Pesuta Shipwreck And Tow Hill

BOU AVENUE
Pesuta Shipwreck And Tow Hill

Arriving the previous day after a seven-hour ferry ride, Zosia Zgolak and I began our exploration of British Columbia's Haida Gwaii on 5 August 2021 with a hike to the Pesuta Shipwreck located near the south end of Naikoon Provincial Park on Graham Island. The Pezuta was a converted lumber barge which ran aground near the mouth of the Tlell River on 11 December 1928. A short but fascinating account of the ship's history can be found at haidatourism.ca. The trailhead (with outhouse) is located on the east side of Highway 16 just north of the bridge over the Tlell River.

From the trailhead, Zosia and I hiked north on the signed and well-maintained trail which undulates a bit while following the forested west bank of the Tlell River. Just past the bridged crossing of Geikie Creek, the trail emerges from the forest and follows a flat dirt road the rest of the way to the shipwreck. Although the hiking here is easy, it can feel a bit monotonous at times. There is a private cabin along the way which offers somewhat of an interesting, if not creepy, diversion, and on this day, we were lucky enough to spot some wildlife including a romp of sea otters (a sow with three grown pups). At the shipwreck site, only the bow of the ship and some ironwork remain. It is worth noting that the hike to the shipwreck is sometimes used as the launching point for a challenging multi-day trek of about 74 kilometres along the east and north coasts of Graham Island. Short on time, we opted to simply turn around and hike back to the trailhead.

	It is unclear if the mooring bollard and anchor at the trailhead once belonged to the Pezuta.
	The first half of the hike is mostly in forest.
	Zosia marvels at the big collection of foam in Geikie Creek.
	The second half of the hike is mostly along a dirt road running alongside Tlell River.
	A bald eagle is perched high in a tree above the dirt road.
	Sonny investigates some mysterious deserted cabins located about halfway to the shipwreck. Photo courtesy of Zosia Zgolak
	The shipwreck comes into sight on the horizon as a deer swims across Tlell River.
	Zosia carefully rock-hops a side creek.
	A sea otter sow looks out warily from behind some driftwood while her pups wriggle frantically behind her.

Kinda reminds me of the ending to the movie "Planet of the Apes"!

Zosia arrives at the shipwreck site.

	Zosia looks out from inside the bow of the ship.
	Lots of nails are still sticking out of this small section of the Pezuta's hull.
	Total Distance: 13.2 kilometres Round-Trip Time: 4 hours 32 minutes Net Elevation Gain: -9 metres GPX Data

After our trip to the Pesuta Shipwreck, Zosia and I visited a few other minor attractions along the highway en route to the north end of Graham Island where we hiked up Tow Hill late in the day. According to Wikipedia, "Tow" should be pronounced like it rhymes with "cow" as it is derived from the Haida word Taaw which means "place of food". Tow Hill is an ancient volcanic plug which, despite its diminutive height, sticks up like a sore thumb along the mostly flat north coast of Graham Island. A meticulously-constructed network of boardwalks grants easy access to a couple of viewing platforms (with free tower binoculars) on the hill as well as another one on the nearby beach near a tidal pool feature known as the Blow Hole. Since Tow Hill is officially-named, we could not resist going "off-boardwalk" near the uppermost viewing platform to tag the completely viewless summit which is marked by a moss-covered monolith. The Blow Hole is supposed to spew jets of water into the air during high tide, but since we were there at low tide, we had to content ourselves with poking about the interesting tidal pools.

	A convenient boardwalk makes ascending Tow Hill easy.
	Zosia checks out the view of North Beach from the lower of two viewing platforms on Tow Hill.
	Here is a view of Yakan Point and Agate Beach from the upper viewing platform.
	Zosia seems spooked by this mysterious monolith on the summit of Tow Hill (127 metres).
	Zosia descends Tow Hill.
	Tow Hill has a surprisingly impressive north face.
	The tidal pools near Tow Hill are teeming with sea anemones.
	During low tide, Sonny waits in vain for something to happen at the Blow Hole. Photo courtesy of Zosia Zgolak