Pesuta Shipwreck

In 1929 a log barge called the Pesuta ran aground in a storm near the mouth of the Tlell River. Its wreck is still there and makes a great day hike through lush forests and along a sandy beach. Eagles, ravens and bears can be seen, be extra careful of bears during the spawning season (around September) they are attracted to the abundance of fish. It is a 10 kilometre walk and can take about three hours to go out and back. Its important to note that when walking to the Pesuta shipwreck you will come to a fork in the paths, make sure you stay on the one that says “East Beach” even though it will take you up on a ridge. The other path looks like the one you should take, but don't, this “shortcut” trail to the Pesuta is not well kept, runs beside the river and is very mucky.

Its a moderate to easy walk from the parking lot to the shipwreck site. The bow of the Pesuta jets upwards from out of the sand and is in remarkable good condition, it'll probably be around for another 100 years. You used to be able to see the hull of the ship as well, but the sands of time have covered it over, if a good sandstorm kicks up it might become visible once again.

I chose to spend my time having lunch and a drink while I was out there, and of course a photo op. There are some portholes you can access from the inside of the shipwreck, some people stick their heads through it and get someone else to take their pictures. I tried to use the timer on my camera to get a picture, but I just wasn't fast enough to get my face in the porthole quick enough.

On my way out and back to the shipwreck I noticed a lot of people fishing for salmon along the Tlell river. I even watched a couple of gentlemen catch one, they did not have a net so the other man quickly darted his hands in the water, picked up and threw the salmon onto the beach, not a bad technique if I do say so. It seems September is a popular time to go and fish on the banks of the Tlell River.

The Pesuta shipwreck in Naikoon Park on Haida Gwaii (Queen Charlotte Islands) is probably one of the most easily accessible and visually striking wrecks anywhere. It is well worth the day hike out to it just don't forget to bring appropriate clothing, water, a snack and your camera of course.

Some hard core trekkers actually continue hiking for 5 or so days along the East Beach and cut across the Cape Fife Trail in Naikoon Park, the hike to the Pesuta is the first part. You should make some arrangements for someone to pick you up at the Tow Hill parking lot at the end of your trek, or if you've walked this far, you might as well walk to Agate Beach campground and stay the night there. You could ask someone for a ride from Agate Beach or just walk the rest of the day to Masset. If you are interested in this hike, you must check in with Niakoon Park officials near Misty Meadows for important information regarding tides, fresh water, weather and wildlife.

There is also a good 2-3 day hike that you could walk from the Tow Hill parking lot, around Rose Point and back up the Cape Fife Trail to where you started, or vice versa. Again, make sure you check in with park officials on the way up. Rose Point is a thin stretch of sandy land that stretches out in a north east direction from Graham Island. It is known to be one of the best bird watching locations on Haida Gwaii (Queen Charlotte Islands).

So this concluded my stay on Graham Island and it was time to go down to Moresby Island for the second part of my journey. The only things that I missed was maybe going on a fishing charter, visiting Rennell Sound and visiting Spiral Rock near Langara Island.

A fishing charter would have been great, some of the best salmon and halibut fishing in the world is found on Haida Gwaii (Queen Charlotte Islands). However I'm not much of a fisherman, in fact the last thing I caught was a catfish when I was 8 years old and I did not find it terribly exciting. Now if I had to do it for sustenance, I'm sure I could get very excited about fishing. There is also a cost for these fishing charters, plus equipment rental and licensing fees. Like I indicated earlier, I'm just not that interested in fishing.

I really wished I visited Rennell Sound, apparently it is one of the most picturesque spots on Haida Gwaii (Queen Charlotte Islands) and is also a popular boat launch for the people fishing for halibut. I was told not to go down there with my little compact car, apparently it is not a very well kept logging road, it gets very muddy and the road down to Rennall Sound is very steep. This also speaks to a larger issue of getting around on Haida Gwaii (Queen Charlotte Islands), a four wheel drive vehicle will give you much more access to places well worth visiting.

