Johnstown Strait between the north end of Vancouver Island and British Columbia, August 2009

Some Hiaku moments from the trip:

Floating up and down

On the heaving ocean waves,

Our little kayaks.

A shining orca

Glides through dark icy water

Trailing swirls of light.

Deep under the waves,

Golden starfish cling to rocks

Among strands of kelp.

Facing into wind

And dense water we paddle

Hard. We move slowly.

A hoard of gleeful

Dolphins come bounding, diving,

Jostling tween our boats.

On the horizon,

A row of tiny water spouts,

The dolphins’ good-bye.

Fifteen of us were out for a week in a fleet of six tandem kayaks that weighed over 100 pounds each (when empty) and one single. We carried all our water and food for the whole trip—one of the most strenuous trips I have ever been on, but also one of the most glorious. We paddled across the Strait from one island to another past tall cliffs with wild, wind-twisted pines clinging to the wind sculptured rock. This is the home of generous mega-animals. Bald eagles eyed our little group from their aeries as we wended our way past them far below. Stellar Sea Lions lifted huge shaggy tan-furred faces out of the kelp beds to check on us. Minke and hump-backed whales slid by in deep slow motion.  And orcas, the shining black and white orcas with their bold 6-foot fins rising tall, easy to see across miles of water… At our last camp, a mature male came very very close to the beach and peeked at us, perhaps to check if the beach was clear for “rubbing.” 15 mouths and 15 pairs of astonished, wide-open human eyes returned his glance. Orcas like to rub the barnacles off on the beach pebbles.  And bears on the land. I had trouble sleeping because I wanted to stay up all night as well as all day, and not miss a thing.  One could hear huge animals swimming by, snuffling in the dark. And on the darkest night, the water was brilliantly phosphorescent so that ocean birds landing in the dark made splashes of sparks, and fish left trails of light under the water.  The incident with the horde of Pacific white-sided dolphins seemed especially magical as they were obviously interacting with us. They seemed to be showing off their great skill, teasing, playing with us, and being slightly aggressive.  We were a jolly group and we ate well. One fellow caught a mega-salmon which our guide smoked fresh for dinner that night. The outfitters were: www.seakaykadventures.com