SUP2GREATBEAR Expedition Photo Essay
We thought you might enjoy reading the first part of this photo essay detailing Norm Hann’s recent stand-up paddleboard (SUP) expedition to the GreatBear Rainforest.
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Last summer Explore Magazine covered our exploratory SUP trip to the GreatBear and so this year we brought 5 excited guests up to experience the coastal temperate rainforest. Joining us on our first commercial SUP expedition was Lance McClure, Diana Mauriks, Jamie McVicar, Todd Allen and his partner Stephanie with Jen co guiding and looking after food. Here is an itinerary for our amazing trip.
August 23rd:Down to Hartley Bay
We all boarded theTsimshian Storm ferry for our 4 hour ride down to our launching point of Hartley Bay. Hartley Bay is a Gitga’at First Nation community remotely located in Douglas Channel. The ferry left at 830am under rainy skies and many of our guests had a chance to talk with folks from Hartley Bay on our way down. Once in Hartley Bay we organized gear for the afternoon and toured around the town. I lined up a time just before our traditional dinner to sit down and talk with Helen Clifton, one of the matriarchs and great leaders of Hartley Bay. I always like to bring friends over to talk with “Granny.” She incredibly knowledgable of Gitga’at culture and history and is a beautiful story teller. Granny told us all about the Gitga’at traditional ways of life, showed us historical pictures and shared priceless carvings and artifacts with us. I have always said that the people of this area bring depth to our expedition and just spending a little bit of time with Granny leaves people feeling blessed and enlightened.
From Granny’s we headed over to Lynne and Ernie Hill’s for dinner. Lynne and Ernie are family to me and it is one of the special experiences of this trip, to share a traditional dinner in their home. The meal was outstanding and there was so much food that even Lance tapped out and became quiet. Jodi and Mamma served a table full of smoke, candied and baked salmon, Dungeness crab, seaweed, and clams. Traditional food harvesting is still a vital component of Gitga’at life and we were very fortunate to have the Hill’s share this valuable food resource with us. It’s this food resource that is at risk from the potential of oil tanker traffic on our coast. Spending time with Granny and Hill’s gave us a great sense of place for our week long standup expedition.
Continue reading on Norm’s blog – Mountain Surf Adventures…