAmerica. Nothing can replace the feeling of comfort and safety on the ocean. The JBX is just solid.
On a racing front, you cant look at the Bark Ex. as a race board.....its like its namesake says......Expedition.....and as far as i can see this board is it on the coast. As I said, you can race it and i feel i could hold my own against most boards, even decent paddlers on race boards but when your competing against the best in the world then you need the best equipment or its apples and oranges.......it's just that different. I would race the Bark competitor in the 12 6" class and the Joe Bark Dominator or Surftech Jamie Mitchell Lahui Kai in the 14' class but neither of these boards would paddle as well as the Expedition in big or challenging coastal conditions. I like the challenge though of beating people on race boards with my Expedition. The JBX has a planing hull with great nose rocker for those downwind days or surf days and although its not a displacment hull it is more like a planing hull/displacement hull hybrid due to its efficient speed. On my last expedition I was on 4 hour crossings and it allowed me to hammer when conditions were flat which is key to safety on the big water. Move light, move fast, move far. I have some youtube videos from the expedition and you can see the board in action. I also paddled in ridiculous windchop, side swell mayhem and made it through but it really challenged me. And when there was any swell or wind chop behind me, the board took off. The Bark board is the one that sits in the back of the room while all the other boards pose around and then when the s#$% hits the fan on the ocean JBX shines. You will not be disappointed if you invested in this board. This board inspires confidence on the water.The only thing I would make sure about is that the decking goes right to the back of the board so when you step back on it to surf or downwind then your good to go. Right now i have short decking and when i step back my back foot slips.......so what i am doing right now is just waxing behind the decking but i will cover the back of the board with more decking. The Bark is a serious coastal board and a board that represents and handles the moods and power of Mother Ocean. I am totally confident taking my Bark any where on any ocean in any condition. It has a surf fin on it right now but i am going to replace the stock fin with a Futures Fins 10" Weed or one of their downwind fins. That way the board will not get hung up in any kelp that I run into on the coast or when surfing. I had a chance to check out these fins and a number of other ones at the Future Fins booth at the Battle of the Paddle this year. They are incredible fins, have amazing technology and they are working with some of the top paddlers in the world like Gerry Lopez and Jamie Mitchell. I will have this fin on for my upcoming 2011 expeditions.I have also started to run commercial expeditions with Mountain Surf Adventures in the Great Rainforest and brought my Bark Expedition up for that and I could not keep people off the board. One gentleman upon returning home to Calgary bought one immediately. I was happy to have guests on it since it paddles so well and is so efficient yet stable. If i could have a fleet of these for my upcoming expeditions i would. The board has multiple attachment points for gear and comes with a handle on each rail that can also be taken off or moved to a different location on the board. The deck pad is comfortable on feet.
Lastly, this board and any Surftech Tuflight board is incredibly durable. This board has done a 400km expedition and an 8 day GreatBear Rainforest expedition, and numerous days trips along one of the most rugged and tough shorelines in the world. I have also had it on an open trailer for 3000km without a bag and it has gotten nailed by rocks and whatever else flies up off the road and it has held up amazingly well. Again i do not recommend this but i didn't have a board bag at the time. I am hoping i can refinish this board but for now it has "battle scars" on it and "experience." I love it. Now i waiting for some really big outflow conditions here in Howe Sound to really test the downwind capabilities.
I hope this helps people who are considering a Surftech Bark Expedition. If anyone is in Squamish or BC come on up for a test drive. See you on the water.
UPDATE: September 2011
For those who are reading this blog on the Bark Expedition, i thought i would give you a few updates. Not only did this board carry me along our coastline for the Standup4Greatbear Expedition but Bodie Shandro and i paddled it across the Molokai this past July. Although there are better boards out there to race Molokai with it was another example of the incredible versatility of this board. We crossed the channel on this board in 5hr 49 minutes. Since the Standup4Greatbear expeditions i have also completed two commercial expeditions with guests to the Greatbear Rainforest with my company Mountain Surf Adventures. Last September was the first and i bought JBX up there with me and clients spent more time on the board than i did and as a result, immediately after the expedition both clients went out and bought a Bark Expedition. As of two weeks ago as i write this i just completed the second commercial expedition and we had two Bark Expeditions and one Mickey Munoz Wateryder, basically a smaller version of the Bark. Needless to say the JBX is an amazing board for me and clients to paddle on in the Greatbear Rainforest as i need something efficient, durable, comfortable and something that can carry weight. Just more food for thought......norm
Battle of the Paddle- Dana Point, California
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| It's On!! |
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| The Legend, Mr. Pipeline |
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| Post San Onofre Surf Sesh |
The following day it was back in the water at San Onofre except this time we had a good Canadian crew in the lineup. Bodie and i were joined by Ian Nelson from Rogue Paddleboards, Jeff and Ken from the Okanagan and Kevin Obrien, owner of Kalavida Surf Shop. All were down to enjoy SOCAL and compete in the BOP. We shared some sweet waves and we all brought our Canadian passions to the line up. We had a few sideways looks from the locals when Ken started yelling "hurry hard(only a canadian would understand)," in order to motivate us to get into waves quicker. That evening after a great time in the water we all headed back to Dana Point for the party at the historical Hobie Surf Shop.
