Maybe every town in glacier country has its own big rock. Campbell River has many large glacial erratics, mostly scattered on the intertidal shelf. But there is one "Big Rock". It sits at the top of the intertidal zone, about a kilometre south of the 50th parallel marker.
Usually it's covered with graffiti, with moss on top. Now it has another topper.
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| Big Rock from the highway, looking north. |
The rock is ten metres tall, and weighs approximately 8000 tons.
A First Nations legend tells us that Mink, a young fisherman, was swallowed by a whale off Mitlenatch Island. He fought back, and won; the whale beached itself and Mink escaped. As punishment, the Whale community transformed it into a huge rock, as a reminder that we are cousins and must respect each other.
Graffiti comes and goes, but a painted whale, high on the south side of the rock, is always there.
I posted warmer weather photos of Big Rock a few years ago, here.
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Puede ser que cada pueblo en tierra de los glaciares posee su propia "Roca Grande". Aquí en Campbell River, tenemos muchos bloques erráticos, por la mayor parte abandonados en la zona intramareal. Pero hay una que merece el nombre de "Roca Grande". Se sitúa en el borde superior de la zona intramareal, aproximadamente 1 km. al sur del monumento que identifica el paralelo 50.
Casi siempre está cubierta de grafiti, y lleva un poco de musgo encima. Ahora tiene un gorro invernal.
Foto: "Roca Grande" desde la carretera, mirando hacia el norte.
Roca Grande mide diez metros de alto, y pesa aproximadament 8.000 toneladas (8.000.000 kg.).
Una leyenda de los indígenas (mejor llamados las "Primeras Naciones") nos cuenta que una ballena capturó y se tragó un joven pescador, llamado Mink, cerca de la isla Mitlenatch. El joven luchó contra la ballena, y logró escapar, resultando en que la ballena se quedó encallada en la playa. Como castigo, la comunidad de las ballenas la convirtió en una roca enorme, como recordatorio de que somos primos y nos debemos respetar.
El grafiti cambia, pero la roca siempre lleva una ballena pintada en lo alto del lado del sur.
Hace unos años, subí fotos de la roca en dias de más calor.
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