After another pancake breakfast, we settled our tab and said goodbye to our new friends. We pushed off the dock at Shawl Bay around noon. We didn’t have very far to go until our next destination, so we motored at trolling speed, hoping to catch some fish. I had 2 bites on my line, but both times they got away at the very end. One of them even took my lure. Reeling in fish is hard work!!
We travelled down Penphrase Passage to Raleigh Passage and were officially into Broughton Archipelago Provincial Marine Park. Motoring down Indian Passage, we passed between Davies & Baker Islands, and Insect & Fly Islands until we reached Lady Boot Cove on Eden Island. We dropped the anchor and tied a stern line to the shore so that the predicted gale force southerly winds wouldn’t blow us onto the rocks, then we hopped into the dinghy to go explore Insect Island, which our guide book told us had an old village and midden, with culturally modified cedars.
Approaching the islands, we could see there was no shortage of broken shell beaches, often the first sign of a former settlement. When we saw the sign declaring it as First Nations land, we knew we had found what we were looking for. The sign asked us to Respect the Land, which we always do.
But there was another sign, written on cardboard and nailed to the post. It warned of an “Aggressive Cougar Encounter, a Very Large Male Cat. May 30, 2011.” This made my blood run instantly cold. Cougars scare me way, WAY more than bears do. In my admittedly naive opinion about large Canadian carnivores, it seems unless you somehow stumble on a momma bear and her cubs, or unless they are fattening themselves up for hibernation, for the most part bears are going to ignore you or even run away. Black bears, anyways. But cougars, on the other hand, will sneak up on you, attack you from behind, and eat you for breakfast. I didn’t even want to leave the beach, but Cap’n Adam was confident that we could just hike up the hill, check it out, and leave.
With a whole lot of trepidation, I grabbed the rope and pulled myself up the steep hill. As soon as we reached the summit, it was obvious that this was the site of a former village. Flat land, open spaces, and trees with triangular sections of bark stripped off. These trees were too young to be modified thousands of years ago, but they had definitely been modified by someone.
Just as we were about to look around a little more, we saw the 2nd sign warning of a cougar encounter. How or why a cougar would be on this small island mattered not – I was done exploring and was climbing back down the hill as fast as my legs would carry me. Perhaps that sign was written by a cruiser or a kayaker in earnest. Perhaps it was written by First Nations, in an effort to keep tourists out of their sacred land. Either way, I didn’t feel welcome or safe until we were in the dinghy.
Once back on the boat, my heart rate returned to its normal pace and rhythm. Cap’n Adam headed out to jig for some fish, for more protein but really so that we would have bait for our prawn trap. Salmon chowder for dinner, then deep sleeps as the rain began to pour. And pour. And pour.
