SGI OUTSIDE

Third on my list of Five Finest Feathered Friends. No other bird soars in the warm thermal updrafts quite like a Turkey Vulture—wings stretched and feathered fingers splayed; together as wide as sliding patio doors—wobbly but gracefully drifting to higher elevations or descending to near ground level to catch the scent of or see carrion. Another of the nearly two hundred resident and part-time bird species in the Southern Gulf Islands.

The George Hill Park-Port Washington Loop is an undiscovered North Pender Island gem.

Members of the Lily family and hundreds of other stunning wildflowers are easily found in the Southern Gulf Islands.

Ask Coast Salish First Nations peoples; they’ll tell you why. Foremost, it’s their deep and abiding spiritual relationship with the tree.