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| Canadian Crew at the Hobie Surf Shop |
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| 10 miler Start |
After the elite race they had the open category which saw over 400 competitors paddling in 4 different categories. Bodie and i hoisted the Canadian flag and patrolled the beach supporting Ken, Jeff, Kevin, Ian and Kelvin. Stud paddler Kelvin, rocked it in the surfboard class placing second while the rest of the canadian crew had impressive performances and built on their SUP experience.
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| Canadian SUP relay team |
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| Finishing the 10 miler |
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| Representin |
I know next year we are going to have a big Canadian crew heading down to the BOP. I also want to thank the fellas at Hinano for hooking us up with sweet sweet gear. Thanks to Bodie for his continued support and for being a Surftech brother. I really enjoy being a Surftech team rider and the future is bright. Time to start training for next year.......real training!!
Lake Tahoe Fall Classic
After running around in the salmon rivers chasing bears in the GreatBear for most of September I flew down to Las Vegas to meet Jen after her and her Feed the Machine/Dart Nuun teammates had just won the Desert Winds Adventure Race. The following morning we headed over to Lake Tahoe after driving through Death Valley and reminiscing Jen's Badwater race a couple of summers ago. This Tahoe Fall Classic attracted me because of the 22 mile distance and the opportunity to paddle across a stunning lake with mountains rising in all directions. I had contacted Duke Brouwer from Surftech and asked if he could bring a raceboard for me to paddle on. I would have paddled on anything really because i was just so excited to be in board shorts and to paddle big open spaces but having race board would be fun and would certainly make my day easier. Duke did not disappoint as he pointed me towards the 14 Surftech Jamie Mitchell Lahui Kai race board sitting on the shoreline. Obviously i had never been on this board and i was amazed at how easy it paddled compared to my Bark Expedition. Two totally different boards. The board felt pretty stable under foot. I liked the pink color. It's 27 inches wide and i really like the feel of it. I even managed to surf a little boat wake with it. Unfortunately the boat wake was heading in the wrong direction so I hoped off and blazed towards the seeminly endless shoreline ahead of me. It was a cloudless sky with crystal clear blue waters and flat calm conditions.....beautiful paddling. I finished the 22 mile race in 3 hours and 48 minutes which was good enough for 3rd. Surftech athlete and former World Whitewater Kayak Champion Jay Kincaid arrived just ahead of me and Hawaiian SUPer Jared Vargas had an impressive race for an easy 1st place victory. After not having paddled for 3 weeks prior my body felt really good and responded to the long distace. I thought often of my Standup4GreatBear paddle and the big distances i had to cover which helped me mentally. I think I should have drank more(water i mean) since i only put down half a litre. Even over that distance with paddlers close behind i felt i did not even have time to grab a drink let alone try to grab some of the shotblocks i had in my waistbelt. I had a smile on my face for all of it because i just really enjoyed being out there paddling on Tahoe. The vibe was fun and after the race i got a chance to get to know Jay and Duke a lot better as we cheered the rest of the field as they came in. Jenny Kalmbach was amazing and took first place in the women's division. The sun was hot and the Primo beer cold as Jen and I enjoyed our time on the beach. 
Quest University Comes to the Great Bear Rainforest
This is the second year that I have brought the Quest University ecology class up to Hartley Bay. Quest is a private liberal arts and science school located in Squamish, B.C. This year we had 8 students come up from Squamish to experience the rainforest in September.
September 12: Quest students arrived on the ferry at noon where i met them and brought them up to the high school to have an official welcoming to the community by Cam Hill and Cam's parents, Lynne and Ernie Hill. After the welcoming it was straight onto the boats and out onto the water to harvest crabs. Thanks to James for taking us out. We were very successful as two of the pots were loaded. After harvesting the crabs we then went out to see Cam and his father who were on their gill netting boat the Siim Haan. They were using nets to catch coho and the students were really excited as they got on board to watch Cam and his father food fishing, bringing in coho to smoke and supply the village with food for the winter. It was a glorious day on the water and just before we went back to the village we had a chance to watch a mother humpback and her calf cruising up whale channel in the sunlight.
