Coast Mountain Expeditions Current Events

They Shoot Wolves Don't They?

2007-05-31T08:09:00.000-07:00

They Shoot Wolves, Don��t They?
Recreational Hunting of Quadra Island Wolves

Three wolves were shot near Granite Bay a few months ago; we have just learned that three more were killed last fall and five to six the previous year. Please take the time to write a letter to the Minister of the Environment, cc: Claire Trevena our MLA requesting that the recreational hunting of wolves and cougars on Quadra Island be banned.

Anyone that takes out a deer-hunting license is allowed to shoot up to three wolves a year. On Quadra Island these kills do not need to be reported. Wolves lead a complex social life. They form groups called ��packs��, which are typically composed of a dominant mated pair (The Alpha Pair), their offspring, and an assortment of other adults, often with some genetic relationship to the ��first family.�� The dominant female bears a litter of up to ten pups. If someone kills the one pregnant female in a pack, there is no reproduction for the pack that year.

Wolves are highly social, complex and intelligent. The populations must be large enough that it can perform normal ecological functions. A decline in pack size may have a direct influence on hunting success. Also in May or June while the dominant female bears a litter, it is the rest of the pack that assists in the upbringing, helping to feed the mother and young with prey from the hunt, acting as ��nursemaids, when the mother herself goes hunting, and guarding the area from predators. Therefore a loss in numbers in the pack could impact the survival of the litter.

Elder members of the pack share information about high-quality den sites for rearing families. Poorly selected dens sites may have a negative impact upon reproductive success, which may affect population size over time, pack size, and hunting success. Studies show that wolf populations are not sensitive to prey availability but highly sensitive to human-caused mortality.

On Quadra we have a healthy deer population on the island as well as other food that wolves utilize such as squirrels, mice, spawning salmon, and beaver. Therefore Quadra can support a population of predators. The regulations should err on the side of conservation. The precautionary principle should prevail.

We believe it is inappropriate to permit the hunting or trapping of wolves in the absence of credible scientific information about our local population size and distribution, demographic information, mortality and recruitment rates. In today��s increasingly crowded world, wolves and cougars are valued as a symbol of wilderness, and of ecosystems healthy enough to support large predators. Healthy, thriving wolf populations are an asset. People in regions with these populations are coming to recognize a special responsibility toward these creatures, so too should the Ministry of the Environment.

If you are concerned about this issue, please write to:

Hon. Barry Penner, Minister of the Environment
P.O. Box 9047 Stn Prov Govt
Rm 112, Parliament Buildings
Victoria, B.C. V8W 9E2

With a copy to:
Claire Trevena, MLA
908 Island Hwy.
Campbell River, B.C.
V9W 2C3

Or you can send emails to
barry.penner.mla@leg.bc.ca and claire.trevena.mla@leg.bc.ca

Thanks to Sierra Quadra for information & campaign to save Quadra Island wolves

Life and Death in the Chicken House

2007-04-20T18:36:00.000-07:00

This time it was a mink. Although renowned as having a penchant for chicken, we��ve only ever been cursed with one previous visitation, and that was long ago. In the interim, our chicken house has been unhappily visited by an eagle, several red tailed hawks, three times by cougars, more recently a goshawk, a bear (what a mess!), and maybe a raccoon. Except for one cougar, the chickens always lost.

We often see mink running among the rocks along the beach, and we��ve assumed they were so well fed on clams and beach critters that they didn��t favour poultry. Wrong! Although it seems like this was more of a killing spree than a dinner party: dead chickens lying here and there and three mournful survivors huddled in a corner when we arrived on the morning scene. So it goes.

When the cougar hung around and ate chickens and became a frightening nuisance, it died for it��s hunger. We then promised ourselves we would not allow our husbandry to impact the wild animals �� if we aren��t able to contain our livestock (chickens) so they are not an attractive nuisance, then we should live without the luxury of fresh eggs! And we are now again faced with the dilemma of our conscience. But it��s only a little mink, we can trap it and find a new home on some other island.

Or is this a right to life issue? (Never mind the poor helpless chickens?) These are small ponderings in the bigger scheme of things. Animals are killed all the time for various reasons, ��justifiable�� is in the mind of the beneficiary or the stronger. That��s survival of the fittest. Or animal husbandry. Or human domination.

And we are part of the human invasion: where places that were the domain of wild animals are no longer theirs, where we humans want ��safety and security�� from all kinds of pests. It��s kind of about whether we should even be here, oughtn��t we cram our human selves into urban settings and leave the wild places wild for the wild animals? Will we humans leave any wilderness if we have time to ��resource�� it before we destroy the planet?

Well, it was only a little mink. We��ll fortify the chicken house. We��ll give the mink a new home. We��ll buy some more chickens from Henry at Blue Jay Lake Farm. And we��ll try harder to live in harmony�Ķ but it��s not natural! Just that the eggs are so good.

Climate Change and Human Denial

2007-01-21T11:41:00.000-08:00

Climate Change and Human Denial
An Essay in which the author remembers the ��Turn Around Decade��

Climate Change, Global Warming��the new media buzz words or should I say, the ��recycled�� buzz words of the 80��s. Those of us old enough will remember the 1980��s, dubbed by geneticist David Suzuki as the ��Turn Around Decade�� or the decade in which we were supposed to put the brakes on the civilization��s industrial juggernaut. By 1990, the big corporations and conservative governments said, ��Look, we��re still here. You were just crying wolf!�� to which Dr. Suzuki replied, ��remember in the parable, in the end the wolf really did come!��

Finally, in the face of overwhelming evidence, some of the worlds most conservative thinkers, corporations, and governments are having to come out of denial about Global Warming. But merely embracing the notion that we humans are adversely affecting our climate and ultimately ourselves, still leaves us a long way from being OK.

Looking back on it, Suzuki was probably wrong. The real turn around decade was probably the 60��s. By 2007, there is just so much wrong with the planet, and so little political will to make any meaningful changes, that outright catastrophe is the only option left. Sadly, if we are able to survive ourselves, much of the biodiversity in the world today will have disappeared. To underscore this notion, In an interview on CBC Radio on January 16th, a spokesperson for the American Petroleum Institute stated that he expected current energy consumption trends to continue, adding that world consumption will be up 85% by 2030 with coal and gas making up most of the increase�Ķso much for Kyoto. Collectively, humanity is not smart enough to self regulate. We are simply not intellectually advanced enough to do what has to be done. We are technological lemmings heading for an abyss.

Ronald Wright, Author of a Short History of Progress stately it perfectly. Essentially, he suggests that we are really unchanged from the primitive hominid that crawled out of the forest 300,000 years ago. We are still primordially tribal, unable move beyond our basic need to accumulate more wealth and security than we need. We are base creatures unable to understand the power, complexity, and consequences of the technology we have developed. Coming to terms with the Global Warming problem will likely be humanity��s ultimate test, after which we either graduate into the future able to control ourselves, or sink back towards our lowly origins in a horribly deprived state.

A Christmas Note

2006-12-20T21:07:00.000-08:00

A Merry Christmas from the Keller family at Coast Mountain!

We are warm and snug in our home overlooking the protected shores of Evans Bay on Read Island. The temperature outside is a chilling -12 C and it is snowing but at least there is no wind tonight. There has been snow on the ground for nearly a week. It is winter here in British Columbia.

The summer passed successfully (thanks to all of you) and while we were not always grateful for the never-ending sunny days--you were! From the beginning of our season in May until the 21st of September, the last day of our bears trip, it rained only 6 days. After a brief and colourful Fall, the rains finally did come in late October�Ķ and did it ever rain! By mid November we broke the rainfall record for that month. After 22 days, the deluge finally stopped and we abandoned our plans to build an ark. Just as we were beginning to dry out we were slammed by a frigid, powerful Arctic outflow wind funneling out of Bute Inlet. Within a very short time the wind had gone from calm to storm force. We watched the famous ��Bute�� wind or, as the Xwemalhkwu people call it, ��Kwoch�� snap mature trees in half, and blew snow about creating blizzard conditions. Temperatures plummeted to well below freezing. The wind tore the roof off the kayak shed�Ķ last seen heading for Oz. A well rooted Douglas fir just behind the house refused to be toppled so ��Kwoch�� snapped it in two, sending the top hurtling down onto our outhouse, smashing it to kindling. The ferocious wind sucked the heat out of the house leaving us huddled around the wood stove. But, we��re OK and the house is OK and it was well, quite an exciting show! We are humbled by the power of nature.

It��s hard to believe this is the 20th Christmas letter we��ve written since Coast Mountain began many years ago. Since then many of you have returned numerous times and watched our children, Emily and Albert grow up and watched us grow a little older. We are happy to continue sharing this part of the world with you, and honoured that so many keep coming back for more kayaking adventures. Your confidence allows us to improve the lodge, the trip routes and the food more each year. Some of you are darn close to reaching family status!

