The ironman of travel Yoshimasa Ikeuchi

Epilogue

September 5-11, 2007

World Heritage Totem Pole
Ninstins

Queen Charlotte Island

Prologue

Canada

Guest House
Mr. Goats handmade house

Ocean exploration on a zodiac boat

A canoe that has decayed into an ancient forest

Left owner's house, right guest house

Waste materials from abandoned houses

Guest house for 6 people

Kitchen house

The author who shoots the totem pole

I feel like an astronaut writer

Go exploring on a zodiac boat

Humpback whale photographer Fumio Kato

Bald eagle

Waste materials from abandoned houses

Current totem pole

Totem pole 150 years ago

SGaang Gwaii Village 150 years ago

Seaplane landing at Rose Harbor

Depart for Rose Harbor (Kunghit Island)

Queen Shallot Islands

 

The Haida building, which is a matrilineal society, is similar to the Ainu architectural style seen in Hokkaido.

On Anthony Island, where the world heritage totem pole is located, there is a moss-covered settlement of "forest giants" that were cut down in ancient times.

Many creatures live in the forest and the sea, and even those "bald eagles" (American national birds) and "humpback whales" can be easily seen.

The village where the "Haida" lived for 10,000 years.

After that, Ninstins became an abandoned village and still has a totem pole. (World Heritage).

And I wanted to add the Millennium Forest to one of the Island tours.

The village was abandoned about 200 years ago when the Haida people interacted with Europeans.

That’s why it started. At the same time, they were struck by an infectious disease, and the Haida population fell sharply, abandoning the village.

At the end of Queen Charlotte, we will travel from Vancouver to individual destinations, to Shishmaref, Alaska.
The schedule is a bit cramped because I'm traveling freely, but expectations for encountering the unknown are higher.

I chose this Island because I was fascinated by the book of the photographer Michio Hoshino (died in 1996).

A trip of eight people, a university professor,
a photographer, a sculptor, a nature lover,
a writer, and Kotetsu.

While teaching astronomy,
he participated in a handmade trip by Professor Sato (48)
of Nagoya University,
who presides over the Wild Bird Society of Japan.

It is difficult to make arrangements for individual trips to this area. I headed to the destination of the trip without knowing the local condition at all.

The Queen Charlotte Islands are located on the border between Alaska and Canada.
Kunghit Island at the southern end has a "population of 2".

The accommodation is a handmade guesthouse of "Tassilo Gotz Hanisch" Mr. Go (52) who immigrated from Germany 25 years ago.

There is no gas, no electricity, no TV. A wild life awaits with nature in "firewood, candles and forest water".

At first glance, a mountain lodge that looks like an abandoned house is said to be the "city if you live", but as the seaplane approaches, expectations and anxieties intersect.

In the breath of nature, the decaying totem pole
tells the story of history.

Lying covered with moss and corroded.
A new life is sprouting on the big tree.

The "Haida" who manage the forest
may have stopped the destruction of nature and
watched the "forest giants" return again.

 

 

Prologue

Click the image to start the slide show

Wild deer that came to the shore

Friends looking into the telephoto camera

 

Taken from a seaplane, sea lion colony, photographer Fumio Kato

Spotted seal

Spotted seal

 

Spotted seal

Guillemot and seal

Oyster catcher

seal

Sea lion

Bald eagle

Bald eagle

Life jacket like a space suit

Captain and Kotetsu

Depart by Zodiac Boat

 

 

Transfer from a seaplane to a boat

 Some people go down one after another.

After all, the group is all young people in their thirties.

The top batter is my wife's "Kotetsu".
The next day's appetite is zero.

The complexion is blue and the voice is lumpy.

Take care and take a day off.

Humpback whales could also be seen from seaplanes, and the sea, where orca, dolphins and harbor seals live, is a wild kingdom.

Although it is a great treasure trove of nature, it is good that there are no tourists.

It's an Island that only enthusiasts can approach.

Large sea urchins that look delicious are tightly stuck to the bottom of the sea.
All-you-can-catch crabs and halibut.

I can't wait to see when we taste it on our tongue.

This trip is accompanied by a professor of "Wild Bird Master",
so the name of the bird is easy to understand.

"Oyster Catcher"

"Guilet"

"Bald Eagle"

And I'm happy to see my favorite bird, the Tufted Puffin,
on St. Paul Island, Alaska!

"Tufted puffin" is called "beautiful beak" in Ainu language and is
a member of the puffin.