I've seen pictures of Spiral Rock before and it is really quite unique. It is a large cylinder shape rock that jets up high out of the shoreline and has a little tree growing on top of it. This is probably one of the more remote areas to go to. If I was on a fishing charter I might ask the skipper if we could head that way, I hear there are also kayaking expeditions that go by there as well, I was too late in the season to do that.

Sandspit Leg

I was now heading toward Skidegate to catch the ferry over to Alliford Bay. The ferry is small and is a little different from the conventional ferries in as much as it does not use a dock, instead it uses a ramp and at low tide you have to drive a ways down the ramp to actually get on the ferry.

At this point in my journey I had received news from the Moresby Island Explorers that due to a lack of interest my tour was cancelled. When I first talked with the company they did a good job of setting my expectations as far as if there wasn't enough people wanting to go (minimum 4) that they would cancel our expedition. They could also postpone or cancel for weather or mechanical reasons as well, but we didn't even get that far. Being near the end of September all the local tour companies were shutting down for the season, the only other company still going to Ninstints, Gwaii Haanas was Inland Air, but unless you had a group of 5 or 6 the cost can be prohibitive.

At the time it cost $3500.00 to charter a plane from Queen Charlotte City to Rose Harbour (you then just take a small boat over to Ninstints), you can have up to 6 people that can fit in the Beaver aircraft and thus the charter cost can be divided up to six way and thus be much more reasonable. I left my name with Inland Air earlier in my trip and by this point I have not heard anything from them. I even contemplated putting a note on the dry erase board in the tourist info centre, but at this point I did not want to do too much more running around.

I was a little early getting into Sandspit that day and did not want to show up too early at the bed and breakfast I was scheduled to stay at. When I'm going to be staying in a little town I like to drive around it a bit and find out where everything is like grocery stores, convenience stores, restaurants or anything else that peaks my interest. That day was no different, I went up and down every street, hung around Haida Gwaii's main airport at Sandspit and decided to drive out on the logging roads.

The logging roads around my home town of Victoria BC are pretty well kept up and my little car is able to handle them quite well. I was naively expecting that these logging roads would be the same, boy I was wrong. These logging roads are not kept well, washboard and big potholes every step of the way. I made my way down to a little settlement called Copper Bay and then promptly turned around and retraced my 30 km/hr drive back to Sandspit. You may not necessarily need a 4x4 vehicle for these roads, and I probably could have finished the logging road loop that would have taken me back to Alliford Bay, but a larger vehicle with good suspension would be more suited to the road.

When I arrived back in Sandspit I thought enough time has past where it would no be appropriate for me to call on my accommodations. I was staying at the Bayview Garden Bed and Breakfast for the remainder of my stay. They came highly recommended by the Moresby Island Explorers and some reviews I read on the internet as well, so I was thinking I would be in for a bit of a treat.

When I went to knock on the door, no one was there, the front door was ajar so I poked my head in and called out if there was anyone home. No answer. I hung around a few minutes, called out some more still no answer. I thought I was there at the right time I had indicated to the proprietor in our emails. There was a rest stop just before you got into Sandspit, I decided to go there and wait a little longer.

Leaning against my car at the rest stop munching away at a few thing I bought at the grocery store, I was contemplating the whole reason for me being over in Sandspit on Moresby Island. My trip was cancelled, there wasn't a lot to do in Sandspit and my B&B was not answering the door. I just wanted to call it quits and get myself back over to Graham Island and hang out in Queen Charlotte City for the remainder of my trip or just head home early altogether. And that is exactly I would have done too if the lovely and gracious Susan did not answer the door when I went back to her B&B.

What a relief it was when she answered the door, I guess she was expecting me a little later and she was busy doing some construction work in another part of her house and that is why she did not hear me knock the first time. After she showed me around I retreated to my room where I could get some much needed rest and relaxation.

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