Both kids are in Victoria: Albert is in his second year studying economic geography, statistics, computer science, international politics, and creative writing��and whitewater paddling whenever he can. Emily is taking a semester off to work as a research assistant for the Centre For Non-timber Resources at Royal Roads University��her first stint as a commuter, steady pay-cheque, evening free person. She indulges in Yoga, the climbing gym, stain glass lessons, and a social life. We are at home on Read Island with the cats and the chickens and an already too long list of things to do.

Our year has been a contrast of joys and sorrows. We��ve been touched by the loss of dear friends and challenged to understand the natural dis-order of life. We have ever more gratitude for our good health and this wonderfully abundant part of the world in which to live. We are thankful to many people who make us feel special. We wonder at the horror that humans inflict on one another and are fearful of our collective disregard for the planet that sustains us. But our lives are full and good, if a little stupidly busy. We take some solace in the fact that we are lucky enough to call work not-work and that makes it all play�Ķwhat more could one ask for?

We leave you now with Lannie up stairs working on the computer, entering the year��s addesses on the data base and Ralph is at the kitchen table designing, among other things, a new outhouse.

Best Wishes,

Ralph & Lannie

Coast Mountain Expeditions
Discovery Islands Lodge

Wilderness & Salmon Farms: The BC Aqauculture review

2006-10-25T22:16:00.000-07:00

Presentation to:
British Columbia Aquaculture Review Committee

My name is Ralph Keller. I have been a resident of Vancouver Island and Discovery Islands for 53 years and I have been a certified guide for 20 years. I am owner operator of Coast Mountain Expeditions, Coast Mountain lodge on Read Island and Discovery Islands Lodge on Quadra Island I work in partnership with the Xwemalkwu First Nation at Orford river in Bute inlet where together we have pioneered watching Grizzlies from kayaks. My company employs 9 people, seasonally and I am proud to be able to say that I employ first nations people.

I am also representing the Eco-Tourism (sea kayaking) sector of the Discovery Islands.

We are opposed to the expansion of the fish farming industry in BC, especially in the Discovery Islands and Broughton Archipelago. Let me also say that we would like to see some existing sites relocated or eliminated. We also believe that we have reached a saturation point for shellfish aquaculture in and around the Discovery Islands, which includes Quadra and Cortes and Read Islands

Here are my reasons:

I am not an expert on the biological/environmental impacts of the fish farming industry. I would like to say however, from a lay persons perspective, that intensive aquaculture is similar in it��s impact on the environment to that of land based intensive agriculture. The pollution of rivers, lakes, and ground water by chemical pesticides, herbicides, anti-biotics, and animal fecal matter by the land based agriculture industry is known, as is the loss of biological diversity. These same problems, while less visible, are prevalent in aquaculture as well.

Intensive aquaculture creates breeding hot spots for disease and parasites. While farm fish enjoy the benefits of treatment, passing schools of related wild fish do not. This isn��t rocket science, any parent of school age children will tell you that schools breed disease and that disease is spread out of the schools and into the greater population. Enough said. I��m sure you get my point.

While we acknowledge the success of modern agriculture in producing cheap abundant food, we seldom consider the cost: the virtual extinction of nearly 3 million prairie bison or the loss of virtually all natural prairie ecosystems in North America��to say nothing of introduced genetically modified plants

DFO��s endorsement of the finfish aquaculture industry appears to be a prelude to that body accepting the demise--even extinction of natural salmon species in our streams and rivers, and ocean waters. As though to say, if we can not have both, we will settle for self regulated private sector aquaculture instead of the more troublesome wild fishery.

Most recently, The fish farm near Church House, Bute inlet shot a Grizzly bear��further underscoring the premise that Finfish aquaculture is not compatible with our natural ecosystems. The 60-80 Grizzlies left in Bute Inlet are at barely sustainable levels and are a corner stone of the Xwemalhkwu First Nations people to regain cultural and economic footing in the modern world. These bears are protected and the loss of a single grizzly by human hands is a serious event.

It is a sad reality that I will not be able to convince you to protect these islands and waterways for esthetic reasons. Protecting natural beauty and natural ecosystems for their own sake is not a consideration for governments which care primarily about economics.

So, I will stick to making a case for the economics of the Tourism industry��the largest single industry in the Discovery Islands.

Vancouver Island is the most visited non-tropical island in the world. Vancouver Island, in particular the islands of the Georgia Basin have become Canada��s ��Rivera�� . There is a tourism industry here has been founded on based on the natural beauty and warm climate of the region. This well established industry employs thousands and generates millions in revenue each year. It is an industry that forces local governments to consider carefully what they do to the local environment. It is and industry that attracts people and business to a region because it a pleasant and beautiful environment in which to work, live and retire. In these days of e-business people choose carefully where they live and quality of life: a.k.a. quality of natural environment often tops the list.

It would be fair to say that the tourism industry or the ��quality of life industry�� rescued�� the Campbell River economy when the forest sector went into decline some years ago. The Quadra Island economy never felt the forest sector decline and is reflected in high property values and low unemployment. One need only look at our more northerly communities to see the difference.

As the quality and quantity of wilderness disappears world wide, in accordance with laws of supply and demand what little remains goes up in value. These islands have become an international wilderness tourism destination second to none and have a very high economic value.

The BC government continues to believe that it can industrialize our forested view sheds with clear cuts and industrialize our waterways and channels with aquaculture without hurting the tourism sector. I��m here to tell you that the BC government is wrong. The very high quality wilderness environment we have been selling at a high price to people around the world in danger. We can not continue to sustain increased levels of foreshore industrialization. The Discovery Islands is an international wilderness destination with mostly first class scenery, wonderful first nations culture, and rare wildlife viewing possibilities. Orca viewing, Grizzly bears, seals, sea lions, dolphins and porpoises to name a few. Campbell River may in fact have inadvertently and quietly become the Grizzly bear watching capital of the world. Campbell River and the adjoining islands are poised to become BC��s next Tofino or Whistler but its view sheds, and marine trials��its channels need to be protected.

I am asking you on behalf of the regions tourism sector not allow increased aquaculture of any kind in the Discovery Islands and Broughton group and to remove some contentious and inappropriately located farms. In particular the fish farm in the Okisollo channel near the Octopus Islands provincial park whose generator and blaring rock music can be heard far and wide in an area which sees thousands of commercial, recreational sea kayaking and yachting activity.

Marine Harvest broke agreement with the Xwemalhkwu first nation and the Discovery Islands Chamber of commerce when it put Atlantic salmon into the farm instead of previously agreed upon Chinook. Not to mention shooting Grizzly bears.

This appears to be an industry which cannot be trusted to honor its agreements or to steward out natural ecosystems in which they are located.

I would ask you please to halt the introduction of any further internalization of our foreshore by aquaculture..

Vancouver Island: A Sea Kayaking Paradise!

2006-06-04T09:47:00.000-07:00

Vancouver Island: Leading the way in Kayak Touring!

When we think of international sea kayaking destinations, Vancouver Island tops the list. More multi-day kayak touring is done here than any other place in the world. And it��s easy to see why: Vancouver Island��s shores are dotted with literally thousands of islands, from tiny unnamed islets with barely a few trees, to small continents like Quadra, an island more than 100 square kilometres in size containing 3 major ecosections within its land mass.

Vancouver Islands's tightly clustered offshore islands offer paddling which is safe from the wind and stormy seas of exposed areas, and between them are narrow channels that create environments rich in terrestrial and intertidal life. The Broken Group, the Bunsby Islands, the Deer Group, the Whaler Islets, Clayoquot Sound, Desolation Sound, the Broughton Archipelago, the Discovery Islands, and the Southern Gulf Islands of the Georgia Basin, all provide fascinating and safe sea kayaking with a wide range of climates, geography, and ecosystems.

But Vancouver Island also has wilder sides! The west coast contains dozens of miles of remote, exposed sandy beaches, surf-exploding reefs, and inhospitable shorelines impossible for any craft to approach. This has earned our west coast the ominous title, Graveyard of the Pacific.

The inland sea between coastal British Columbia and Vancouver Island��s east side provides access to numerous deep Fjords which cut sharply into the British Columbia��s Coast Mountains, the formidable north-south range containing Canada��s highest peaks. The Fjordlands are dramatic inland waterways, channels carved up to 100 kilometres into the BC interior, and into some of the wildest most remote places left on earth. Intense anabatic and catabatic winds, and the presence of grizzly bears, cougar and wolves reserves these places for the most adventurous of kayakers.

Whatever your threshold for a kayak adventure, Vancouver Island contains a lifetime of paddling opportunities!

Sea Kayaking Quadra Island

Raven Bay: Regional Park or Log Dump?

2006-04-21T07:57:00.000-07:00

Raven Bay: Regional Park or Log Dump?
The British Columbia Ministry of Forests quashes a modest proposal for a small Regional Park

Just a few hundred meters south of Surge Narrows passage on central Quadra Island, a protected bay harbors one of the few sandy beaches for miles around. This little gem is a natural haven for recreational users and is strategically located almost adjacent to Surge Narrows Marine Park. Raven Bay is a picturesque campsite and also offers the only perfect stop-over for paddlers waiting for slack tide and opportunity to go through the tidal passage. The increase in recreational and commercial sea kayakers has led to an over-use of Freedom Point, only other identified campsite in the area.

