![\"BC](\"http:\/\/riffelages.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/BC-Coast-overview-4th-leg.jpg\" "\\"BC")
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Our route for this leg.<\/p>\n \n But first \u2013 on every trip a little rain must fall.\u00a0 We moved to an anchorage just outside of Prince Rupert and hunkered down for a day of local weather.<\/p>\n \n Later that evening the clouds broke up and a nice sunset marks the beginning of a couple of nice days.<\/p>\n \n This is Oval Bay on Porcher Island, just southwest of Prince Rupert.\u00a0 We anchored in a maze of islands and paddled out to this beautiful beach which goes on for miles.\u00a0 We weren\u2019t the only ones enjoying this spot \u2013 the top of the beach had a trail of wolf tracks.<\/p>\n \n Sea Stars and Sea Urchins.\u00a0 Jan would have liked to eat the urchins but they are out of season now.\u00a0 The Sea Stars are recovering from their own pandemic of a few years ago.\u00a0 The Sea Star Wasting Disease eliminated over 90% of their population.<\/p>\n \n Our two days of nice weather are over.\u00a0 A bit further south, in Larsen Harbour at the north end of Banks Island we spent a day sitting out a storm. Looking at this tree, it\u2019s not hard to tell the direction or strength of the prevailing winds!<\/p>\n \n Stormy days are good for indoor activities.\u00a0 We started off with a pancake breakfast.<\/p>\n \n Jan tries on her knitting project, which is almost finished.\u00a0 Completion awaits one more ball of wool which is being mailed to Shearwater, to be picked up whenever we get there.<\/p>\n \n I baked another loaf of bread.\u00a0 My overnight bread method is not working as well as it does at home.\u00a0 This rye loaf came out a bit flat, though it was very tasty.<\/p>\n \n Then we went for a stormy day paddle.\u00a0 Our anchorage was sheltered from the worst of the wind, and we could paddle among the islands nearby.<\/p>\n \n The trees and bushes here show the effect of strong northwesterly winds.\u00a0 Today the wind is from the southeast so we could paddle along in the shelter of the shore.<\/p>\n \n The next morning dawns a beautiful, calm, outer coast day.<\/p>\n \n We came across a group of Orcas \u2013 first ones we have seen this trip.<\/p>\n \n After a lot of unsuccessful attempts, I am happy to finally catch a small halibut.<\/p>\n \n We went out to the Estevan Islands.\u00a0 This group of islands has several areas that are uncharted, indicated by the dotted lines and blank spaces.\u00a0 Curious, we went to explore and see what\u2019s there.<\/p>\n \n Jan watching for rocks as we enter the narrow passage into the Estevans.\u00a0 This passage has strong tidal currents.\u00a0 When we first arrived, half an hour earlier, the red buoy in the photo had been pulled underwater by the current.<\/p>\n \n On the west side of the Estevan Islands, we are exploring the shoreline.\u00a0 The previous day, we had spotted a small group of wolves in this area.\u00a0 Here we are going ashore for a bit of beachcombing.<\/p>\n \n The shore is covered with driftwood, and higher up, lots of plastic fishing floats, water bottles and other debris.<\/p>\n \n Bonsai tree.<\/p>\n \n A deserted campsite in the forest, complete with table and stool to sit on.<\/p>\n \n The weather improved for our trip to Campania Island, just east of the Estevans.\u00a0 This is the view of Campania\u2019s rocky hills from our anchorage.<\/p>\n \n Campania has some beautiful beaches, and on this unusually warm sunny day the waters looked tropical.<\/p>\n \n We had a lovely day at the beach, but eventually we got so much sun we had to start covering up!<\/p>\n \n In Whale Channel, there were no whales but several rocks covered with Sea Lions who bark loudly and smell very strong.<\/p>\n \n If there are Sea Lions around, there must be salmon.\u00a0 I tried trolling for a while but instead of salmon, brought in a ling cod.<\/p>\n \n Diverting off Whale Channel, we went into Cornwall Inlet.\u00a0 Cornwall Inlet has a narrow entrance with strong tidal currents.\u00a0 Here we are pushing through against the last of the ebbing tide.<\/p>\n \n At the end,\u00a0 Cornwall Inlet is ringed with steep mountains, and has a pretty river estuary.<\/p>\n \n Paddling up the river.<\/p>\n \n Near the end of the inlet is this recently constructed (2006) Native Longhouse.<\/p>\n \n While paddling around, we discovered that the water was quite warm, so we took a dip.\u00a0 First swim of the summer!<\/p>\n \n Coffee and cookies in the morning while updating my journal.<\/p>\n \n Jan\u2019s struggling garden.\u00a0 The only things growing are the rosemary and the dill, which is now as tall as Jan.<\/p>\n \n Back to the usual weather, here we are cruising down Princess Royal Channel.<\/p>\n \n We pass Butedale, a former fish cannery site.\u00a0 Most of the old buildings have been demolished in preparation for some new venture.