Canadian Adventure Day Two: The Broughtons Great Loop

On our only full day in the Broughtons, we spent our time making a great loop tour - essentially a scouting mission to gauge whether we would want to come back and either camp or bring a sailboat up. (Consensus was that we are definitely coming back at some point.)  We started at Echo Bay (blue star) and went clockwise to the Kwatsi Falls, then to the mouth of the Ahta River in Bond Sound, then down past Viscount Island where we saw the bear, then down to Johnstone Straight where we saw orcas, up through protected waters where we saw humpbacks, stopped at the abandoned first nations village of Mamalilakulla on Village Island, and finally back to Echo Bay.

 We had smooth water and a morning fog that gradually burned off. It was cool though and we had to wear all of our jackets, hats, and blankets to stay warm when we had the boat at full speed.

 

 

We were passed by a pod of white-sided dolphins heading the other way. It was such a surprise we barely had time to capture the moment.

 

Our first stop was Kwatsi Falls. It was impressive in mid-August, but must be much more so when the rivers are flowing in late spring and early summer. There are many such waterfalls in this area, but this is the most impressive.

 

 We got out of the boat at the head of Bond Sound, where the Ahta River comes out. Apparently it is the only non-logged riverbed in the area and is home to diverse wildlife - which we didn't see at this time, but we definitely felt like we were about to at any moment. The scale of the place is just incredible.

 

 

 

 

The turquoise green, glacier-fed water was stunning.

 And we finally saw a bear who didn't run away into the bushes - at a safe distance! His fur was very shiny and long.

 

More humpbacks!

 The ancient shell midden beach at the village of Mamalilakulla.

 

Many, many treasures and odd bits on the beach. A lot of pieces of dishes and glassware, an old doll, this old wash tub, etc....

 This used to be a thriving village with a school and 2000 inhabitants. Babies were born here, children raised, life lived here in this peaceful cove. One feels connection to those people when visiting the old village and a sadness that it is no longer anyone's home even though the tribe continues today in other parts of the area.

 

Enjoying the sunshine and happy hour at Pierre's was the perfect end to this long day!

 And the woodstove warmed everyone up. These four played spades while Meg and I took the other kids to explore the property more thoroughly.

 There was a campfire circle with suspended Adirondack swings. Very cool!

 A maze of bridges and paths connected residents and different aspects of the marina.