Surge Narrows is a dramatic and interesting marine park for sea kayaking; the tidal rapids create rich nutrient for abundant intertidal marine life, and other animals. It also offers relatively safe, challenging moving water: an opportunity for sea kayakers to practice advanced skills in predictable conditions.

The tidal rapids are also a playground for beginner and intermediate whitewater paddlers -- with advanced whitewater available at the Okisollo rapids 5 km up the channel.

Six months ago a multitude of users (in government terms, ��Stakeholders��) proposed making Raven Bay a Regional Park. It was all set to happen, with support from many groups including the Vancouver Island Whitewater Paddlers Society, British Columbia Whitewater Kayakers Association, Quadra Island Trails Committee, Quadra Island Chamber of Commerce, Sea Kayak guides Alliance of BC, and a half dozen commercial kayak tour operators -- in addition to dozens of individuals, teachers, and recreational kayakers... The proposal was modest: protect 5 acres surrounding the beach (and leave the other 1,000 acres or so to the forest industry). For the sum of $1, Ministry of Lands offered the Raven Bay area to the Regional District for Park purposes.

We were elated.

But the district manager of the local British Columbia Ministry of Forests intervened, blocking this popular (and sensible) park proposal. In British Columbia, the forest industry gets Veto power over nearly everything and despite the growing (and sustainable) economic clout of recreational and commercial tourism, the forest sector seems to have got its way again.

While local groups continue the fight to protect Raven Bay, the outlook is not promising. Please watch for our updates on this situation. We will need one more round of support when the Woodlot plans are submitted, sometime soon...

A History of the Kayak

2006-02-15T18:46:00.000-08:00

A History of the Sea Kayak

The birth place of the kayak was almost certainly the inhospitable coast of Siberia. We know that the peoples who eventually settled the Americas crossed over sometime time during the last Ice age when a land or ice bridge known as Berengia connected the two continents. The kayak or ��qajaq�� or its more primitive ancestor the ��umiak�� probably first appeared in the North American arctic about 10-15 thousand years ago, arriving with America��s first people. The oldest known archaeological evidence of a kayak goes back 2,000 years B.P. and there is inferential evidence dating it back another 2,000 years. However, given the reality of surviving the harsh environment, most likely arctic peoples had some way of getting onto the water to hunt or fish as long as they have been there. An 8,000 year existence is possible but we will probably never know for sure.

It is thought the Siberians first took to the water in a skin-covered, wood framed boat known as an umiak. The umiak was an open boat whereas the kayak or qajaq had a covered deck which likely evolved when hunters ventured further out onto the exposed sea. The covered deck of the kayak made it more sea-worthy and better able to shed waves. Furthermore, several native groups developed the ability to roll kayaks back up after capsizing. The umiak and the kayak existed side by side, both finding useful niches for transporting and hunting. Interestingly, despite being the birth place of the kayak, very little archaeological evidence of the covered kayak can be found on the Siberian Coast.

The Aleutians and Greenlanders took the kayak to an apex in design and seaworthiness��not to mention skill in handling and rolling. Since these two groups lived in predominantly ice free regions, it is not surprising they took the design to its highest form. The peoples of the Canadian Eastern Arctic and Baffin Island only had open water a few months of the year. With necessity being the mother of invention, less effort went into kayak design and more into sleds and dwellings. During pre-contact times, as many as 40 different designs were used throughout the arctic, each developed for a specific hunting, transportation and environmental conditions. Kayaks were used on the sea to hunt marine mammals such as seals, walrus, and whales; and on rivers and lakes from which to hunt caribou.

END OF PART #1
Part #2 will be published in 2 weeks

Elections & the Environment

2006-01-22T12:33:00.000-08:00

Kyoto, climate change, environmental degradation and Species At Risk legislation are off the issues list during Canada��s election campaign but they should be number one.

Canadian voters are in deep denial about the state of the world environment. According to this writer we��re past the point of no return. There��s probably nothing we can do to save most of humanity and the world as we know it today. The demands of consumerism have propelled the industrial juggernaut to a momentum which apparently can no longer be stopped. The low spark and high heeled boys on Wall St. have won.

If you live in the city, it��s seems to be pretty easy to forget that anything is wrong. The price of gas is a bit too high and that��s a drag but hey, there��s still lot��s of cheap food in the grocery stores and tons of stuff (nobody really needs) on the shelves at Walmart. Global warming means put on more sunscreen.

But if you can overlook the environmental degradation in the city, it��s getting pretty hard to ignore out here in the hinterlands, you know, Canada��s great vast wilderness a.k.a. the lungs and heart of the country. You always thought that no matter how bad things got in town, you could always come out to the country and find clean air, water and unspoiled wilderness. Right?, Not any more. Sure, you��ve heard about polar bears that are falling through the ice and drowning because it��s not thick enough soon enough. About the BC Sockeye runs that collapsed because our rivers got too warm. So we lose a species or two�Ķat least you��ve got your 4X4 pick-up and you��re headed to the bar tonight to watch the game on TV�Ķ. just a regular working guy�Ķwho can��t save the fish or the bears.

You no longer need to go to the poles to see the effects of climate change. Right here in the Discovery Islands, British Columbia there are major problems. The Coast Mountain glaciers are receeding at an unprecedented rate. Lot��s of things depend on the water that melts off the glaciers, like salmon and a hundred other things up the food chain. Last year 3 major sockeye runs on the central coast completely collapsed defying all predictions. And this year, for the first time in any one��s memory, the massive Chum run on the Orford river collapsed leaving 45 grizzlies hungry a critical time before hibernation. An increased mortality for the grizzlies this winter is a certainty. The Western Grebe whose numbers ranked in the thousands around Quadra Island only a decade ago appear to be completely gone from the region today. Something really bad is happening and nobody seems to notice or care.

But in the words of Bob Dylan ��It��s alright Ma, everybody must get stoned!��

Ralph Keller
Coast Mountain Expeditions

Green Party of Canada
Government of Canada
Coast Mountain Expeditions

Christmas 2005

2005-12-18T17:57:00.000-08:00

Happy Solstice, Happy Holidays, Happy New year

It��s ��8 C and tomorrow��s new band of precipitation will bring snow! There is ice in the creek and we hope our Read Island homestead is ready for winter. We��ve finally replaced our faithful old ��Island Comfort�� with a larger woodstove. We��ve rebuilt the hydroelectric system with a new pelton turbine. The woodshed and the food cellar are full. The kayaks are put away . Our thoughts about sea kayaking are mostly looking forward to another Vancouver Island kayaking season and in this last week before the end of another year, business efforts give way to family reunion, friends, and holiday cheer.

Our kids are arriving home. Albert came from University of Victoria via Greyhound; Emily��s schedule is more tenuous because Montreal is in the grips of a major blizzard and Mirabelle Airport is currently shut down�ĶBut our house is cozy and we are happily anticipating everyone home for the holidays. Fir boughs line the windows and scent the rooms and at night coloured lights on the outside decks contrast the dark forest and otherwise uninhabited shorelines. When we are all gathered home, we��ll savour a few of our family traditions, starting with the search for a little tree and a joyful evening adding lights and decorations as we enjoy some Christmas carols, Ralph mulled wine and Lannie��s Christmas Stollen.

While we indulge in family traditions, special foods, friends and celebrations, our thoughts also turn to those people who are less fortunate. We write some cheques to assist various efforts that we hope will help make the world become a better place. We ponder our own efforts, and resolve to do better and somehow more�Ķ And also this time of year, we wish our family and friends �� indeed everyone who shares life on the special planet �� a time of peace, good health, good challenges and happiness. We wish that everyone can have enough to eat, clean water, security and shelter. We hope for an end to war, for love and compassion to spread over the earth.

From our family to yours, please accept our good wishes for a peaceful holiday season and goodness that lasts all year long. We also hope that Santa some how puts a sea kayak in your stocking!!

Alaska in November

2005-12-07T21:33:00.000-08:00

Alaska November 2005

When we told our friends we were going on holiday to SE Alaska, no one asked if they could ride in our luggage. We��ve seldom chosen a well-traveled path and Southeast AK in winter is no exception: just a little darker, chillier, and stormier than home!

But it has been a good adventure and a good break from routine. Brother, Steve and lovely Rachel have made us feel at home in their cosy abode on the shore of Tenakee Inlet. It��s an amazing and grandiose world here. Mountains on mountains on mountains, slate skies and wet horizons.

We arrived in a stormy downpour at Juneau. The ferry was delayed and conditions were too windy for flights out, so we settled ourselves for a day of exploring the town. The state museum proved fascinating, a wealth of information about native history (including much about kayaks and kayaking) as well as a refuge from the driving rain. A little soaked, we had lunch in a local hangout near the harbour, and then a jaunt through town to a couple of bookstores, including the Observatory where the proprietor offered us lots of historical perspectives on early coastal explorations and native lore.