There are colonies of sea lions (sea lions) and seals on the rocks, and dozens of them are wary of rare people in the rough seas.

I was surprised at the sound of the engine and went underwater all at once.
Some are diving and some are taking a nap.

That gesture is humorous.

It's as if my grandson started walking, and I smiled.

However, the sea breeze is colder than I expected,
and the bright red coverall life jacket acts as winter clothes.

You can feel like an astronaut on a high-speed boat.

A magnificent figure of a "bald eagle" on a tree where
the captain points in a temporary direction.
Even with a telephoto lens (400m),
it can only be confirmed as a bean grain.

I chase after the rear view with my wings flapping and taking
off, but the view from the sea is still powerful and moving.

Take a 4-seater seaplane to Rose Harbor.

(Kunghit Island at the southern end).
 In the past, Japanese and Chinese who emigrated to Canada worked as whaling bases.

The 1941 Pacific War also put an end to exports to Japan.

After arriving, unpacking was moderate, and we boarded the boat and departed for sea watching.

The "Zodiac Hurricane Boat" has a V-shaped fiberglass at the base.
It is comfortable to ride and does not splash much.

Next is a young cameraman.  
It's no wonder that looking into a telephoto lens in a swaying boat makes you feel sick.

After landing on the Island, it goes down as it is.

A wild deer came to visit us, but at that time, I got up and pointed my camera at the professional guts.

Young people are good.

Satisfactory ocean exploration is full of highlights and I'm looking forward to the future, but will I have physical strength?

 

 

 

Ocean exploration on the Zodiac boat

Click the image for a slide show

The evening light is especially beautiful

Ninstins with seven colors of light

No matter how many times I see it, it's different each time . Mr. Goats says.

World Heritage Ninstins Totem Pole

Bald eagle whose beak has collapsed

Crocodile

A human child held in both hands of a bear

Kotetsu looking up at the totem pole

Totem pole reflected in the sea

Mr. Goats taking a nap

Me shooting from the top of the rock

During global warming, people all over the world must know how to think about Haida forests and be aware of the forest cycle.

Watchman, who protects Haida, limits tourists in a casual way.

He is careful not to be with other tourists at the same time.

I was just stunned as if it had been magical.

If you notice, there is no one around you anymore.

The totem pole eventually decays and is covered with moss.

The new life that sprouts on it circulates the forest to
the next generation.

The so-called tells the history of the house that lives there,
and thinks that it will never be preserved permanently.

In front of the abandoned village,
a decaying totem pole tells the history of the earth while tilting to collapse.

When I listen carefully and stare,
I strongly feel something mysterious and spiritual.

"What's this feeling.”

I was overwhelmed by the scenery that kept talking
to humans on earth until the time when it decayed.

The Haida people, estimated to have 14,000, were infected with smallpox during exchanges with Europe (1774) and dropped to 600.

(Survey material 100 years ago).

Nearly 130 villages have abandoned their villages, and those who survive have moved north to Graham Island, where they will never return.

A human child held in both hands of a bear.

A rotten bald eagle with a beak.

A large tree carved with whales and frogs.

It seems that there is an important message to protect nature, the color and shape appear to change depending on the time of day.

A mysterious model is drawn.

 It may have been a message to the current global warming that the Haida people were cutting down trees while considering the forest cycle.

A totem pole is created from a large cedar tree called Red Caesar.

It grows fast, contains natural preservatives, and is well preserved.

Clothes and hats are knitted from bark to build a large house where hundreds of people can gather.

The phantom totem pole in the village of SGaang Gwaii (Ninstins) on Anthony Island is registered as a World Heritage Site.

For us, the totem pole had a strong image of amulets and religious affairs.

Humans have lived in Haida Guaii (Queen Charlotte Island) for more than 10,000 years,
and there is even a legend that "human beings were born on this Island."

 

 

 

The room is candle and the mood is perfect

Kotetsu and photographer Nishimura who challenge flour pulling

Bread to bake on a rolled stove

Desserts are all rare

Crab wreckage that I forgot to take a picture of

Sea urchin sushi

Driftwood secures important fuel

Shower room

Me who burns unfamiliar firewood

Pull the flour by bicycle

Me who chops firewood

Kotetsu relaxing in the guest house

Toilet that was taken care of

Kitchen house

Guest house

The sea in front

The wine, which I thought wasn't there, complemented the food even more. 
I'm happiest tonight!

