History Etched in Stone

We just arrived back from a three day visit to beautiful Sproat Lake, Vancouver Island, where we stayed with our uncle Alan who lives at the lake. We thoroughly enjoyed a restful stay and spent most of our time by the waterside swimming and boating. During one of our boat trips with Alan and Ruth, we stopped by the prehistoric petroglyphs, named K'ak'awin, on the eastern end of Sproat Lake Provincial Park. The age of these petroglyphs is unknown - they were most likely carved by ancestors of the Nootka people. The carvings depict ancient marine creatures - was Sproat Lake once inhabited by strange water monsters ? It is fascinating to view these rock face carvings so close up - my imagination stepped back in time a few thousand years - what was life like in this part of the world so many thousands of years ago ?!

Rock carvings (petroglyphs) at
Sproat Lake Provincial Park, Vancouver Island

I have included a few photos of these wonderful carvings - they are a little difficult to view as they are worn from age. I feel these are an important part of Vancouver Island history and should be included in our Relics and Tales. I will also include a photo or two of the Hawaii Mars water bomber which was situated only minutes away from the petroglyphs. These flying water tankers live at Sproat Lake. Thank you for viewing! Michelle

Interesting Websites:

Sacred Places - Sproat Lake Petroglyphs

Petroglyphs on Vancouver Island, British Columbia

A Gallery of Northwest Petroglyphs: Shamanic Art of the Pacific Northwest
by Daniel Leen

Petroglyph Site - Wordwide photos: Geology.com

Sproat Lake

Hawaii Mars Trial Flight (1945) (youtube)

Coulson Flying Tankers Mighty Martin Mars Water Bombers (youtube)

Water Bomber on Sproat Lake