Next morning we boarded the ferry for Tenakee, an eight hour route departing Auck Bay past Admiralty Island and through Chatham Strait to Chichagof Island. En route we saw whales spouting and fluking as we departed Hoonah at Icy Strait. When the ferry docked at Tenakee Springs, Steve met us and we loaded into his open skiff for the 5 km ride to their house. Built on the hillside with green metal roof, it reminds us a bit of Read Island and the house Steve helped us build 25 years ago!

We are fed and warm and drying out. We have the grand tour of the house and the workshop. We take a walk across the beach and around the bay on one of the trails for which Tenakee is famous. Next morning is still wet and blustery but there are whales spouting out front! Steve gets his recording equipment ready and we layer on warm clothes, survival suits and raingear. Off we go in the little skiff, heading for the white plumes of the whales�� breaths.

Whales! We have never been this close on purpose. And these are humpback, much larger than the Orca we sometimes encounter at home. Steve is a whale researcher and has a special permit allowing him to follow the whales as close as possible. He is taking photographs of the tail flukes, which identify a whale just like a fingerprint can ID us. We spend about 5 hours out in the boat, until we are totally cold and wet and it is beginning to get dark �� at 2:30! But what an exciting day we have had.

Tenakee is a small community. There is the ��town��: a long row of small wooden houses perched on the waterfront. There is a boat harbour, a small boats dock and the ferry dock, both at the end of long piers. There is a big clapboard building that is the store, a tiny post office, a firehall, the bakery, all old wooden structures along the quarter mile of dirt road which is centre of town. The community hall/library and the school are both newer and bigger, fully modern services! Tenakee��s bathhouse is perhaps its most unique feature, disguised in a little white building near the dock. On the door there are bathing times posted for men and women. Inside there is a warm dressing room and a few steps down to the concrete bathing area. In the centre of the floor is a rectangular pool, a fissure bubbling crystal clear water, perfect hot bath temperature. What a treat on a cold winter day! (Tenakee ��developed�� in the late 1800��s as a seasonal retreat for miners who had to wait out winter.)

We enjoyed walking the beautiful forest trails that run east and west of town to the homes along the inlet in each direction. This community values its�� un-roaded wilderness and treasures these amazing walking trails. We enjoyed meeting many people who live and work here, people who love the challenges of remote lifestyle and who value simplicity and nature��s bounty more than the ease of city life and superstores.

We shared American Thanksgiving at a homestead tucked in the forest behind a long pebbly beach. We walked from Steve and Rachel��s place: with casserole and pies in-hand we tromped down the trail a ways and then across the tideflats and around the beach�Ķ a few rushing rivulets to wade too! Molly built the house herself (after her partner was drowned in a kayaking accident 20 years ago.) It is an amazing log house, the hemlock logs are gnarly and beautiful, a magical in the lichen dripping trees. Friends and neighbours arrived for this traditional gathering.

Weather changed for the last days of our visit -- and people stopped talking about the incredible rain! Wind switched to the north and skies cleared. Temperatures plummeted from unseasonally warm to freezing. One night it snowed and we really felt like this was Alaska: white mountainous wilderness.

We had the grand tour of Tenakee, a great visit with Steve and Rachel, and managed to help out with a few things, too. Ralph made a stained glass lamp for them, we did some outdoor projects and helped with some window trim�Ķ Rachel and I found time to knit and felt a couple of hats. We shared good meals and stories and pictures. We relaxed! And we didn��t want to leave! But leaving was part of the adventure, too. We enjoyed the ferry ride out and saw Northern Lights during the nighttime voyage. Our flight out of Juneau was a glorious tour over Alaska mountains and waterways and we recognized Tenakee from the air! Also a thrill to look down on our own beautiful home as we flew over the Discovery Islands... and now we��re back home with new energy and fresh perspectives on life��s challenges!

On Being a Good Citizen

2005-11-27T13:23:00.000-08:00

We are ready for a break! The years roll around and around and it seems like
we are climbing uphill on a treadmill. The challenges are different but they
are the same too. We finish our summer season always confronted by a
backlog of bookkeeping and paperwork, a huge list of weather dependent
maintenance projects, pressure to publish next year's summer season
programs and calendar, marketing decisions, ads, website changes, brochure
design -- and our seasonally-neglected community responsibilities. This
September saw our proposal for Raven Bay regional park ready for final
approvals and we were happy for an easy victory there. Except it hasn't
turned out that way: our omnipotent Ministry of Forests has decided this
lovely little site would be better as a log dump -- and we're now throwing
ourselves at yet another brick wall of bureaucratic wrangling and rules
written by the MoF, aka ministry of accelerated resource extraction. Read
Island is also in turmoil with the centre of the island being decimated by
private land logging: multinational interests pillaging the lands along the main
road and southern portion of the island. Community environmental and visual
concerns are consistent but Brascan (formerly M&B, then
Weyerhauser, then Island Timberlands and supposedly about to morph
yet again) offers polite disinterest and then a blunt reminder that they own
it and they'll decide how to log it. Additionally, provincial forestry regulations
are undergoing yet another round of changes this time to facilitate
"performance-based" logging which means the public will henceforth be
excluded from consultation about logging on public lands �� once we finish our
token opportunity to "participation" in the process now nearing completion.
This is a redesign of previous public-approved plans to define new "outcomes",
ie. general principles that licensees will be required to adhere to as they log
on public lands. The plan and the process is (what's new?) hugely biased to
the forest industry. Opportunity for input from the public and other economic
users (ie. tourism or other business dependent on forests) is limited to
identifying recreational sites and places with visual sensitivity and MoF
makes the final decisions. We (and others including Quadra Island Trails
committee, Sierra Quadra, and the Discovery islands Chamber of Commerce)
asked for 100 metre visual buffers along the beautiful forested roads and
trails on Quadra Island. MoF says they don't have any more land to give away
as compensation to the woodlot licensees. The licensees suggest we (tourism
operators) sell tours of logging operations they seriously believe that they
create an environment that tourists would appreciate! AAAGGHH!!!

And none of this goes beyone the small world of the Discovery Islands what
about the bigger issues that face our bigger community? About social services
and other environmental issues, the struggle for fair trade and peace and
harmony in the world? We dutifully try to make waves in provincial politics,
contribute to organisations that work for positive change in the world. We
try to read and understand current events and what needs to change for a
better future. But we are overwhelmed and ready for this holiday.

We are leaving the kids happily busy at University of Victoria and taking
off on an us-only adventure first in a long time! We are heading to visit my
brother Steve and Rachel who live in the tiny village of Tenakee Springs
about 500 miles north as the crow flies. It will be great to be visitors in
another place. Check in later for our thoughts and adventures on a
November holiday in (chilly, rainy, dark) SE Alaska.

A Winter At Coast Mountain

2005-11-17T20:27:00.000-08:00

People often ask us what we do in the ��off season��. This year our ��off season�� began when our last last Xwemalhkwu bears trip ended on September 17th.. For us, the season never really ends since we really just change gears and activities. Does life slow down? Well sort of but we do put long hours in front of the computer designing ads, re-writing websites, and re-designing brochures.

You might be surprised at the list of office jobs there are to do. The first thing we have to think about is next years calendar of trips. This takes a minimum of a full day. Then, we have three websites each of which, needs to be updated to reflect the new calendar. Sites are re-optimized, revised where necessary and improved with new images. Next on the list are the printed ads which need to be designed and submitted to various magazines and tourism publications. Then we need to check and update about 10 directories on the internet. Coast Mountain prints 3 different brochures each year: One to promote our multiday trips, one to promote accommodation and daytrips, and a condensed 3 fold which promotes all of our offered activities (for wider distribution).

Then, there are the ��to do�� lists, After all the kayaks and equipment has been washed and put away, we go into repair mode. This means replacing anything around the two lodges and Hill Island which might be unsafe during the up coming season. These include upgrading or replacing walkways, bridges and decks. Improving trails. We have over 20,000 square ft of wooden decks, floats, and walkways which constantly need attention.

We use 9 buildings which need maintenance as well as renewable energy systems which need to be checked and upgraded. This year we��re building a new AC hydroelectric system and installing 2 new solar water heaters. Then, there are the boats�ĶBottoms need to be scraped and painted, as well as top sides. Then there is engine servicing like oil changes, filters etc, or major repair when necessary.

All the while there are inquiries which need to answered. Before we know it, it��s spring and its time to plant the garden. The lists are never finished but we manage to prioritize the important stuff and at least that gets done.

In May,our first lodge based programs begin. By late June, we��re back to running 2 multiday trips per week as well as running Discovery Islands Lodge.

There you have it, A year in the life of Ralph and Lannie at Coast Mountain!

Kayaking & Grizzly Bears

2005-10-14T14:51:00.000-07:00

It��s mid October and the clouds have finally rolled in, bringing much needed rain to the coast. For British Columbia��s salmon, the rain signals time to return to their rivers of birth to migrate upstream, spawn, and die. The grizzlies have been waiting, too. For their survival, Orford River grizzlies depend on returning salmon, which were late this year because of September��s sunny skies.

