SRO News | Updates: Great Bear National Forest

Great Bear National Forest - Sacred Spaces, Days 2 & 3

Published Tuesday, October 16, 2007 by SROmgmt | E-mail this post

Sept 20, 2007 (All Day) - The Fjordlands

The first morning broke on the placid water. The previous night we docked at a secluded inlet in Jackson Narrows between Jackson Passage and Susan Island. Some of us broke off to kayak. I took to foot to explore the coast line. Spruce, cedar, and hemlock are the principle species - which is what has drawn timber companies here (Note: Great Bear was once called the Midcoast Timber Supply Area and only 2% was protected back in the 1990s. It is now the only intact coastal temperate rainforest left in the world).

One spruce's roots cupped upwards - like two elderly, sun-scarred hands under a water spigot to form a little pool and waterfall. The best environmental landscaper would not be able to re-create something so lovely.

The sun is desperately trying to penetrate the clouds, but just enough to give us some low-hanging haze above our heads. Haze or no haze, it's time to head off to the Fjordlands to see the sheer rockfaces and waterfalls. Magnificent.

"The streams which thread the Pacific Forest tie the land to the sea in an inseparable relationship. Nowhere on the continent are the forest and its inhabitants more dependent upon water." - Gerry Ellis & Karen Kane, An Evergreen Oasis

Sept 20 & 21, 2007 (All Day) - The Waterfalls

Through the fog

One after another

Heading into the waterfall

Sept 20 & 21, 2007 (Morning) - Meet the Grizzlies: Up Close & Personal

Even baby bears get tired too.

Intruder alert

Sushi

Herding along Mussel: Mama and baby girl

The Loch Ness monster of Great Bear

Smoked salmon

Sept 20 & 21, 2007 (Morning-Afternoon) - Kayaking through Grizzlies

Kayaking through bear territory (bottom); Randy watches on (middle); Grizzly with gulls (top)

Approaching grizzly territory...rain lets up

Headed right towards them

"Don't mind me."

Taking off in the kayak for a workout

Kayaking at dusk in Mussel Bay

God's golden light shines in

Sept 21, 2007 (Afternoon) - After the Rain

The rainbow (this was actually a full 180 degree semi-circle - I'll try to upload a shot of it later)

"Walk on a rainbow trail: walk on a trail of song, and all about you will be beauty. There is a way out of every dark mist, over a rainbow trail." - Robert Motherwell

Sept 21, 2007 (Afternoon) - Snail -Killer Carabid

Image borrowed from John Harvey because I didn't get a shot. I feel asleep when the crew brought this fine specimen on the ship for me to ID. It's a snail-killer carabid, closely related to Tiger Beetles. They specialized on slugs and snails, which are quite common around these parts. He became our ship's Mascot for a day and we released him the next morning (next to a big banana slug). You can thank us later, Simon.

Photos compliments of: Sherrie, Tom, Summer

Labels: Forest Ethics, Great Bear Rainforest, Greenpeace, Rainforest, save great bear, Summer Rayne Oakes, temperate rainforest