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A VOYAGE TO THE YOSEMITE OF THE NORTH: PRINCESS LOUISA INLET Many travelers describe magnificent Princess Louisa Inlet as the most beautiful place on Earth. It is also known as the "Yosemite of the North". After traveling 35 miles up massive fjords that cut into a mountain range, this magical inlet is the final stop, with Chatterbox Falls and scores of other cascading waterfalls, views to 6,500' snow capped mountains, and a challenging hike with a lovely view. Princess Louisa Inlet is a protected marine park thanks to James F. (Mac) MacDonald. He first cruised the area in 1919, eventually struck it rich prospecting in Nevada. He purchased the land around Chatterbox Falls in 1927 and built a log cabin where he acted as host to visiting boaters. "This beautiful, peaceful haven should never belong to one individual," he said. "I have felt that I was only the custodian of the property for Nature and it has been my duty to extend every courtesy." In 1940, Mac's cabin tragically burned down and, in 1953, he decided to put the land in trust for all boaters to enjoy. The non-profit Princess Louisa International Society was then formed with an equal number of Canadian and American trustees to make sure the beautiful area was preserved. Mac was always given a place near Chatterbox Falls to moor his houseboat and spent his last summer there in 1972, when he was 83 years old. He died in 1978. The Princess Louisa International Society eventually passed the land to the British Columbia government to administer and the property became Princess Louisa Provincial Marine Park in 1965. Jervis Inlet cuts deep into the coastline and the mountains just off the Sechelt Peninsula. Beautiful, calm waters and snow-capped peaks greet boaters as they cruise up this granite-walled gorge to Princess Royal Reach then Queens Reach, where there is a branch to Princess Louisa Inlet and famous Chatterbox Falls. The seven-to-ten knot Malibu Rapids mark the entrance to Princess Louisa, where a Christian children's camp has its idyllic location. The inlet, only reachable by boat or plane, is 300 meters deep, never more than 800 meters wide and eight kilometers long with fjord walls rising straight up from the placid sea waters. In the spring, the melting snow from the mountain peaks creates more than sixty waterfalls cascading down the inlet walls. At the head of the inlet is the 40-metre Chatterbox Falls. PASSPORTS ARE MANDATORY! ITINERARY: To reach Princess Louisa we will be taking longer runs than usual. Starting in Friday Harbor and the northern San Juan Islands, we will pass through British Columbia's Gulf Islands and across Georgia Strait. We then enter into Jervis Inlet and follow it up to the end of one of the more classic fjords in the world. It is indeed a true Yosemite, with an ocean in the valley instead of meadows. Even thought the travel days will be long, we will allow two nights at the head of the inlet, to allow time for kayaking and hiking, before head south again and return to Friday Harbor. WHOLE BOAT CHARTER AVAILABLE |
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