When the grizzlies arrived in mid August there were no fish and the bears were edgy and short tempered. One day a 900-pound male bluff-charged a Xwemalhkwu guide -- stopping just 5 meters away before ambling off. Stewert Barnes kept his cool and his ground: ��You don��t have much choice,�� he said. ��If you turn and run, you��ll die. I could only walk towards the bear and tell him to leave -- I��m sure glad he did!�� The Xwemalhkwu (Hom-al-ku) people have lived in the Orford and fished next to the bears for millennia. There is a history of mutual respect, and their relationship with the grizzlies is mythical.

In cooperation with the Xwemalhkwu First Nation, Coast Mountain Expeditions this year organised two kayak expeditions to watch the Orford River grizzlies. In early September the trips set out from Discovery Islands Lodge on Quadra Island, British Columbia. Three lengthy kayaking days got us to the Orford Estuary, 40 km up Bute Inlet, a waterway famous for its mountains and grizzlies, and infamous for its wind. We encountered weather that was flawlessly sunny, warm, and calm �� not unusual, but welcome. The scenery was breathtaking.

Sea kayaking British Columbia��s mainland inlets requires humility, experience, and caution. Being glacier fed the inlet waters are always very cold, but of more concern are the intense winds that can create wickedly dangerous conditions in almost no time. BC��s coastal inlets act as wind tunnels to and from British Columbia��s highest mountains, producing anabatic (inflow) winds during warm weather, and catabatic (outflow) winds which occur most often in the winter. Summer��s inflow winds occur when the sun heats up BC��s interior land mass. Rising warm air creates low pressure in the interior, pulling cool marine air up though the inlets and river valleys. It usually takes a few hours of heating for the anabatic effect to begin, so the cool of early mornings usually offers a period of grace. We were lucky to escape any significant wind while paddling in Bute Inlet, but during our time at Orford Camp, one day the wind built from zero to sixty knots in less than an hour. Awed again by its sudden intensity, I was reminded of the necessity for early morning starts, and being off the inlet��s water by noon.

Orford River watershed (��Papknatch�� to the Xwemalhkwu) is home to about 40 Grizzlies. A canyon and series of waterfalls confine the salmon runs in the lower 5 kilometres of the river. With mountains rising to 2,500 meters on both sides of the river, the Grizzlies are forced to stay on the Orford flood plain during their fish-eating season. This 5 square kilometre area is crawling with bears!

When I began designing this expedition four years ago, I thought my challenge was to safely combine a sea kayaking trip with a bear watching experience. Since then I��ve come to understand that there is no such thing as really ��safe�� in the presence of grizzly bears. I��ve observed many grizzlies up-close and have had to realise that when you��re near enough to watch, then you��re close enough to be watched back. And a grizzly can close a 50-meter gap in a few seconds. Even on the river, grizzlies can wade through deep water faster than a kayaker can paddle. How could I plan a trip that intentionally put people in an unavoidably dangerous situation? The Xwemalhkwu people offered me a vision.

Every autumn until a century ago, the Xwemalhkwu packed belongings into cedar canoes and paddled the massive dugouts from their summer village to autumn��s camp at Orford River. And for the same three thousand years, at exactly the same time, the grizzlies showed up for the same reason: to fish salmon. For both people and bears, the fish were critical to survival, and through the millennia they learned to share the river valley and fished peacefully side by side. According to the Xwemalhkwu elders, there is no history of conflict; the Papknach bears seem to accept the people as a part of the valley��s scenery. From the Xwemalhkwu point of view, they are simply two distinct nations sharing the same land and the same food. During our kayak expeditions to Papknach, we had the rare treat of watching native people spearing salmon less than 50 meters from grizzlies lunging for other fish; each aware of the other and leaving a respectful distance.

The grizzly bear is psychotic about food. After emerging from hibernation, a grizzly needs to increase its body mass by 50% to ensure survival. Failing to gain enough weight ensures death during winter hibernation. During a winter sleep, the average grizzly burns more than a million calories! Nature gave the great bear an overpowering drive to eat. According to the Xwemalhkwu, there are only two ways to really piss off a grizzly; you can threaten its food supply or threaten its cubs. For the unwary, it is quite possible to do both without even knowing it. In a food-rich environment like a river full of spawning salmon, the grizzlies tend to be pretty easy going. Nevertheless, you must always remember that a 600-pound bear can kill you in an instant. With that in mind, a lot of real interesting thoughts go through your mind when you��re watching a big grizzly less than 50 meters distant.

With 25 years of experience living and guiding in BC��s backcountry, I��m still ��awed�� on a regular basis, but I generally feel pretty ��grounded�� and leave the word ��spiritual�� for the vocabulary of wilderness-starved participants. Last summer though, I had my moment. Standing on a small sandbar in the Orford River with 8 participants and a Xwemahlkwu guide, we were surrounded by 5 big grizzly bears busily fishing. After a while one of the bears absentmindedly strayed to within 10 meters of us. Watching, waiting, finally our guide spoke, reminding the bear that we were there, and asking him to leave. It was all so calm (except for our racing hearts) and unconditionally a spiritual experience.

Coast Mountain sea kayak tours are ��unsupported�� meaning that we pack everything we need and tent-camp along our kayaking route. We also camp as we paddle the shore of Bute Inlet on our Xwemahlkwu Grizzly Expedition, though on this trip we are well armed with bear bangers and pepper spray. But there is no safe or comfortable option for camping on the estuary, so the Xwemahlkwu offered us space in the solid buildings of their camp. We were warned that before we moved between kitchen and bunkhouses we should check the 30-meter route for grizzly bears. Just after lunch one day, our Belgian participant Erwin, stepped out the front door and slammed back in wide-eyed and breathless exclaiming that there was a bear just outside! We cracked open the door and watched an 800 pound male amble away from the kitchen, where he had been drawn by the smell of food. During the 72 hours we were at Orford, we saw 30 grizzlies, some from our kayaks while paddling in the estuary, and many up-close while we were with Xwemahlkwu guides at the gravel bar.

Was kayaking among the bears a sensible thing to do? I couldn��t find any handbooks or information about watching grizzlies from the waterside. The Xwemahlkwu thought it would be OK, but they had never made paddling among the bears a part of their interactions. At first I felt confident that I could paddle faster then a bear could wade, but that was only before I watched them fish. Try catching a salmon in a river with your bare hands�Ķ Even in deep water the most massive grizzlies move with astonishing precision and speed! One morning at high tide, we paddled a kilometre upstream on the tidal bore and hung onto a submerged root while we waited for bears. Our patience was rewarded when a female and two cubs emerged at the river��s edge. Sensing us, the mother bear immediately lowered her head and flattened her ears, a clear signal that she felt threatened. Her cubs bounced and played around unaware, but I will never forget her penetrating stare, and my respect for motherhood increased exponentially that day.

I still have a lot to learn about being around Grizzlies. Here are a few things that I have come to understand.

�� Grizzlies need space like we need air and they need people to respect that. These bears also demand space and respect from other grizzlies. Grizzlies also need a lot of food to survive and any being that threatens a bear��s intended food will probably be challenged.

�� Grizzly bears have the lowest successful reproduction rate of any mammal in North America. Female grizzlies are the world��s best moms; they have to be. Females will always vehemently defend their young, so it is no surprise that most grizzly attacks are from mother bears that have felt surprised or threatened.

�� An easy, reliable food supply sets the best stage for viewing opportunities. Surrounded by abundant food (such as spawning salmon) bears become more relaxed and can act almost casual around humans.

�� Coastal grizzly bears utterly depend on the salmon runs for survival. Even moderate warming trends have already affected salmon returns. In 2004 a number of BC��s major salmon runs collapsed due to high river temperatures. Habitat destruction has also had serious impact on both salmon and bear populations. The future for BC��s coastal grizzly bears is a perilous path and some apparently trivial environmental change could easily spell disaster.

�� Bear watching opportunities are best where grizzlies and people successfully coexist. The Xwelhhlkwu people will tell you that coexistence means mutual respect of territory. When bears trust people to leave them alone, then bears are more apt to ignore human activity. The cardinal rule of coexisting with bears is that they can never be allowed to associate humans with a food supply. Managing garbage is of utmost importance. At their Papknach camp the Xwemalhlkwu are exceedingly careful with waste. Everything from the kitchen is washed and sorted for recycling. Other waste is stored carefully until the boat makes a trip to town -- 60 miles to the nearest recycling depot in Campbell River, a significant recycling effort!!

My experiences with the Orford grizzlies have given me many amazing moments, new insights, and profound respect for the complexity and power of nature. I also have renewed admiration and sympathy for the profoundly misunderstood and very vulnerable grizzly bear.

Getting to know the Xwemalhkwu has also been an amazing experience. I continue to be humbled, for the Xwemalhkwu people receive us with such warmth and hospitality. Since first European contact more than 150 years ago, the Xwemalhkwu have been robbed of their land, denied their culture, and forcibly deprived of their children who were taken away to prison-like residential schools. In return we gave them smallpox and missionaries. Despite these and other historic abuses, the Xwemalhkwu have shown us only generosity and kindness.

