Maple Bay Village to Imadene Cove
Mount Tzouhalem (48° 44' 00" N - 123° 34' 00" W)
Home again. The mountain rising above our moorages in Maple Bay used to be known on the charts as Mount Tzuhalem but this was changed in 2000 to reflect the preferred local spelling. Tzouhalem was a local warrior with a penchant for killing, especially the husbands of women he coveted for wives (it is rumoured that he had up to 40 wives though when he was killed in 1859 he had only 14). When he was exiled from his tribe for killing his fellow tribesmen he moved to a cave on the mountain which now bears his name.
Mount Tzouhalem
The First Nations called this mountain “Cowichan” (various spellings meaning variations of “basking in the sun”). Legend tells that during the Big Flood the people of the valley took shelter here. When the waters began to subside they spied a frog basking in the sun on the side of the mountain. The frog rock formation was called “Pip’oom” (various spellings meaning “little swelled-up one”). It is said that people with good eyes can still spy “Pip’oom” on the side of the mountain.
(Sources: BC Geographic Names database.)