September 13: The morning we spent listening to elder and community leader Helen Clifton, talk about the traditional way of life and the history and culture of the Gitga'at people. I always make sure that the class has a chance to talk with Helen. She is an incredible speaker and always enriches the experience of being in Hartley Bay. The afternoon was spent with Chris Bolton who took some of the students on a survey of the Queen of the North site. The Queen of the North was a BC ferry that sunk in 2006 just outside of Hartley Bay and is still leaking fuel and oil. Chris monitors the site everyday. The community has already had one maritime disaster in their back yard and we are all working together to try to keep oil tankers off our coastline for the threat of future spills.
September 14th: I was away at the iLCP press conference in Vancouver so the morning was spent with Chris again who took the rest of the students out to the site. Principal and Hereditary Eagle Chief Ernie Hill took the afternoon to teach the students some of the traditional language of the Gitga'at people. The Smalyax language is still taught in the high school with hopes of the students carrying the language into the future.
September 15: Mickey Reece who works for the band as a watchman in his territory took all of the students on a full day whale survey throughout the Gitga'at Territory. It was a really amazing way for the students to see the vastness of the lands and count Humpback Whales. In all, the students counted 37 Humpback Whales and saw rookeries of Stellar Sea Lions. These are the traditional feeding grounds of the Humpbacks and they come up to this area to feed on herring, pilchard and krill.
September 16: Today was an amazing day for the students as bear guide Marven Robinson took us in to a local river loaded with salmon to wait for the Quest Kermode bear to appear and to watch black bears. It didnt take long before a black bear made an appearance and walked right in front of the stands while he fed on pink salmon. Not too long later there was word of a Spirit Bear makings its way downriver towards us and sure enough a beautiful big Spirit Bear sauntered down the river taking its time and fishing right in front of the stunned Quest students. Seeing a Spirit Bear is a spiritual experience and one that can change your life. I was really happy for the students. They had come a long way to see this bear but the trip itself is much more than the bear and they were to experience that as the trip went on. The Spirit Bear disappeared for awhile and then made another appearance along with another black bear. We also observed Martens, Stellar Jays and Blue Herons all feeding in the salmon stream. Over 200 species depend on the salmon at this time of the year. It is why salmon are called keystone species, very important to the overall survival of the rainfores ecosystem. Just before we were leaving Marvin had mentioned that there was a second white bear up river but it never made its way down to our stands. We had an incredible and moving day in the salmon rivers with the bears. We then had a sunny boat ride down to the watchman cabin south of Hartley Bay where we were to spend the next three nights. As if the day couldn't get any better we watched as a mother black bear and her white cub made their way along the shoreline and into the forest for a late night feeding at the river. Black bears can carry the recessive white gene which is why its important to protect all bears. Most excited of all of us i think was instructor Nobi. Another rare, powerful moment in the cove.
September 17: Today we woke up to a stunning morning in the Greatbear. We had a relaxing morning and then went over to see Janey at the Cetacea Lab/Whale Point research station. Coincidentally, Magdalena who was on the first trip last year to the GreatBear was at the lab volunteering her time with Hermann and Janey. Caroline from Quest was up earlier in the year. Caroline and Magdelana both found it hard to not return to the rainforest after their experience last year and donate their time to help at the lab. The students were enriched listening to Janey and learning about cetacea life and some of the risks for these whales. They all had lots of questions and you could see the wheels turning in these dynamic students. Thanks so much to Janey for educating the students and sharing your amazing passion with us.
September 18th: We awoke early to walk in to the local salmon stream. This is one of my most favorite things to do in the whole world and it was great to share this experience with the students. Watching thousands of salmon spawning at your feet is miraculous. Listening to the Ravens and seeing the eagles make this one of the noisiest salmon streams around. There is a lot going on here and i have some of the most memorable and powerful moments on the coast right in this small little river. We were hoping to see some bears from our perch on the river but instead of bears we were given another incredible gift. A young wolf pup came out to feed on an old dead salmon. I couldnt believe what i was seeing. This is very rare. To catch a glimpse of a wolf trotting away for seconds is something but to watch a wolf pup feed on a salmon for 20 minutes in front of you was something else. There was a second wolf pup that was a little too nervous to come fully out but we could see him hiding in the Sedge grass. The GreatBear Rainforest always continues to amaze me, surprise me and inspire me. This local river has an impressive combination of a large salmon run, white bears, black bears, deer, wolverine's and coastal wolves. Over the years I have seen all of the above, sometimes feeding together but i have never seen a wolf pup here let alone two. I wondered where the parents were.