Late on our final night at Papknach I lay pondering Life and the many things I learned in the presence of the bears. Contemplating the relationship between the Xwemalhkwu and the grizzlies, I think these people have connection to a reality most of us can��t begin to comprehend. New age gurus might call it mystical, but for the Xwemalhkwu and the grizzlies, it is simply a mutual understanding beyond the scope of modern thinking. Lost beyond words, I am trying to think of something to put it all in focus but my vision is not clear.

In the morning we launched our kayaks at daybreak. Not willing to take any chances with the wind, we set out quiet and thoughtful. Bathed in sunrise light, the mountaintops towered above misty bright clouds, glory all around us. Just before we rounded the edge of the bay, we heard a truck bouncing down the dirt road to the dock, and people jumped out. It was our Xwemahlkwu friends waving goodbye. We waved back and paddled on.

Somewhere down the inlet I finally remembered the Henry Beston quote that had eluded me:

��We patronize them for their incompleteness, for their tragic fate of having taken a form so far below ourselves. And therein we err, and greatly err. For the animal shall not be measured by man. In a world older and more complete than ours they move finished and complete, gifted with extensions of the senses we have lost or never attained, living by voices we shall never hear. They are not brethren, they are not underlings; they are other nations, caught with ourselves in the net of life and time, fellow prisoners of the splendour and travail of the earth ��

Coast Mountain Lead Guide Develops New Sea Kayak Design

2005-05-14T09:50:00.000-07:00

May 14, 2005
Coast Mountain Founder Develops New Line of Kayaks

With kayak manufacturing companies Necky and Current Designs falling into American hands and leaving Canada, several well known individuals in the Canadian sea kayaking industry have joined to design a new line of ��Made in Canada�� sea kayaks. The group, lead by Coast Mountain Expeditions founder Ralph Keller, are well into the process of designing a complete line of sea kayaks.

The group was assembled by Ralph and includes the likes of Alex Mathews, professional kayaker, long time kayak consultant and former designer with Necky. A number of other experienced designers have declined to be named at this time. The group brings together decades of kayak design expertise and sea kayaking experience. Ralph brings more than 20 years of professional kayak guiding experience to the design table. ��Altogether, I��ve spent more than 2 years actually sitting in a sea kayak and put more than 2,000 people onto the water. I know what the paddling public wants.�� Ralph said.

The group began work last January and will have it��s first prototype on the water for trials by mid July. The first boat is a small to medium volume touring boat with recessed hatches named the ��Murrelet��. It has a 23 inch beam and is 16 ft. long. ��A lot of thought went into this design�� Ralph continued. ��We wanted a boat that would appeal to kayak tour operators, the recreational paddler and the advanced kayaker��a tall order but I think we did it.�� The boat has good initial stability and a very predictable profile for laying it over on its side. It tracks well, and was designed it to be easily rolled by more skilled paddlers. ��And it looks great�� Ralph remarked,�� It��s has sexy lines and will appeal to paddlers.��

Also on the drawing board is a large volume K-1, an advanced double-ended K-1, and a centre-hatch K-2. Watch for more details.

Coast Mountain Expeditions
Discovery Islands Lodge

The Ultimate Guide to Sea Kayaking

2005-04-08T20:08:00.000-07:00

The Ultimate Guide to Sea Kayaking
A sea kayaking video made on Vancouver Island British Columbia

Ken Whiting, former world free style white water champion, well known for his white water kayaking instructional videos has now ventured into the realm of sea kayaking.
His company the Hellicona Press has just released the ��Ultimate Guide to Sea kayaking�� which, despite its claim to being ��Ultimate�� is really just a good introduction to the basic skills required of a Sea kayaker. This DVD, shot on location in Barkley Sound, the Discovery Islands, and Desolation Sound off Vancouver Island British Columbia, is chocked full of sea kayaking tips and some of the most spectacular scenery in the world. Coast Mountain Expeditions proudly hosted Ken and his video crew at our two lodges in the Discovery Islands last July where much of the footage was shot. Coast Mountain Kayak Lodge and Discovery Islands kayak Lodge were both used by the crew.

Most of the Tidal Rapids Sea kayaking was shot from Discovery Islands lodge on Quadra Island British Columbia which is near Surge Narrows tidal rapids and the Cooper Pt. tidal wave. While not well known, the Cooper Pt. wave may be one of the largest standing waves in Western Canada and compares to the famous Skookumchuck tidal rapids. The Cooper Pt. wave has attracted the attention of the Vancouver Island White Water Kayakers Assoc. who hold their AGM at Discovery Islands Lodge.

Meanwhile, the spectacular scenery shown in ��The Ultimate Guide to Sea Kayaking�� is available in it��s real form to any sea kayaker. Coast Mountain Expeditions runs numerous
expeditions in the region including trips to Desolation Sound, the Octopus Islands and Bute Inlet where Grizzly Bears are viewed from sea kayaks

Discovery Islands sea kayak Lodge, on Quadra Island just off Vancouver Island, offers a great jumping off point for the more competent, independent sea kayaker.

Links:

Discovery Islands Lodge
Vancouver Island White Water Kayakers Assoc
The Helliconia Press
Coast Mountain Expeditions

Guide Training at the Bamfield Marine Sciences Centre

2005-03-09T21:19:00.000-08:00

Coast Mountain Kayaking Staff Go To School

Four sea kayak guides from Coast Mountain Expeditions, a kayak tour company in British Columbia will attend a Marine Interpretation weekend in Bamfield hosted by the Bamfield Marine Sciences Centre

��We��re always upgrading our skills and knowledge base to serve our paddling participants better,�� says Ralph Keller, Guide and Director of Coast Mountain Expeditions. ��When the Bamfield Marine Sciences Centre offered up a Marine Interpretation course, we couldn��t resist.��

Getting into the zone--the inter tidal zones with BMSC. The Bamfield Marine
Sciences Centre's Public Education Program will be holding a weekend marine
interpretation course from Friday, April 1st to Monday, April 4th, 2005. This course is geared towards kayak guides, lodge owners, sports fishing guides and other eco-tourism operators as well as naturalists, budding marine biologists & intrepid beachcombers. The course will be chock-full of beach trips, boat trips & lab activities designed to enhance the participants�� existing knowledge of all matter of marine life in Barkley Sound. From whales to eagles and everything in between, let us teach you about what you see.

Deadline to register is Thursday, March 24th.
However, space is limited, so register soon.

Course Fee including room & board is $298.00 including GST.
(Accommodation is based on double occupancy and participants bring their own sleeping bag (pillow with pillow case will be provided))

Course Fee without room & board is $135.97 including GST.
(Upon giving prior notice, individual meals can be taken in the dining hall at the following prices plus GST. Breakfast $7.50, Lunch $8.50, Dinner $14.00) Fees may be paid by cash, cheque, visa, debit or master card

For further information or to register, please contact the Public Education
Program by either phone at (250) 728-3301 Ext 226 or email at public_ed@bms.bc.ca

Coast Mountain Endorses BC Green Party

2005-02-21T17:39:00.000-08:00

Coast Mountain Expeditions, Feb 21/05

Coast Mountain director and guide Ralph Keller, was the Provincial Green Party Candidate for the North Island Constituency in the 2001 election. His efforts and those of so many supporters raised the Green vote from 3.8% in 1988 to over 12% in 2001.
We are pleased to throw our support behind the new North Island Candidate Philip Stone.
Here is his acceptance speech for winning the candidacy.

North Island Selects Philip Stone as Candidate

The North Island Green Party officially elected their candidate for the coming provincial election this past Sunday. At an energetic meeting held at the Campbell River Community Hall local publisher Philip Stone accepted the party's endorsement and declared he is in the election race for all his North Island neighbours.

"I accept the Green Party's nomination because I have read their platform and frankly it all makes sense. It is based on basic principles, which everyone should consider before they make their voting decision. You name a hot button issue - health care, education, First Nations treaties, forest tenure reform, the economy - and the Green Party's stance sounds rational, possible and, most importantly, gives the citizen the best deal," Stone said in his acceptance speech.

"Beyond that, most Green Party policies are actually based on existing government recommendations. We already have the Peel Commission on Forest Resources, the Romano Commission on Health Care and the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples. The people of BC, and indeed of Canada, have spoken on many of these issues, now it is time to elect politicians with the drive and will to implement their (the citizens') recommendations" Stone continued.

Party members are galvanized by the reality that Stone's background as a successful entrepreneur and Chamber of Commerce activist brings the credibility the party deserves to connect with North Island business leaders and the general public. Stone is no stranger to challenge with a background as an accomplished mountaineer, small business person and three term president of the Discovery Islands Chamber of Commerce.

"My talents of spoken and written word, a journalist's instinct to find out more and the challenges faced as a small businessperson and family man have brought me to the point where I feel I can't sit on the sidelines and stay silent any longer, while our future is stolen from around us," he says. "I don't come to you encumbered by political affiliations, backroom deals and obligations. Instead I stand for election to do the job right. To listen to North Islanders and deliver the message of your needs, desires and hopes to the BC Legislature."

