Rainy Day People

I feel so fortunate to have come to normally-damp Haida Gwaii in clement weather. It's obviously putting everyone I meet in a good mood, like they are the luckiest people on earth. Intermittent bands of clouds do roll in from the Pacific, but just enough to keep the days from overheating.

Panoramic view of Moresby Island from Skidegate

A bus stop that doubles as a book exchange

Despite the dearth of places to  eat in, what exists seems pretty good. I had breakfast in the one and only roadside cafe in Skidegate and got served an amazing latte. Lunch in Tlell's lone restaurant was a tasty homemade split pea soup and salad in a funky atmosphere. I was informed there are no bike shops in the islands, and when I told a local that I can fix my own bike anyway, she said I should retire here and set one up :) Hmmm, I'm thinking.

Got off to a late start after reorganizing all my gear, since I haphazardly stuffed everything together at the airport yesterday. The road out of Skidegate is relatively flat, hugging the coast up to Tlell. The islands are far away enough from mainland BC that you can't really see anything across Hecate Strait despite the height of the Coastal Mountains. Heading inland the road climbs up some good hills before dropping down the other side towards Masset Sound.

The only negative thing was the gusting headwind which slowed me down considerably. The winds picked up just as I was getting into the hilly part. I was just happy rain was not in the equation.

I got into Masset at 7pm, tired after 111 windy kilometres and found out that all the B&Bs were booked solid. I actually was looking forward to camping, and as luck would have it, in the fringe of the village I found a good campground carved out of the lush rainforest with a great restaurant to boot. WiFi is free, but man, the showers are a dollar a minute. I had four loonies lined up but I managed with two, soaping up in between. I blew whatever I saved on an end-of-day treat, pecan pie for dessert :)

“Rainy day people all know how it all hangs on a piece of mind."