The volcanic eruption happened around 1790. It was caused by a crack in the crust through which a the lava flowed and blocked several river streams. Lava lake was then formed. We made a walk on the lava rock towards an imprint of a tree. Several native Nisgaá villages were devastated and are now rebuilt on higher ground. We visited one of them with a swing footbridge across the wide Nass river. The local museum, a bit further down the road, had a impressive collection of local costumes and artefacts. It is housed in a large wooden structure which represented the old style longhouse i.e. a home for several families. Following the steep and winding road you reach the Portland Inlet (a fjord in connection with Pacific Ocean) and which goes all the way up to Stewart (via Portland canal) which we had visited several days ago. In the fishing town of Gingolx, situated at the end of the road on the fjord, we had a fish and chips meal served in a small restaurant run by one of the Nisgaá elders. He explained to us the group activities they are organising for the youth to re-introduce some of the tribal traditions. We spent the night back over the lava field at a popular campsite on Lava Lake. It was close to labour day weekend so several locals have already parked their RVs there to book their favourite spot.
In Terrace we re-supplied at Wal-Mart and the blog was uploaded at the visitors centre. We then drove on to Prince Rupert in order to catch the ferry to Haida Gwaii. The road follows the Skeena river through 2000+m high mountains which still have patches of snow on some of them. Next to the road is a freight train line. There were several trains with more than 100 wagons each with 2 containers per wagon passing by. In Prince Rupert port we saw where all these containers come from. There is a large container ship moored in the harbour next to the ferry. Large cranes unload the high stack of containers and place them on the trucks which drive back and forth to the waiting train.
Prince Rupert is a neat city on an island connected by a short bridge to the main land. We first stop at the recreation centre for a shower and then drove into town. Rudy found an Italian hair dresser and gets his hair cut short and beard trimmed while Jamaliah explores the nearby shops. While parked at our planned camping spot next to the theatre, a local was coming back from his daily run. He is interested in our camper and our stories. So much so that he comes back in half an hour and brings us some homemade smoked and bottled salmon. He felt sorry that we were not able to buy any fresh salmon off the fishermen we had encountered en route. Martin also brought us to a much nicer camping spot on a hill overlooking the city to spend the night before catching our early morning ferry to Haida Gwaii.
Rudy Welling's Travels 