The meeting continued with discussions on election planning and strategy. "The time is right for the North Island to elect a Green MLA" former candidate Ralph Keller said. "Green Party policies are demonstrating themselves as part of every British Columbian's ideals. Look at the NDP's recent announcement to ban corporate funding to political parties, the BC Citizen's Assembly on Electoral Reform's recommendations, the list goes on and on. We have to remind the voter that these are all central ideals to the Green Party platform and in some cases the major parties are lifting Green policies claiming them as their own. The reality is the NDP and Liberals are impotent because their affiliations with corporate and labour handicap their ability to make good decisions".

One of the central themes of Green Party values is grassroots democracy and decentralizing the decision making processes so that the public is once again in charge of their communities' future.

"I invite all North Islanders to join me on a quest during the next few months," Stone concluded. "A quest to examine the things that are right and the things that are wrong in the North Island. We'll look at the Green platform and find out how its common sense, consensus based solutions are designed for every British Columbian. Together we can grow our economy, utilize our resources sustainably, reconcile with First Nations and redefine our social direction to ensure that the British Columbia we are leaving our children is one of prosperity admired around the world."

Green Party of BC
Green Party of Canada

--

Listening To Whales

2005-01-24T13:44:00.000-08:00

Coast Mountain Expeditions January 2005
Listening to Whales
What the Orcas Have Taught Us

This autobiography written by whale researcher and Broughton Archipelago resident
Alexandra Morton deserves to be read not just by those interested in whales but by any one taking life and living for granted in the urban areas of the world. While in basic content it deals primarily with whales (orcas) and life (and death) on the remote BC coast, it bears a bigger and more important message, perhaps not directly intended by the author. That message, which clearly dispells long standing misconceptions and myths about the Killer whale with observation and science, is really a powerful metaphor
about human attitudes towards all living things still ��at large�� in the wilderness.

British Columbia Killer whales were once shot to death by the Canadian military with high powered machine guns because of their excessive consumption of commercially valuable pacific salmon. In not so distant years, even commercial fisherman have used whales for target practice which comes as no surprise to any Coastal BC resident who knows the mindset of commercial fishermen. Even today fisherman still exist who shoot and kill anything that eats fish including Harbour Seals, Sea lions, Mergansers, Sea Otters, and probably even Orcas if they thought they could get away with it. Orcas do eat a lot of fish! Fortunately for the Orca, humanity��s attitude has changed. We no longer shoot them, preferring instead to ��love them to death�� by crowding around them in boats and kayaks, gawking in awe. Between dwindling fish stocks and over-crowding by humans, to say nothing of an aquatic environment of ever increasing toxicity, the long term survival of the Orca is far from secure.

Alexandra��s book carefully chronicles our hate/love relationship with the Orca and why,
once we began to understand them, we tried to save them from human induced violence, capture, and extinction.

Despite our enlightened attitudes towards Orcas, many wild things continue to live in constant fear of man. An example of unfair persecution of a wild species is the Grizzly Bear. Long thought to be an aggressive predator ready to charge and kill any thing in it��s way, the Grizzly��s reputation is unwarranted. Experts in the field have acknowledged that the vast majority of Grizzly Bear ��charges�� are bluffs intended to scare off trespassers of its territory. In all likelihood, most charging Grizzlies shot in ��self defence�� were only mock charges or threats. Unfortunately for the bears, it��s impossible to tell the difference, and a human with a rifle will never wait long enough to find out what the bear really intended.

All this underscores the need for humanity to re-consider its relationship with all wild things, and indeed, all living things. The world is an awesome place, not because of man or man��s technology, but because of the incredible diversity of life, which as it turns out, may be quite rare in the universe.

This quote by Henry Beston pretty well sums it up:��We patronize them for their incompleteness, for their tragic fate of having taken a form so far below ourselves. And therein we err, and greatly err. For the animal shall not be measured by man. In a world older and more complete than ours they move finished and complete, gifted with extensions of the senses we have lost or never attained, living by voices we shall never hear. They are not brethren, they are not underlings; they are other nations, caught with ourselves in the net of life and time, fellow prisoners of the splendour and travail of the earth.��

Links

Alexandra Morton

Listeninmg To Whales

2005-01-24T11:51:00.000-08:00

Coast Mountain Expeditions January 2005

Listening to Whales
What the Orcas Have Taught Us

This autobiography written by whale researcher and Broughton Archipelago resident
Alexandra Morton deserves to be read not just by those interested in whales but by any one taking life and living for granted in the urban areas of the world. While in basic content it deals primarily with whales (orcas) and life (and death) on the remote BC coast, it bears a bigger and more important message, perhaps not directly intended by the author. That message, which clearly dispells long standing misconceptions and myths about the Killer Whale with observation and science, is really a powerful metaphor about human attitudes towards all living things still ��at large�� in the wilderness.

British Columbia Killer whales were once shot to death by the Canadian military with high powered machine guns because of their excessive consumption of commercially valuable pacific salmon. In not so distant years, even commercial fisherman have used whales for target practice which comes as no surprise to any Coastal BC resident who knows the mindset of commercial fishermen. Even today fisherman still exist who shoot and kill anything that eats fish including Harbour Seals, Sea lions, Mergansers, Sea Otters, and probably even Orcas if they thought they could get away with it. Orcas do eat a lot of fish! Fortunately for the Orca, humanity��s attitude has changed. We no longer shoot them, preferring instead to ��love them to death�� by crowding around them in boats and kayaks, gawking in awe. Between dwindling fish stocks and over-crowding by humans, to say nothing of an aquatic environment of ever increasing toxicity, the long term survival of the Orca is far from secure.

Alexandra��s book carefully chronicles our hate/love relationship with the Orca and why, once we began to understand them, we tried to save them from human induced violence, capture, and extinction.

Despite our enlightened attitudes towards Orcas, many wild things continue to live in constant fear of man. An example of unfair persecution of a wild species is the Grizzly Bear. Long thought to be an aggressive predator ready to charge and kill any thing in it��s way, the Grizzly��s reputation is unwarranted. Experts in the field have acknowledged that the vast majority of Grizzly Bear ��charges�� are bluffs intended to scare off trespassers of its territory. In all likelihood, most charging Grizzlies shot in ��self defence�� were only mock charges or threats. Unfortunately for the bears, it��s impossible to tell the difference, and a human with a rifle will never wait long enough to find out what the bear really intended.

All this underscores the need for humanity to re-consider its relationship with all wild things, and indeed, all living things. The world is an awesome place, not because of man or man��s technology, but because of the incredible diversity of life, which as it turns out, may be quite rare in the universe.

This quote by Henry Beston pretty well sums it up:
��We patronize them for their incompleteness, for their tragic fate of having taken a form so far below ourselves. And therein we err, and greatly err. For the animal shall not be measured by man. In a world older and more complete than ours they move finished and complete, gifted with extensions of the senses we have lost or never attained, living by voices we shall never hear. They are not brethren, they are not underlings; they are other nations, caught with ourselves in the net of life and time, fellow prisoners of the splendour and travail of the earth.��

Links

Telegraph Cove Whale Museum.
Paul Spong's Orca Lab.
Alexandra Morton's Web Site.

Tsunami: A West Coast Canada Perspective

2005-01-10T19:37:00.000-08:00

While grieving people of the Indian Ocean nations face overwhelming loss and struggle to recover, people and nations of the developed world are responding with record amounts of generosity. All of which is appropriate. It is good to know that humanity is capable of rising to the occasion and to see that with inspiration, people are given to sharing and helping without consideration to politics and religion.

We are also reminded that life on earth is not a predictable event. It is a reminder that we share a planet and that we each have blessings and endure challenges. It is a reminder that life is not fair and that we could make the world a more humane place if some of us give more and take less. We should heed this in our whole lives, not just in the immediacy of a disaster made more real by extensive media coverage. We can go forward with knowledge that people in many other parts of the world also struggle with overwhelming challenge that can be alleviated by ongoing generosity from we who have more than we need and from nations with surplus.

We also live in an earthquake zone near a fault lying just off Vancouver Island��s west coast. Tsunami have undoubtedly struck this region with terrible and devastating force. The most recent and only recorded event took place a few days after the New Year in 1700 when a massive earthquake (calculated as similar in size to the recent Indian Ocean quak) sent two devastating waves onto the island. West coast shorelines and many First Nation settlements were affected, especially a village near the present day town of Bamfield in Barkley Sound.

Native stories describing this tsunami combine with archaeological evidence to suggest that at Pachena Bay a large and thriving community was washed away leaving few survivors. Hundreds of people, lodges, totems and canoes were all swept out to sea. In the aftermath there were no aid workers, no outpouring of relief, not even markers commemorating the place. Just the enduring presence of the wind and the relentless, crashing surf�Ķ

There is the equivalent of a man-made, preventable tsunami every week in Africa.

"See our 2005 Calendar. Plan custom trips now!"