The bottle of wine I drank every day was very impressive.
The hospitality on the road is special.

Whatever you eat in the forest is delicious.
I am deeply grateful to drink a glass of water.

At night, I accompany Kotetsu and accompany her to the bathroom with a flashlight.

Supper time is one of the pleasures.

Treats line up on the table in the dim sunlight,
tonight we have sea urchin sushi and
stir-fried halibut vegetables.

The fresh sea urchin that melts goes straight to the stomach.

The second one was thoroughly tasted.

The sweet and Japanese seasoning "soy sauce" is
a witch that creates deliciousness.
White halibut is soft but has a good taste.

Drinking water is drunk by filtering the natural water that flows out of the forest.

The brown water has the scent of soil and wood and is a natural water with plenty of minerals.

"Are you okay?" "Maybe okay.”

It's hard to add something in nature.

The two pump-type toilets are thought to be sawdust to eliminate odors.

 I hear my fellow giggles laughing.
I'm desperate.

Be patient with the cold and rinse the soap with water.

After two days of showering,
I was able to refresh my body and soul and enjoy
a valuable experience in nature.

Thank you for just getting hot water.

On the contrary, it is inconvenient to be accustomed to
a civilized society, but it is grateful that the heart is enriched
by coming into contact with nature.

It's hard to boil water.
Gradually burn from a very thin tree to a thick tree.

It's hard because I'm not used to it.
Making a fire while smoky is full of soot in the face, but it is very fun.
Natural life is likely to become a habit.

The first person uses the shower, but the adjustment does not go well and the hot water does not last for 10 seconds.

It's finally my turn.

I tried to wash my hair with shampoo with the intention of adjusting the hot water well, but only hot water came out.

When I say "hot,"

There are few people who enjoy alcohol, and the whiskey they bring is not selling well.
I seem to be drinking alone.

"What about the shower?"

A system in which water drawn from a mountain is stored in a tank, firewood is fired, and hot water is gradually stored.
A system in which water drawn from a mountain is stored in a tank, firewood is fired, and hot water is gradually stored.
Of course, it is handmade and even scraps of paper are valuable here.

Human wisdom is used everywhere to live.
You have to do everything yourself.

A guest house with a simple table and chairs on a potbelly stove.
2 people on the 1st floor, 4 people on the 2nd floor.

Stayed on the second floor of the owner's "Mr. Goats" house in a dispersed manner.

On the first day, everyone couldn't sleep, and they exchanged opinions on global warming with candlelight.
The cold at night is strong.
The firewood in the stove smokes throughout the room. I don't care about such a thing, and the story bounces until the end of the night.

It's a big difference from a trip with just two of us.

Surrounded by a quiet forest, the guesthouse is surrounded by silence where you can't hear a single bird's voice.

Living in nature is not bad, getting used to the daily routine of chopping firewood and making fire.

But I can't live here for the rest of my life.

A trip that taught me the preciousness of being alive in the great nature by looking up at the "Milky Way" that shines in the night sky.

 

 

 

Slideshow in the forest

Click here for a slide show of the Millennium Forest

Cute mushroom

 

Mushrooms that appear on the moss

Forest where seven colors of light shine

Canoe in the abandoned forest

Mr. Goats as a guide

Beautiful light shining into the forest

Haunted mushroom

A forest that has been out of reach for a thousand years

“I feel that the untouched forest has passed the millennium and has inherited the times as it is.

Walking along the path of the beast, the beauty of nature's sculpture is indescribable.

A curtain of light wraps the moss forest in a veil and draws it on the campus.

It seems to be another creature that is different from the beauty of the modified forest.

A museum in the woods.
A cute "mushroom" that looks into a small face through the moss.

Brown mushrooms stand out in the green color.
Kotetsu frolics like a child in the woods, saying,
"Here and there and wow it's rare here too.

A new sprout of life on a fallen tree.

Large mossy trees are scattered and walk on a green carpet.

It feels soft and fluffy, but the moss that contains plenty
of water inadvertently digs into your knees.

A ray of light shining through the gaps between the trees at a higher place makes the canoe even more fantastic.

Abandoned canoe.

I am amazed at the production of nature.

Finally, I returned to myself, set up a tripod, concentrated on shooting until I was satisfied, and kept pushing the shutter.

How is the result?

In the afternoon, explore the forest behind the guesthouse.
In the forest, you can see after logging. "Mr. Goats", who plays the role of a guide, jumps like a deer and goes ahead on a road without a road.

