Kingcome Inlet, August 4, 2014
Photo: Looking up the head of Kingcome Inlet
We hadn't planned on going up Kingcome Inlet this year, but then Loren of Shawl Bay told us about the pictographs at the head of the inlet. We had known about the large recent pictograph but not about the others. "Kingcome Inlet is right around the corner. We should go there while we're here," said Steve. I looked at the chart and saw Kingcome is only about 15 miles long. An easy trip up there and back in a day.
Kingcome Inlet was worth seeing for more reasons than the pictographs. Shortly after we turned into Kingome, a wall of white rock confronted us. A massive slide had bared white rocks beneath the forest.
Farther in the inlet we saw domes, U-shaped valleys and smooth rock walls polished by water. Each turn of the inlet showed more fantastic geology, including a face looking down on us from the north side.
We rounded the final bend and looked up into the river valley. And then we saw the big pictograph of a copper on a wall above us.
It was all beautiful and fascinating but I wondered, why would an artist creating a masterpiece choose to put it where few people would see it? We didn't see another boat the whole day. Obviously, I've got some research to do.