2004-12-19T10:51:00.001-08:00

Dear Paddling Friends,

We hope this finds you healthy in a good place and happily busy. We are. The calendar has rolled around and already again winter weather pushes us from outside work to indoor endeavours. November gales have eased but cooler temperatures have arrived. Driving across the island to pick up Albert from another Sunday of whitewater kayaking, snowflakes drifted down, settling just noticeably on the road�Ķ it��s winter! And year-end: a time to reflect, and appreciate, and share.

As world-citizens we look to another year of global instability and environmental uncertainty. The rise of fundamental ideologies is increasing violence and risk for the entire planet, and the powers willing to unleash wholehearted hostility in the world also promote unrestrained CO2 emissions. So far, as Canadians we remain distant from terror and conflict suffered elsewhere, but global warming offers no haven. Small communities throughout the Arctic are awake this dark winter: the effects of climate change are flooding villages and altering hunting patterns while Inuit appeals for help fall on ears apparently deafened by video games, ��reality�� TV and SUV��s. The glaciers of British Columbia��s Coast Mountains are receding at an unprecedented rate putting forests, fish stocks, grizzly bears and our traditional lifestyles at risk as rivers warm and creeks dry up. The ripple effect is huge.

We are approaching the Solstice �� and there will be brighter days! It��s a holiday time for many people and our thoughts turn to simple pleasures and of being with family and friends. As in years past, we try to take a lesson from this. We need to hold precious the whole year round what is really important: loving people, a warm home, healthy food, healthy planet and peace. (Ask anyone who has lived through war, hunger, or illness what really matters!) We contemplate the miracle of life, of this amazing Earth. We remind ourselves again that ��stuff�� is insignificant and that as a friend so aptly stated, ��the trouble with being in the rat-race is that even if you win, you��re still a rat!��ݬ�

We may chase our tails, but thankfully all of us who make up Coast Mountain Expeditions are well and doing fine. Ralph and Lannie steer Coast Mountain and Discovery Islands Lodge towards another season. Merlin, our head guide of some 8 years has retired from kayaking and is now making a living at carpentry. We will miss Merlin and wish him well! Jaysun is back in Nanaimo, again working with youth; he recently enrolled in a teaching program at Malaspina College. Daughter, Emily is back to her studies at the University of Victoria. Sylvan is also in Victoria attending Camosun College. Tom is at home on Read Island with his family and working on local oyster farms. Angel is doing her third year towards a teaching degree at Simon Fraser University. Cristina and husband are improving their homestead ��nest�� on Maurelle Island. Son, Albert is finishing grade 12 this year; when not studying, he heads for Vancouver Island rivers and as much whitewater paddling as he can find.��

Our lives are enriched by the wonderful people who come to us for kayaking and retreat in this beautiful place we are blessed to call home. Thank you for sharing your lives with us. May you enjoy the love of family and friends this holiday season. Here��s to cheer in your warm home. And to a happy and peaceful New Year!��

An Unusual Gift

2004-12-09T20:40:00.000-08:00

With the approach of the (for us) Christmas season, we acknowledge it to be time of gift giving. To that end, the founding director of Coast Mountain, Ralph Keller was prompted by his two children to relate a story about an unusual gift. This story was read aloud by Stuart McLean on the CBC Radio Christmas show on Dec 5, 2004.

www.cbc.ca/vinylcafe

www.cbc.ca/radioguide

An Unusual Gift

I grew up in the then small town of Duncan on Vancouver Island. In 1958, when I was just 5, I was smitten by a rare, mysterious disease which baffled the local doctor, a rather elderly but kind family practitioner. After two visits of blood letting for tests, on the third visit I dug my hands deep into my pocket and refused to pull them out for the unpleasant prick on the finger. No amount of prompting or bribery from my mother could persuade me to present my hands to the doctor. As she lost patience, her bribes turned to threats at which point the old gentleman, held up his hand to silence her and turning to me said,

��If you let me prick your finger just one more time, I��ll give you a wonderful prize!��

And then, taking me by the arm led me to an old white Philco refrigerator in his office. He opened the door to shelves stocked with vaccines, bottles and other strange medical paraphernalia. He reached down into the vegetable crisper and carefully slid it open. There to my amazement (and I��m sure to my mother��s), in an inch of water surrounded by a few rocks sat four large frogs�Ķand I could have my pick.

The kindly old doctor got his blood and I got my frog, which to my mothers dismay lived in our bathtub at home for some weeks until she persuaded me to release it in the garden.

Ralph Keller, Quadra Island, BC

Off Shore Oil & Gas Exploration Gets ��Thumbs Down�� from British Columbians

2004-11-23T20:42:00.000-08:00

After a Federal Government public review, British Columbians have clearly stated they do not want oil and gas development off BC��s coast. The question is, will governments listen?

Since 1972, Canada��s Pacific coast has been protected from offshore oil and gas development by both provincial and federal moratoria. With great pressure from the BC government the federal moratorium is under review. Recent public hearings by the federal Ministry of Natural Resources show that most British Columbians want the moratorium to remain in place. Public comment, combined with a science review and First Nations engagement process, will soon determine the fate of BC��s magnificent coast.

In the 1960s, over 9 million hectares of coastal waters were leased out to oil companies without any consideration for the marine environment, first nations, or coastal communities. The lease area, which ranges from the south end of Vancouver Island to the north end of Queen Charlotte Island, lies within the traditional territory of many First Nations. Until the rights and title of these First Nations have been resolved it is unclear if the federal government can permit offshore oil and gas exploration and extraction. Some of these First Nations have already clearly stated their support for maintaining the moratorium on offshore oil and gas in their coastal waters.

The over riding concern of citizens is the great potential for devastating oil spills--not to mention the negative effects of seismic activity during exploration phases. The inhospitable north coast of British Columbia is subject to hurricane forces winds several times in a normal winter. Problems will almost certainly arise putting at risk the most biologically diverse, unspoiled temperate coastal marine habitat left on earth.

What is truly ironic about the BC Liberal government��s pro-oil position is that the British Columbia coastal region is wealthy in renewable energy: rich in low-impact high-head hydro electricity and excellent wind energy sites, renewable energy could be developed cost effectively and sold on the North American market for premium prices without adding any carbon dioxide to the earth��s atmosphere.

Send your comments to the Government of Canada now!
Take action at www.oilfreecoast.org and send a free, fast and easy fax showing your support to maintain the moratorium on offshore oil and gas.

Informative sites opposing offshore Oil & Gas Exploration:

www.oilfreecoast.org/about.htm

www.davidsuzuki.org/Oceans/CoastalOil/

www.livingoceans.org

www.cpawsbc.org/action/oilandgas/

www.wildernesscommittee.org/campaigns/marine/policy/oil

www.sierraclub.ca/national/oil-and-gas-exploration/prc-briefs.html

www.sustainability.ca/index.cfm?Mid=66&k1=614

www.greenpeace.ca/e/campaign/climate_energy/depth/oog/index.php

www.greenpeace.ca/e/campaign/climate_energy/documents/BC_wind_ene
rgy.pdf

US Election

2004-10-21T20:48:00.000-07:00

Autumn has arrived in the Discovery Islands. The leaves are dropping, the air is chill and the warm wet Pineapple Express storms are lining up. The rivers will be filling so the salmon can come home, and the whitewater kayakers are lining up for their kind of excitement.

Most of our sea kayaks are put away, although there are still lovely days and school group outings and a few intrepid souls using Discovery Islands Lodge as a base for ocean kayaking adventures. Coast Mountain gardens are put to bed, and as the rains begin to fall, we are not so unhappy to have inside jobs!

While we design next year��s kayak trips calendar and begin 2005 advertising for Coast Mountain Expeditions, BC kayaking tours and our kayak lodge, it��s a time to reflect on the kayak season just past and remember special people and special moments. There were so many!

We also have time to catch up on the world via CBC radio and magazines that have had to wait till now to be read (we enjoy New Internationalist, World Watch, and the Weekly Guardian as well as Canada��s Walrus Magazine.) There is a constant stream of US election politics, and the depressing news of ongoing wars and human terror. It reminds us of the anger and anguish that so many of our American visitors this summer expressed about their government��s policies . It��s sad that the invasion of Iraq and the US foreign policy of global corporate domination has lead to much anti-American sentiment world wide and also right here on Quadra Island in British Columbia Canada.

We are part of the great majority of Canadians who condemn US foreign policy and the war in Iraq and we decry much that is evil in America. But we also remember the very many very wonderful American people who have crossed our doorstep over the years and we know that there are huge numbers (hopefully the majority!) who do not buy into the mainstream media propoganda touting terror and consumerism.

We conclude that America is a great nation full of great and generous people, but too many have been mislead by greed and terrible leaders who care more about accumulating obscene wealth for a few than about the real prosperity of the nation or the rest of the world. We admire the real Americans who believe in truth and peace, and against the odds continue to work for real democracy and world justice. We offer our sympathies to the many Americans who are in agony over the actions of their government and we hope your tears will turn to hope in the months ahead!