Had one of the best days of the ride so far and it was even raining. Ha! Left Terrace in the rain and reluctantly took the turn to Kitamaat Village, in the rain. It’s not far from Terrace, maybe 60 kilometers but it was raining and I couldn’t see the point. Yesterday was a turn around day for me. Time to head back and mentally I was on the way home. Going to Kitamaat was only prolonging the inevitable. Turned out to be one of the best things I’ve done on the ride.

The non-native portion of the settlement is spelled Kitamat while the native village is Kitamaat, home of the Haisla. I was told the ride down there was beautiful, and it was. Every thing here is beautiful. What else you got? I rounded a bend in the road and here was a lumber yard right on the water where they were corralling trees in the water. There is a lot of logging in the area so this made me wonder why they were floating all these logs in the bay. I’ll have to google it to see what I can find out.

A little farther down the road I came to a marina. Now this is what I’m talking about, the sort of thing I was looking for in Prince Rupert but on a whole lot smaller scale. I parked the bike and walked around a bit. The rain had stopped and the clouds were breaking over the bay. Just absolutely idyllic. Moisture was still very heavy in the air so I wasn’t sure if I could get a watercolor to dry but attempted a small one in my sketch book. It’ll be a reminder. On the way back to the bike I met Norman, an older gent pushing a wheelbarrow across the dirt/gravel lot. We chatted a bit.

At the other end of the lot I saw a couple of boats up on props in dry dock. They looked like they might make a painting. The skies continued to improve with spots of sun breaking through. While I was setting up, I met Cheryl who was out walking her dogs. Both she and Norman were camped right there in a municipal campground. She suggested I go on down to Kitamaat Village, the native village and marina to paint. So I packed it up and went. Best idea of the whole trip. Here’s the view I had:

While I was painting several of the Haisla people would stop to see what I was doing. One lady even offered to get me her umbrella so I could get out of the rain. It was really just a heavy mist, light rain but enough that I had to quit the painting. I managed to save it and will finish the detail later:

While I was packing it up a gentleman pulled up in his car. I met Gerald Amos and his granddaughter Carson. Gerald and I chatted quit awhile about the Salmon fishing and various topics related to his people. He said he just came back from his fish camp about 90 miles down the coast by water. I mentioned that I’d like to come back some time and hire someone to take me out on the water. We talked about that and he offered to take me to his fish camp next year. Guess what I’m doing next summer? How cool would that be? I’ll trade him a painting of his fish camp maybe for the courtesy and hospitality. What a treat that’ll be for me. We shook hands and he said to google him when I get back on the internet. Turns out Gerald is the director of the Coastal First Nations, an alliance of nine First Nations opposed to a tar sands oil piple line that would terminate right across the bay from his village. What an honor to meet this man.

With improved spirits I headed toward Hazelton, the next stop on my return journey. Of course between where I was and Hazelton, about an hour away, I got into some heavy, cold rain. Stopped at Kitwanga, the junction of Highway 37 and 16, for gas. Highway 37 is the Stewart/Cassiar highway that’ll take you to Alaska. The gas station was very crowded with travelers and numerous bikers getting out of the rain, either on their way to or coming from Alaska. Sure was tempting to fall in with those headed north. Sure left a twang in my heart seeing the sign and watching those guys head out.

Hazelton is home of the historic village of the ‘Ksan people. It really was a well preserved group of buildings and totems that have been opened up for display. Nobody lives there anymore. There was a museum and gift shop and a small eatery. The rain had briefly let up while I walked around and I indulged in a wonderful salmon soup and fry bread made by the native ladies to warm me up. That was great. Really great.

Best day of the whole ride. Good stuff.

Got into Houston, BC for the night and write this in the AM as I’m waiting for the rain to let up a bit before I start off for the day. No planned stops today. Headed east toward Mt. Robson Provincial Park. Not sure I’ll make it that far as it is a long way to go still. We’ll see. Headed home at this point and depending on the weather I’ll get to stop and paint in the Canadian Rockies maybe.

I’ll be in touch. Mike out.