A spouting brackish whale!

THIS IS WHAT MY BRACKISH WHALE MAY LOOK LIKE!

NO SURPRISES HERE LISA CAN'T RESIST A VERY CUTE LITTLE KITTEN!

HAIDA CANOE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE FOREST.  LEFT BEHIND...NEVER MADE IT TO SEA.

Life certainly takes on a pace of its own in this place.  My days are full.  As a city dweller I know Its full of what seems like nothing.  No errands, No shopping, No movies, Minimal Socializing just wandering around in nature.  Its wonderful and fabulous for the soul.  I think the city might shock me when I go back!  Lisa and I spent the day walking around in a very old forest on a trail called the Golden Spruce Trail.  I will post the story of the golden spruce once I hear it properly...its interesting.  Its got to do with a man and an axe... 

This trail was not unfamiliar to me as I attempted to walk it a couple of days ago on my own.  All was well...it was just before dusk and I couldn't help but feel the eerie age of the trees looming over me.  The moss hanging in spidery tendrils from the ancient branches...the absence of sound.  You can only imagine my trepidation.  Also there are bears in these forests.  So I meandered down the winding trail, not at a slow pace thinking that it would be safer to walk quickly, until I heard a sound~ 

The sound that made my bones jump out of my skin.  I can only describe it as a brackish water foul monster loudly gasping for air!  I ran back to the car.  I did not get any photographs that day, but my shorts needed changing when I got home.  The next day I was discussing my adventure with our young housekeeper at the hospital and he regalled me with a very similar tale!

He was in a kayak though, in open water near the mouth of a river and heard a sound very similar to the one I described...again brackish water.  (For those of you unfamiliar with Brackish: a mix of salt/fresh water) almost tipped his kayak.  Both of us teetering on the edge of continence thinking the worst when he discovered the source of the sound...an otter.  Just as the rational part of my mind suspected, but seriously I was alone in a forest!  I wasn't taking any chances!

Lisa and I returned to the trail today and had a blissful day of wandering among the old trees.  We collected some mint, which I have transformed into a mint/lemonade that we are currently sipping at her seaside hacienda.  Wonderful day...tomorrow we scale sleeping beauty and camp out in Queen Charlotte city.  All is well in Masset. 

Until the Tide meets the Praries...

-Caroline Derksen