Uploads from Points North, tagged queencharlotteislands

From the Island Entrance to the Living Room

nobody@flickr.com (Points North) — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 13:01:27 -0800

After we shot the mortuary and fallen lodge poles, our fearless guide led us along this narrow path that snaked very close to the edge of the land where to met the rocky edge of the waters. Did not like that!

Ninstints, or as it's known now, SGang Gwaay Llnagaay, on SGang Gwaay was our last stop in our 3-day trip to Gwaii Haanas National Park Reserve and Haida Heritage Site. It's at the far southern end of the Park. We were the only humans there on the entire island.

Peek-A- Boo

nobody@flickr.com (Points North) — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 09:25:50 -0800

Points North posted a photo:

Some of the deer were just too shy so I crouched down behind the fallen lodge poles and peeked through. Rather liked the frame they made, but it was murder on lighting controls. This is cropped and brightened.

Ninstints, or as it's known now, SGang Gwaay Llnagaay, on SGang Gwaay was our last stop in our 3-day trip to Gwaii Haanas National Park Reserve and Haida Heritage Site. It's at the far southern end of the Park. We were the only humans there on the entire island.

Remembrance of Sacrifices and Lives Past

nobody@flickr.com (Points North) — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 04:33:24 -0800

Points North posted a photo:

We came across these just sitting there, no indication how they got there. It looked like natural art. Since I didn't have a chance to photograph a poppy, I thought this was a good representation of this day, November 11th.

Ninstints, or as it's known now, SGang Gwaay Llnagaay, on SGang Gwaay was our last stop in our 3-day trip to Gwaii Haanas National Park Reserve and Haida Heritage Site. It's at the far southern end of the Park. We were the only humans there on the entire island.

Wednesday, Halfway Mark, Full of Possibilities, Like The Same Old Yummy Grass

nobody@flickr.com (Points North) — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 08:17:51 -0700

Points North posted a photo:

As we walked among the mortuary poles, we happened upon this deer. She was among a few munching and napping behind the poles of Ninstints.

Ninstints, or as it's known now, SGang Gwaay Llnagaay, on SGang Gwaay was our last stop in our 3-day trip to Gwaii Haanas National Park Reserve and Haida Heritage Site. It's at the far southern end of the Park. We were the only humans there on the entire island.

Standing on Guard for the Dead

nobody@flickr.com (Points North) — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 07:31:36 -0700

Points North posted a photo:

The mortuary poles were the first sign of long-gone life that we saw after we arrived. The dead were buried at the top of these poles; as you can tell, they've deteriorated greatly and the boxes the bodies lay in are long gone.

I cropped this photo to the dimensions the London Free Press (in London, Ontario) did when they ran my travel article, text and photo, back in the late 1990s.

Ninstints, or as it's known now, SGang Gwaay Llnagaay, on SGang Gwaay was our last stop in our 3-day trip to Gwaii Haanas National Park Reserve and Haida Heritage Site. It's on a small island next to the Pacific ocean on the southern end of the archipelago, east of Kunghit Island. At the time we went, mid-1990s, we were told Parks Canada would soon be designating the waters around the national park as a marine conservation area or national marine park. They're still talking about it!

Old Age is a ...

nobody@flickr.com (Points North) — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 08:43:44 -0700

Points North posted a photo:

When we visited Ninstints at the southern end of Gwaii Haanas in the Queen Charlotte Islands, British Columbia, our guide brought along a book with photos taken of the village and poles back in the 1950s. It was sorrowing to see how the rainforest climate had aged the poles radically. What once were proudly upright, were fallen. What once had distinct carvings had weathered, some to almost indistinguishable. At some point, the people tried to halt the ravages of time, and supported the poles. This one was lifted up off the ground just enough to slow down its "dust to dust" deterioration.

Ninstints, or as it's known now, SGang Gwaay Llnagaay, on SGang Gwaay was our last stop in our 3-day trip to Gwaii Haanas National Park Reserve and Haida Heritage Site. It's on a small island next to the Pacific ocean on the southern end of the archipelago, east of Kunghit Island. At the time we went, mid-1990s, we were told Parks Canada would soon be designating the waters around the national park as a marine conservation area or national marine park. They're still talking about it!

