Garrett Simmons

Far be it for me to fancy myself a travel writer, but an excursion to the west coast over the last two weeks certainly begs some descriptive prose in The Taber Times this week.
I just returned from a lengthy trip to British Columbia, which included driving through Highway 16 on the way to Haida Gwaii (formerly called the Queen Charlotte Islands) and back to Taber through central B.C.’s Highway 97 and east on Highway 1.
It was a holiday like no other I’ve ever taken, and  in the mold of a classic Greg Price travel column, I’ll try and break down the highlights for any Taberites who may be contemplating a similar trip in future summers.
CULTURAL EXCHANGE: The first thing you’ll notice about the islands, about a six or seven hour ferry ride from B.C.’s most northern coastal city, Prince Rupert, is the cultural differences. Aside from the rich history of the native population on the islands, the Haida, the more recent inhabitants of the island also differ quite substantially from your average Albertan. Simply put, it’s a whole different world  there, and an entirely different pace. It stood to reason the only drivers that passed us on the island highways also had Alberta plates.
The island’s history, however, is very well told thanks to a gleaming new cultural centre near Skidegate. It tells the story of the Haida nation, a once prosperous group of 30,000, which was cut down to around 500 due mainly to diseases brought to the island by white traders and settlers. But the culture that does remain, particularly the artwork, is a site to behold. The carvings, paintings and elaborate totem poles grace the cultural centre and the many, many art shops on the island. Like many native groups across North America, the Haida have been in a century-long struggle to retain their language, history, traditions and stories. It’s a battle well worth fighting.
DESTINATION ISOLATION: The island has many positive features, but one of the drawbacks, depending on how you look at it of course, is the isolation. You are a long ferry ride back to the mainland and even at that, Prince Rupert is a shadow of its former self. It’s a long trip inland to find some more thriving cities, and a downright monumental trek to reach the north’s hub city, Prince George. The only real way to visit the south of British Columbia, from the island, is either by a very long ferry ride to Vancouver Island, or by a quicker, very expensive flight.
SURPLUS SEAFOOD: Being born and raised in Saskatchewan, fresh seafood is something that simply didn’t hit our doorstop. Being on the island, however, opens up a whole new culinary experience. Salmon, halibut, cod, prawns  — it’s all there, and all readily available. I ate more seafood in the last two weeks than I’d sampled before in my entire life. Being back in Alberta though, I could sure use a steak right about now.
IT’S CORN SEASON: Driving back through central B.C., corn was abundant. I stopped at one of the local produce stands, which are many on one stretch of Highway 1, and picked up a half dozen cobs of corn. I may be a bit biased but I have to say, after spending years as a corn judge for Cornfest, Taber growers have nothing to worry about. The cobs I sampled from Canada’s westernmost province couldn’t hold a candle to Taber’s most famous late-summer export.
CAMPING CONFIDENTIAL: It’s amazing how you learn to improvise after a week and a half of camping inside a provincial park on the island, especially when all the comforts of home are not available. With an old-fashioned campground outhouse, a shack with a toilet and a hole in the ground, as the only “luxury,” finding a way to get clean every day was a challenge. I must have looked insane with my swim trunks on, hunched over with some soap and shampoo “showering” under the ice-cold water of the one outdoor tap in the campground. It beat diving in the ocean with the ton of jellyfish we spotted off the coast.
CASTAWAY: Going for morning strolls along the beach, well before anyone else was awake, is a surreal experience. It feels like you’re the only person on the island. Collecting driftwood for an evening fire doesn’t sound like a life-altering experience, but it sure does make you think about things. Watching the waves crash on to the beach, taking in the smells of the ocean and watching the bald eagles swoop in and out makes for a pretty relaxing morning.
All in all, driving through B.C. felt a lot like driving through Alberta and Saskatchewan, at least in one way. No, we don’t have the scenery found west of us, but British Columbians are dealing with one thing typically found on the Prairies — scorched earth. Nearly everywhere in the province, the island included, was torched by months of heat and very little rainfall. Ditches were yellow and forest-fire warnings were extreme. Haida Gwaii, a typically cool and rainy summer location, had not had rainfall for a month. It was 29 degrees Celsius the first few days we were there, until it did, inevitably, rain for the better part of three days.