Later in the afternoon i hiked the students up the river to some huge old growth forest and to interpret the importance of old growth forest and why they call these majestic stands, Salmon Forests. We also had the chance to talk with Paul Nicklen a National Geographic Photographer who was on assignment doing a feature on the Spirit Bear. I had just recently worked with Paul on the GreatBear RAVE ilcp project. Paul is super talented and has done some amazing work in the polar regions and a now with the Spirit Bear. I am excited to see this article come out in National Geographic. That night we sat by a fire and shared our personal experiences with each other and how the GreatBear has affected us. It was moving and powerful and a great way to end our time her in at the watchman cabin.
September 19th: Well we got up early again to see if we could see any bears or wolves again. This morning a big black bear came out and we got a chance to watch him feed on salmon. He had a pretty successful method of just belly flopping on a pool of salmon an then grabbing whatever salmon he had pinned against the river bottom. We made our way back to the cabin for a late breakfast before Mick came back to pick us up and take us back to Hartley Bay. The rest of the day was spent in the village talking with community members, checking out Justin Clifton's amazing hand carved jewellrey, playing with the students and taking in the last full day in Hartley Bay.
September 20th: After a great breakfast we headed over to the highschool to say good bye to everyone and to present Cam and the school with a picture from last years trip as a thank you to everyone. We hopped on the ferry at 1230 for our ride back to Rupert. Another really successful Quest trip in the Greatbear.
Thanks so much first of all to Cam and Eva, Rachel, Morgan and Brother Max who put all of us up at their place and provided so much incredible food and shared so much of their culture with us. Thanks to Helen Clifton, Lynne and Ernie Hill, James and Chris Clifton, Micky Reece, Richard Brown, Justin Clifton, Janey and of course Marven Robinson. Thanks again to the community for sharing your lives and enriching ours. Thanks as well to Nobi and the Quest students for coming up to the GreatBear Rainforest. I love sharing this world with those who are passionate and motivated. The area and the people are inspiring and i know you will find your own path and your own questions.
September 12: Quest students arrived on the ferry at noon where i met them and brought them up to the high school to have an official welcoming to the community by Cam Hill and Cam's parents, Lynne and Ernie Hill. After the welcoming it was straight onto the boats and out onto the water to harvest crabs. Thanks to James for taking us out. We were very successful as two of the pots were loaded. After harvesting the crabs we then went out to see Cam and his father who were on their gill netting boat the Siim Haan. They were using nets to catch coho and the students were really excited as they got on board to watch Cam and his father food fishing, bringing in coho to smoke and supply the village with food for the winter. It was a glorious day on the water and just before we went back to the village we had a chance to watch a mother humpback and her calf cruising up whale channel in the sunlight.September 13: The morning we spent listening to elder and community leader Helen Clifton, talk about the traditional way of life and the history and culture of the Gitga'at people. I always make sure that the class has a chance to talk with Helen. She is an incredible speaker and always enriches the experience of being in Hartley Bay. The afternoon was spent with Chris Bolton who took some of the students on a survey of the Queen of the North site. The Queen of the North was a BC ferry that sunk in 2006 just outside of Hartley Bay and is still leaking fuel and oil. Chris monitors the site everyday. The community has already had one maritime disaster in their back yard and we are all working together to try to keep oil tankers off our coastline for the threat of future spills.
September 14th: I was away at the iLCP press conference in Vancouver so the morning was spent with Chris again who took the rest of the students out to the site. Principal and Hereditary Eagle Chief Ernie Hill took the afternoon to teach the students some of the traditional language of the Gitga'at people. The Smalyax language is still taught in the high school with hopes of the students carrying the language into the future.
September 15: Mickey Reece who works for the band as a watchman in his territory took all of the students on a full day whale survey throughout the Gitga'at Territory. It was a really amazing way for the students to see the vastness of the lands and count Humpback Whales. In all, the students counted 37 Humpback Whales and saw rookeries of Stellar Sea Lions. These are the traditional feeding grounds of the Humpbacks and they come up to this area to feed on herring, pilchard and krill.
