A couple years ago my wife and I decided we REALLY wanted to get away from it all on a muli-day sea kayaking expedition so we found an outfitter (Gabriola Cycle and Kayak) that we'd done a previous trip with (to the Broken Islands) and who does trips to the Queen Charlotte Islands.The "Charlottes" are located roughly 30 miles south of Alaska and a few miles off of the western edge of the British Columbia, Canada mainland (click for Google map).
The Queen Charlotte islands offer sea kayakers once-in-a-lifetime discoveries and paddling opportunities. The southern part of Moresby Island is Gwaii Haanas National Park Reserve (a Haida peoples heritage site). Sea kayakers, with appropriate arrangements and approvals made ahead of time, can even paddle into a remote bay on Anthony Island, dotted with stately ancient wooden mortuary (totem) poles towering above the beach.
One the the benefits of traveling with an experienced outfitter was that our guide was a native of the Charlottes. He worked as a fish guide and sea kayaking guide. He was a personal friend of the caretaker on Anthony Island. Not only were we able to paddle to Anthony Island, meet the caretaker and walk among the mortuary poles, we ended up spending the night on the island. Fog, dense fog, stranded us on the island and our guide was able to get approval for us to sleep there. We felt special and privileged (and thankful) to be able to spend the night on the island and to walk among the totems in the morning, watching the sun rise and imagine ourselves as having gone back in time when the Haida people occupied these islands.
The Queen Charlotte Islands offer Sea Kayakers many incentives to venture out into it's waters - but be forewarned -- this is an ancient, remote, protected and wild area. Do your research ahead of time, consider hiring a local guide, and investigate the permits required (and get approvals ahead of time) if you intend to experience some of the culturally protected areas.
Our group paddled northward (having sea planed to the South end of the charlottes). In a week we made it about 1/2 the way up the islands group. A zodiac took us back "home" (near Sandspit). Photo to right shows my wife and I on the return trip.
Our trip to the Charlottes was outstanding, full of remote paddling, towering totems, spouting whales and memories of a great group traveling together in this grand, ancient location. If you are an experienced sea kayaker and have wondered about a trip to the charlottes, I'd enourage you to go (and to hire a guide unless you're super experienced, have a trusted group and a great emergency backup plan). My experience was that the Queen Charlotte Islands are a 10 on a 1-to-10 scale as a paddling destination. --ddean
