Special internet-only article. This article was slated for the summer 2008 issue, but was never printed.
Text version of the article:
Shushartie Bay was centre for the sea otter fur trade on Vancouver Island by about 1800, but over-hunting led to the community’s demise by about 1836. It gained new life in the late 1800s as a safe harbour, with a hotel, store, post office, cannery and wharf. The wharf pilings are a reminder, as are some ruins in the bushes (hint: check behind the bay’s northeast point). Apparently here as well as two graves, one for Edward who died on a whale hunt March 8, 1844, and another for John Thompson, who died May 8, 1844. The location of both graves has been lost in time.
The Nahwitti River suffered from poor logging in the early 1990s, which altered the course and the lower holding pools. The abandoned cabins on the west shore of the river mouth are believed to have been used for hunting by President Roosevelt, the namesake for the local elk. The Nahwitti is crossed by one of the North Coast Trail’s two cable cars. To the west is the tallest set of stairs on the trail.
Cape Sutil was home to a village, Nahwitti, a name later accepted for the entire tribe. In 1850 three British sailors deserted from the Hudson Bay Company’s Norman Morrison. Days later they were killed, and in retaliation the British Navy’s Daedalus was sent to find the culprits. In the process the village was burned. Not deterred, the Nahwitti rebuilt it, only to have the HMS Daphne return the following year to burn it again. The survivors moved to Bull Harbour on nearby Hope Island, and Cape Sutil has remained uninhabited since.
The Shuttleworths were early settlers at the Stranby River. A small pocket remains private. The trail’s second cable car is located here.
On a clear day you’ll see land in the distance roughly to the north. No, it’s not the Queen Charlottes. It’s Calvert Island, part of the Hakai Luxvbalis Conservancy Area. The Queen Charlottes are a bit too far away – across about 220 kilometres of open water.
The area around Christensen Point and Laura Creek is one of the most stunning parts of the North Coast Trail, particularly for the unusual rock formations. Also, look to the forests. While the trees are stunted due to the harsh environment, many of the sitka and hemlock are estimated to be more than 250 years old. Look for trees upwards of 37 metres in height here and in other pockets throughout the trail.
On a clear day you’ll see land to the west. It’s Cox then Lanz islands, the two largest and nearest islands of the Scott Islands chain that extends 46 kilometres off shore to Triangle Island. They are the major seabird colony islands for BC, home for more than half the world’s Cassin’s auklets.
Explore the other North Coast Trail pages:
