| This peak is #18 in Prominence List for British Columbia . It is located on the centre of the Island in Stratchona Provincial Park. Golden Hinde is the highest mountain on Vancouver Island. A rugged looking mountain from any direction. Name Notes: The Golden Hinde was named in honour of the ship of the same name, in which Sir Francis Drake circumnavigated the world, the first Englishman to do so. Drake sailed up the Northwest Coast of North America after raiding Spanish colonies along the Central American Coast and laid claim to the regions north of New Spain, naming the site he landed as Nova Albion, Albion being one of the poetic names for England. Debate rages as to where along the coast he did this, with most opinion placing this landing somewhere in northern California. Other theories place Nova Albion in Oregon or on various locations of the British Columbia coast, from the southern Queen Charlottes to locations around Victoria and Sooke. The name Golden Hinde wasn't officially conferred on this peak until 1938, but this was done after a reference to the peak in one of logs of the early fur-trading captains, who was reminded of Drake's ship as the golden light of sunset hit the mountain, which is visible from the west coast of the Island. A "hinde" in archaic English is another word for female deer (doe). The alternative name "The Rooster's Comb" was conferred by early alpinists because of the mountain's appearance. |
