TWO hours north of Vancouver, the small de Havilland jet descends over a 70-metre, 1,000-year-old red cedar forest near Sandspit airport in the Queen Charlottes, an isolated chain of 150 islands referred to by Chinese scholars centuries before as fu sun , land of forests.
History has Macau's Captain James Hanna leading three 60-tonne brigs across the Pacific to trade with Canada's Haida Gwaii natives in 1786, but these 20th-century arrivals look far more interested in landing a 50-kilogram spring salmon than sea otter pelts bound for the coast of China.
A short ferry crossing to Graham Island, near Queen Charlotte City, and a 10-minute drive north on the only paved road leads to the small native village of Skidegate, where the circling bald eagles shadow the small white skiffs anchored offshore.
The islands are home to one of Canada's largest eagle populations, respected by Haida artists who for centuries have carved mythical characters atop totem poles outside their long-houses. Because the greatest breeding densities of eagles in the country are on the Queen Charlottes, many of the chain's smaller islands have been designated as ecological reserves. To land requires a special permit from wildlife officials.
The abundance of fishing poles, hiking boots, kayaks and four-wheel drive rental vehicles at campsites and lodges are evidence that those who visit the Queen Charlottes are definitely adventure-oriented, perhaps anxious to hear a tale from the pub in Queen Charlotte City about an eagle - with eyes bigger than its stomach - struggling to free its talons from a huge salmon intent on dragging it under a few fathoms.
More than 80 pairs of Peregrine Falcons now nest in the islands, recovering from what was near extinction at the hands of cliff climbers who sold eggs to Middle Eastern falcon collectors for upwards of C$30,000 (about HK$180,000) in the late 1980s.