September 16: Today was an amazing day for the students as bear guide Marven Robinson took us in to a local river loaded with salmon to wait for the Quest Kermode bear to appear and to watch black bears. It didnt take long before a black bear made an appearance and walked right in front of the stands while he fed on pink salmon. Not too long later there was word of a Spirit Bear makings its way downriver towards us and sure enough a beautiful big Spirit Bear sauntered down the river taking its time and fishing right in front of the stunned Quest students. Seeing a Spirit Bear is a spiritual experience and one that can change your life. I was really happy for the students. They had come a long way to see this bear but the trip itself is much more than the bear and they were to experience that as the trip went on. The Spirit Bear disappeared for awhile and then made another appearance along with another black bear. We also observed Martens, Stellar Jays and Blue Herons all feeding in the salmon stream. Over 200 species depend on the salmon at this time of the year. It is why salmon are called keystone species, very important to the overall survival of the rainfores ecosystem. Just before we were leaving Marvin had mentioned that there was a second white bear up river but it never made its way down to our stands. We had an incredible and moving day in the salmon rivers with the bears. We then had a sunny boat ride down to the watchman cabin south of Hartley Bay where we were to spend the next three nights. As if the day couldn't get any better we watched as a mother black bear and her white cub made their way along the shoreline and into the forest for a late night feeding at the river. Black bears can carry the recessive white gene which is why its important to protect all bears. Most excited of all of us i think was instructor Nobi. Another rare, powerful moment in the cove. September 17: Today we woke up to a stunning morning in the Greatbear. We had a relaxing morning and then went over to see Janey at the Cetacea Lab/Whale Point research station. Coincidentally, Magdalena who was on the first trip last year to the GreatBear was at the lab volunteering her time with Hermann and Janey. Caroline from Quest was up earlier in the year. Caroline and Magdelana both found it hard to not return to the rainforest after their experience last year and donate their time to help at the lab. The students were enriched listening to Janey and learning about cetacea life and some of the risks for these whales. They all had lots of questions and you could see the wheels turning in these dynamic students. Thanks so much to Janey for educating the students and sharing your amazing passion with us.
September 18th: We awoke early to walk in to the local salmon stream. This is one of my most favorite things to do in the whole world and it was great to share this experience with the students. Watching thousands of salmon spawning at your feet is miraculous. Listening to the Ravens and seeing the eagles make this one of the noisiest salmon streams around. There is a lot going on here and i have some of the most memorable and powerful moments on the coast right in this small little river. We were hoping to see some bears from our perch on the river but instead of bears we were given another incredible gift. A young wolf pup came out to feed on an old dead salmon. I couldnt believe what i was seeing. This is very rare. To catch a glimpse of a wolf trotting away for seconds is something but to watch a wolf pup feed on a salmon for 20 minutes in front of you was something else. There was a second wolf pup that was a little too nervous to come fully out but we could see him hiding in the Sedge grass. The GreatBear Rainforest always continues to amaze me, surprise me and inspire me. This local river has an impressive combination of a large salmon run, white bears, black bears, deer, wolverine's and coastal wolves. Over the years I have seen all of the above, sometimes feeding together but i have never seen a wolf pup here let alone two. I wondered where the parents were. 
Later in the afternoon i hiked the students up the river to some huge old growth forest and to interpret the importance of old growth forest and why they call these majestic stands, Salmon Forests. We also had the chance to talk with Paul Nicklen a National Geographic Photographer who was on assignment doing a feature on the Spirit Bear. I had just recently worked with Paul on the GreatBear RAVE ilcp project. Paul is super talented and has done some amazing work in the polar regions and a now with the Spirit Bear. I am excited to see this article come out in National Geographic. That night we sat by a fire and shared our personal experiences with each other and how the GreatBear has affected us. It was moving and powerful and a great way to end our time her in at the watchman cabin. September 19th: Well we got up early again to see if we could see any bears or wolves again. This morning a big black bear came out and we got a chance to watch him feed on salmon. He had a pretty successful method of just belly flopping on a pool of salmon an then grabbing whatever salmon he had pinned against the river bottom. We made our way back to the cabin for a late breakfast before Mick came back to pick us up and take us back to Hartley Bay. The rest of the day was spent in the village talking with community members, checking out Justin Clifton's amazing hand carved jewellrey, playing with the students and taking in the last full day in Hartley Bay.
September 20th: After a great breakfast we headed over to the highschool to say good bye to everyone and to present Cam and the school with a picture from last years trip as a thank you to everyone. We hopped on the ferry at 1230 for our ride back to Rupert. Another really successful Quest trip in the Greatbear.
Thanks so much first of all to Cam and Eva, Rachel, Morgan and Brother Max who put all of us up at their place and provided so much incredible food and shared so much of their culture with us. Thanks to Helen Clifton, Lynne and Ernie Hill, James and Chris Clifton, Micky Reece, Richard Brown, Justin Clifton, Janey and of course Marven Robinson. Thanks again to the community for sharing your lives and enriching ours. Thanks as well to Nobi and the Quest students for coming up to the GreatBear Rainforest. I love sharing this world with those who are passionate and motivated. The area and the people are inspiring and i know you will find your own path and your own questions.
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