Visiting Shangri-La

July 19 Visiting Shangri-La
We think we may have found our favorite anchorage of all time: Khutze (koots) Inlet. We are anchored in front of an utterly glorious series of waterfalls. The rain that has been wetting us for the past few days is paying off here - the falls are in full spate. I must have taken a hundred pictures; it reminded of Shangri-La.

We had some great adventures here. Patrick climbed up to the base of the falls and found a huge iceberg - we had thought it was a granite boulder. You can see it in the picture to the right, on the left side near the base of the waterfall, and in a closer view below. Patrick is dwarfed by this 'iceberg on land.' He peeked in to the tunnel that ran all the way under it, but wisely decided to go no farther.

We took the dinghy up the river as far as we could go. The river water was cloudy pale green, a sure sign that its source is glacial snow melt. We found a hidden waterfall and had to clamber through this brush and downed logs to see it. I had a major "don't look down" moment when I had to stand on a moss-covered fallen log that was across the outflow of the waterfall to get this picture. There was nothing to hold on to ... Note the lovely, figure-enhancing PFD (personal flotation device) over my hooded sweatshirt and under my rain jacket, the muddy jeans and high-top boots. This is typical 'going- ashore' wardrobe for me. A far cry from opera opening night attire!

July 17 The Big House at Klemtu

Last year, as we thought about going farther north, Patrick coined a toast that is a take-off on the alien/man Klaatu's order to Gort in the movie, The Day the Earth Stood Still. Rather than "Klaatu, barada, nikto," we toasted to "Klemtu, barada, nikto," and we translate that as "The norther, the better." This year, we finally made it up to the First Nations village of Klemtu and had the chance to visit their beautiful Big House. Francis, our tour guide, told us wonderful stories from his Kitasoo heritage, including the one that explains why The Raven walks the way he does. We can't tell that one on the web - but ask us when we see you! The huge house posts with their carved images of the four major clan symbols, Raven, Eagle, Wolf and Orca, were so impressive. We used different carved sticks to beat the huge cedar log drum, eliciting a surprising range of tones. Wish we could have been there for a potlatch! Francis was wonderful, and we enjoyed our visit greatly.