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We were the first human contact he’d had in thirty days and I figured hurrying him up, or even communicating with him, might be difficult. We called his name and coaxed him out of the forest, like coaxing a wild animal from his familiar den. We said hello; he didn’t make eye contact, but hid behind his sun-bleached cap, his smeary glasses, his unkempt beard and grubby skin. He wore faded jeans that hung from his waist, and the collar of a pale denim shirt peeped out from beneath a shabby jumper. He walked across the beach in flimsy black Velcro trainers that were torn at the toes.
We offered to carry some of his things but he wouldn’t let us. We followed his path back into the forest and realised that the light blue tent on the beach was just a storage facility. Hidden in the ancient forest there stood a small wooden cabin, a wood-burning stove, a long drop, a whale bone and a Japanese Sign, ‘To the Engine Room’, which hung, crookedly, from the front of his cabin.
Dave had craved an escape from his city job, his stifling office and his tailored suit. He used to work for the Canadian Government, managing the use of natural resources – coal, oil, gas – after studying Geology as a young man. Dave is no stranger to British Columbia’s remote West Coast; he participated in the construction of the well-trodden West Coast Trail on Vancouver Island 40 years ago. He’s in his mid-seventies now and for the past 10 summers he’s lived far from civilisation on the rugged West Coast of Haida Gwaii, a remote island off the North Coast of British Columbia. Its vast emptiness is a haven for beachcombing, treasure hunting, and retrieving rare items only available to those who make the journey.
Year after year Dave arrived at his isolated camp by helicopter or Zodiac, whichever was most affordable at the time. He always brought his scruffy clothes, empty bags for filling with beach treasure, two tents, a chainsaw, other tools, and two satellite phones, his only means of communicating with the outside world or calling for help.
https://www.sidetracked.com/haida-gwaii/