The Scary Seas of Gwaii Haanas

nobody@flickr.com (Points North) — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 08:16:16 -0700

Points North posted a photo:

We were motoring down to the very southern tip of Gwaii Haanas in the Queen Charlotte Islands to see the mortuary and frontal poles. The waves were scary high as we moved out of the shelter of the archipelago and almost into the Pacific. We were in a zodiac. But we made it to Ninstints, the heritage UNESCO area. I think the date was 21 May 1996. My travel article on this trip was published in 1997 in London Free Press and Victoria Times-Colonist.

I used this photo to create this image of the seas contained.

The End Feeds the Beginning

nobody@flickr.com (Points North) — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 16:40:24 -0800

Points North posted a photo:

Blogged for tenth anniversary of crash that caused brain injury. The only way to set those memories behind is to speak them then they no longer have power.

Wild

nobody@flickr.com (Points North) — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 09:23:24 -0800

Points North posted a photo:

Board Walking

nobody@flickr.com (Points North) — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 08:25:06 -0800

Points North posted a photo:

At last we moved inland and the path opened up a bit. Someone had laid boards down to provide a less soggy walk. But we all had hiking boots on, so it wasn't toooo bad.

Ninstints, or as it's known now, SGang Gwaay Llnagaay, on SGang Gwaay was our last stop in our 3-day trip to Gwaii Haanas National Park Reserve and Haida Heritage Site. It's at the far southern end of the Park. We were the only humans there on the entire island.

Waiting

nobody@flickr.com (Points North) — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 07:57:48 -0800

Points North posted a photo:

The mortuary poles remain standing looking out towards the inside waters; the lodge poles lie higgledy piggledy behind them (closer to camera).

Ninstints, or as it's known now, SGang Gwaay Llnagaay, on SGang Gwaay was our last stop in our 3-day trip to Gwaii Haanas National Park Reserve and Haida Heritage Site. It's at the far southern end of the Park. We were the only humans there on the entire island.

Gotta Get That Itch

nobody@flickr.com (Points North) — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 12:13:04 -0800

Points North posted a photo:

As we walked among the mortuary poles, we happened upon this deer. She was among a few munching and napping behind the poles of Ninstints. I took a few shots of her!

Ninstints, or as it's known now, SGang Gwaay Llnagaay, on SGang Gwaay was our last stop in our 3-day trip to Gwaii Haanas National Park Reserve and Haida Heritage Site. It's at the far southern end of the Park. We were the only humans there on the entire island.

The Haida Cheshire

nobody@flickr.com (Points North) — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 12:38:28 -0700

Points North posted a photo:

I'm not exactly sure what kind of pole this is. It could be a memorial pole or potlatch pole, carved before the rich owner had held many potlatches. I cropped this umpteen times to get rid of negative edges from scanning and saving to JPG. Saw I missed one. Sheesh!

Ninstints, or as it's known now, SGang Gwaay Llnagaay, on SGang Gwaay was our last stop in our 3-day trip to Gwaii Haanas National Park Reserve and Haida Heritage Site. It's on a small island next to the Pacific ocean on the southern end of the archipelago, east of Kunghit Island. At the time we went, mid-1990s, we were told Parks Canada would soon be designating the waters around the national park as a marine conservation area or national marine park. They're still talking about it!

Only the Deer Know

nobody@flickr.com (Points North) — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 07:21:36 -0700

Points North posted a photo:

Ninstints, or as it's known now, SGang Gwaay Llnagaay, on SGang Gwaay was our last stop in our 3-day trip to Gwaii Haanas National Park Reserve and Haida Heritage Site. It's at the far southern end of the Park.

This is part of British Columbia's temperate rainforest. I heard trees grow to maturity here in only 60 years. Anything left, from truck to carved mortuary pole, and not maintained is soon covered with this moss. It's beautiful and soft and peaceful.

See the tags for the processing I've done on this photo.

Hello. What are you humans doing here?

nobody@flickr.com (Points North) — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 19:25:10 -0700

Points North posted a photo:

Needing a break from the Yukon shots, I switched to scanning the Gwaii Haanas photos. (Well, actually it's easier to scan those then hunt around for the next set of Yukon negatives.) And in my usual way, I go backwards.

Ninstints, or as it's known now, SGang Gwaay Llnagaay, on SGang Gwaay was our last stop in our 3-day trip to Gwaii Haanas National Park Reserve and Haida Heritage Site. It's at the far southern end of the Park. We were the only humans there on the entire island, and this deer was puzzled at our appearance. It was among a few munching and napping behind the mortuary poles.