From Both Sides Now: Chainsaw carvings in Campbell River

We were driving on the highway. up Vancouver Island toward the town of Campbell River, which is halfway up the coast. It is pretty quiet up here and for the past half hour or so it was mostly forests and quiet stretches of shoreline. Then I see a giant Viking along the side of the road. What? This is Vancouver Island, not Scandinavia.
Then a few miles down the road I see another one along a beach.

Phew. At least I wasn't hallucinating.

This time I took a closer look and saw he's a chainsaw wood carving made out of a huge tree. And the beach is full of other similar carvings.

For 22 years carvers of all skill levels (amateur to professional) have been turning large piece of wood into works of art and many of them have wound up in this and other beach parks in Campbell River. Actually, I think this particular park is where they hold the competition. Some statues leave, and the rest stay.
Here are some more.

This is a bench.

Here is the Viking (Mountain Man?) again with a nearby octopus. He is good enough to view again from another angle.

Here is a close up of the octopus view in the to the left of the mountainman/Viking in the photo above.

Another bench. I found it kind of uncomfortable as the bear's nose stuck into me. Maybe you are supposed to sit facing the sea.

An eagle above, a salmon below.

A cobra and snake charmer.

This beach park is just south of Campbell River. As soon as we reached Campbell River I realized that these carvings are all over the place. Below are three or four that I saw at my hotel.