There was a time when the most beautiful places in British Columbia were protected by a gentle barrier of silence and several dozen kilometres of corrugated gravel. You found them by navigating a active logging roads, studying maps and just exploring with no expectations. Family or friends had "secret spots" they may share with you, but the digital records weren't there yet.

This majestic conifer, reverently known as the "Tree of Life" by the coastal First Nations, has for millennia served as the foundation for the physical and spiritual existence of Indigenous Peoples, supplying everything from housing and transportation to medicine and ceremonial objects.