5 Frames on Haida Gwaii

You really have to want to get to Haida Gwaii from, well, anywhere. In theory it’s quite simple to get to Haida Gwaii from Vancouver. Simply head east on Highway 1, or the Sea to Sky. Link up with the 97 past Cache Creek or Lillooet. And keep heading north. After a full day’s drive you’ll get to Prince George. From there, camp outside of town. Of course you’ll need to head back into town because you forgot to pack the air mattress for the tent. From there, head west on Highway 16 to Prince Rupert via Smithers and Terrace. Spend the night there, wake up for the 9AM departure. With a bit of luck, it will leave on time. If you’ve got my luck, the crew won’t be able to reconcile the shore count vs the onboard count and you’ll be stuck onboard, sitting at the terminal for 90 minutes as we did.

Once on-island, it will feel a lot like a Gulf Island; but much larger, populated and with more amenities. And deer. So many deer. You’ll also notice how much more daylight there is. The sun rises around 4am, and sets around midnight in early-July. In late-June to early-August if you’re near Toe Hill, at low tide you can walk out to the breakers and scoop up mating Dungeness crabs (only keeping the male) and have crab for dinner overlooking the never-ending expanse of the Pacific.

From the Masset in the north end of Graham Island to the south is an hour-and-a-half or so by car. You can hop a ferry to Moresby Island. Things are even more rustic and remote there. We saw a local black bear, with its longer legs and snout for foraging in the rocks at low tide. Gray Bay has shells that have been impregnated with bioluminescence, the Haida people line trails with them to guide them at night. The bay itself is so wide that even a 10mm wide angle lens can’t capture it all, and at low tide you can walk out for over a kilometre before getting to the ocean.

The archipelago itself is quite massive. We did a boat tour that included hot springs, fresh fish tacos, a walking tour of Gwaii Haanas, and observing a pod of walruses on a rocky outcrop. Gwaii Haanas is an island untouched by logging, and has towering spruces that you cannot see the top of. The canopy is dense to the point of being oppressive; yet shields you from the rain that permeates everything.

I shot these on my Nikon F80 with a portrait grip so it can use AA batteries. Usually I shoot Ilford HP5 with an orange filter. My preferred lens is a 35mm F1.8. I like to push the HP5 two stops for a bit of extra-grainy goodness.

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