<\/p>\n \n Across from Butedale, we head up the Klekane Inlet.\u00a0 It\u2019s a pretty spot but we are here mostly to investigate the hotsprings.<\/p>\n \n After a bit of poking around, we did find a bath-house, but the tub was empty!<\/p>\n \n Using the gps on my phone to try to track down another hotspring in the vicinity.\u00a0 We went up the river a ways but ultimately were defeated by the dense bush.\u00a0 We were surprised to find ripe salmonberries and blueberries in the bush.\u00a0 It felt to us like it was too early in the year for berries but then we had to remind ourselves that it was already July!<\/p>\n \n My phone showing our position on the boat at anchor.\u00a0 This shows that the charts are not always completely accurate \u2013 we are in fact not in the green shallows but further out at anchor in about 60 feet of water (chart is in fathoms 60 feet = 10 fathoms).<\/p>\n \n A bit further south along Princess Royal Channel, we spent a couple of nights at the end of Khutze Inlet, anchored next to a cascading waterfall.<\/p>\n \n Eagle on the shore at low tide.<\/p>\n \n As we are back on the mainland, we are in grizzly country.\u00a0 We spotted a grizzly with three cubs from the boat, and I went out in the kayak to snap some pics.<\/p>\n \n The bears were grazing in the tall grass of the estuary so I could only see them when they stood up.\u00a0 The cubs are quite curious and were checking me out as I drifted by.<\/p>\n \n Across from Khutze inlet, on the west side of Princess Royal Channel, is the Canoona River.\u00a0 At this rapid, when the salmon are running, bears can be seen fishing. If you\u2019re lucky, they might be white, Spirit bears. It\u2019s not salmon season yet, but we wanted to check the place out.<\/p>\n \n We found a rough trail through the forest, which is rare. Here\u2019s Jan, along the Canoona river, looking back out toward Princess Royal Channel.<\/p>\n \n Jan among the giant skunk cabbages along the river banks.<\/p>\n \n A dramatic, reversing tidal rapid at Green Inlet, currently emptying.\u00a0 Beyond the rapid is a very large lagoon.<\/p>\n \n We are back in petroglyph country, as we approach Bella Bella.\u00a0 Can you spot the petroglyph on this rock?<\/p>\n \n The petroglyphs can be hard to find, even with fairly specific directions.\u00a0 It took a lot of searching to spot this one on Nowish Island.<\/p>\n \n On a nearby island Jan discovers a cache of whalebones.\u00a0 She considers bringing one back to make soup\u2026<\/p>\n \n We pass the Ivory Island Lighthouse, at the entrance to Seaforth Channel which leads us in to Bella Bella.<\/p>\n \n Fishing boats at Shearwater.\u00a0 The Shearwater Marine Centre is just across from Bella Bella and is the main centre in this area for boats of all types.\u00a0\u00a0 Bella Bella is still closed to outsiders, so we are doing all our resupplying here.\u00a0 There is a small grocery store, a marine store, laundry, showers and a pub.<\/p>\n \n The Shearwater grocery store.\u00a0 We are re-filling our food bins and then will head out again to the peace and quiet of the islands.<\/p>\n \n \n Back to the previous section.\u00a0<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Continue to the next section.<\/a><\/p>\n Home<\/a><\/p>\n \n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Prince Rupert was our turnaround point.\u00a0 After stocking with supplies and treating ourselves to a couple of restaurant meals, we headed back out into the wilderness in a new direction, now heading south. Our route for this leg. But first \u2013 on every trip a little rain must fall.\u00a0 We moved to an anchorage just… Continue reading 2020 Part 4 – “A Change of Direction”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":1427,"menu_order":3,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-1769","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/riffelages.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1769","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/riffelages.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/riffelages.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/riffelages.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/riffelages.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1769"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/riffelages.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1769\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2097,"href":"https:\/\/riffelages.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1769\/revisions\/2097"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/riffelages.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1427"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/riffelages.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1769"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n