It's almost hard work for me to climb without slipping on moss.
The whole body is covered with sweat and struggles in a lonely army.

Search for a "canoe in the forest" covered with moss for decades.
. If you don't tell me that it's a canoe, you won't know.

 

Another world where forest spirits grow trees.
It's like watching over us walking in the forest.

Unfortunately, I didn't participate in this forest because I felt the limit of my physical strength.
This is a summary of the impressions from Kotetsu.

It is very unlikely to beat the guardian deity of the forest, which keeps humans away.

The rays of the sun change the forest.
Before I knew it, there were spots all over my body.
I was absorbed in the forest without noticing that I was bitten by a mosquito.

The huge nature of the scale is only possible if there is a magnificent land in Canada. 

 

 

 

Queen Charlotte Island from the Sky

Me and Mr. Goats

The world's largest raven

Seaplane to pick us up

CD also released

Enthusiastic Mr. Goats

Afternoon concert of Mr. Goats

Last lunch

Kitchen house

Cooking is Susan's natural food

Breakfast is homemade pancakes

Zodiac Hurricane

Mr. Goats

Decaying totem pole

Bear parents and cubs in the Millennium Forest Decaying totem pole

Kotetsu eating sea urchin

Takes out the sea urchin

All-you-can-eat sea urchin

Watchman grabs a sea cucumber and shows it

I am fascinated by the totem pole

Gwaii Hana National Park was born thanks to the Haida movement for forest protection.
There is also a theory that the Haida ancestors have the same roots as the Japanese.

Many forest giants are returning to Queen Charlotte Island when will it be? Maybe only the world's largest "raven" knows.
 

 

The decaying cycle of life is also the fate of nature.

The moss in the forest goes on for a thousand
years and two thousand years.

I think the beauty of nature can be sustained
without human intervention.
It seems that the small human being was reminded.

 

Soon a seaplane will come to pick you up.

Lunch in an empty cove.

Mysterious sea creatures.
Mossy forest.

The cycle of nature told by the phantom totem pole.
Encounter with wonderful sea and forest creatures.

"Mr. Goats" playing the guitar after the last lunch.

 The melancholy melody seems to be listening to
the spirits of the forest.

His CD, a professional guitarist,
brings the life of the, forest to life.

Time goes by as if the giants of the forest
were listening quietly.

You can catch as many "crabs" as you like in the basket set in the sea in front of you.

You can easily get a halibut by hanging the line.

Sea urchins that look delicious are lined up on the seabed.

I don't have any inconvenience in food, but I get as much as I need when I need it.

For the first time 17 years ago,
two guests came to the Island.
Two years ago, I bought a used "Zodiac Hurricane"
speedboat.

The meal is Susan's home cooking,
which moved to this Island 18 years ago.

All natural foods are used,
and bread and cakes are handmade health foods.

The guest house owner "Mr. Goats" (52) abandoned his job as a dentist at the age of 27 and decided to make this Island his hometown and moved from Germany.

He applauds his way of life when he realizes that it is his life to live in harmony with nature rather than making money.

 If I met earlier, I might have become a resident of this Island.

In Japan, art museums and works of art exhibited in museums.
The Haida continue to refuse to preserve.

It decays over time and returns to the forest.
32 phantom totem poles.

 The Haida people, who have a sad history, have no idea of leaving anything to their grandchildren.

In the next few decades, even what is now built is destined to become obsolete, decay into weeds, and disappear into the soil.

Four days blessed with fine weather, a week later, rain and baptism in the rough sea awaited.

Ravens have given us good luck.
A decaying world heritage totem pole.

When one group is in the forest, the next group cannot enter the village.

Consideration for nature.
Admission is free unlike Islands in other countries.

What's more, it was a raw sea urchin from a Haida watchman.

September 5-11, 2007

　　　　　　　　　　Yoshimasa Ikeuchi, a traveling iron man

Kotetsu's one word

I felt the passage of time in the appearance of the phantom totem pole, which was built over 150 years ago, decaying. "Forest spirits" seemed to be everywhere in the Millennium Forest. Even if the time comes for the earth to perish, the last thing that remains is not to feel like this forest.

A totem pole that speaks to the earth.

I can understand the meaning, albeit a little.
Humans must coexist with nature. Only the starry sky is shining as it was for tens of thousands of years. It was a memorable Island trip that made me feel like I found the evolution of the earth.

 

Epilogue