Ultimately, the best ride on Remembrance Day would have been up to pay our respects at one of the many WW2 era crash sites around here, perhaps visiting the Lockheed Ventura on Mt. Bolduc would have been more appropo. But with the shorter days and our later start, we decided Green Mountain from Doumont Road would be a better plan ~130km round trip.
Click to Enlarge.
1. Doumont Road Tank Traps
2. Left on to 142 and pass Boomerang L.
3. Right at Cottle L.
4. Right and follow Hydro Lines
5. Left after bridge. Left at Hickup Trail
6. Right onto NEW Escalator Trail (Easy). Turn Right as you pop out of the Escalator onto Decosmos/Deadhorse Creek Main (a major logging road).
7. Right at 2nd Lake onto Nanaimo Lakes Road
8. Left onto Branch K (Major Junction)
9. Left onto Green Mountain access road
10. Left
11. Beginning of Green Mountain Meadows and the Marmot Reserve.
Click to enlarge
Elevation Track (m)
Google Earth "Flyover" of the Route (Full Screen to View Text)
It was a great ride, offering a little of everything: some logging roads, technical single track, hill climbs and burms at Green Mountain, not to mention snow. The total distance was approximately 127km from Superstore Gas bar to Green Mountain and back to the Black Bear Pub. I've got to say the rear Mountain Motoz at 10psi was awesome everywhere, particularly up some serious grades in the snow. I didn't air it down to the 4 psi I usually roll on as we were hitting some potentially rim denting speeds on crush, and didn't fancy a pinch flat. Can't wait for a set of Tubliss...
White Trails Near Green Mt. Ski Hill
Maybe the last picture of Andy with the trusty KLX250S. It's been an excellent ride for Andy, but the lack of torque and soft suspension are leaving him looking at Beta 300X Italian Princess. His money is down, and the beast should be here before too long. Can't wait to see it. Anyway, needless to say, we ended up at the Black Bear for a coupla delicious barley sandwiches. What a great way to finish a ride!
Checkout the short vid below for some trail condition samples...(Don't forget to change the settings to 1080P for the best resolution. - First shots with the Go Pro 4 Black. The quality looks much better...Pity about the music!)
Finally, a blog entry! Our readership of six is probably down to three or four at this rate! Anyhow, it has been a long time since I made a blog entry due to a broken collar bone and long lasting back problems, but we're back with a vengeance to tell you about our recent 250km "Figure 8" ride from Doumont Rd to Youbou and back.
Here's the overview map of this ride:
The Figure 8 Tour...
1. Doumont Rd stop sign start (near the track where the logging roads begin)
2. Right turn onto Branch 142
3. Left turn onto 155 Main
4. Left turn onto 155 N
5. Crashed water bomber site
6. Left turn onto "Baker Street Connector"
7. Left turn to bridge, Nanaimo River Road and Branch M
8. Left turn onto Branch K
9. "Bridge-Out Workaround" and Shaw Main
10. Left on North Shore Road to Youbou
11. Great eats and coffee at Cassy's Coffee House
12. Right onto Nitinat River Road
13. North along the "Blacktop Highway"
14. Right turn up "The Pass" towards Fourth Lake
15. Along Nanaimo River Road to closed Second Lake Gate
16. Right on Branch C, past gold mine turnoff to "Hellavator" connector
17. "Hellavator" connector leads to "Escalator" connector (shock, horror... read all about it)
18. Right turn on power line trail
19. Right at Branch 142 back to "tank traps"
20. Beer and grub at Black Bear Pub..... AaaaaaHHH!!!
Paul has had this ride idea hatched for a few years now. He went out riding with Ryan, another riding partner of ours, some years back when they were kiboshed by an ugly "bridge out" section along one route to Youbou. Paul was on his larger 650 at the time and they decided to avoid a rooty uphill work-around and went off in search of an alternative route which was never found. The thought of this unfinished route to Youbou festered in the back of his tiny mind and created the twisted riding partner I know today! But now, likely under the advice of his psychoanalyst, we attempted the route once again in order to cure his rapidly declining mental health.
We started out at our common Doumont Rd. starting place and made our way through the tank traps to Branch 42 where we headed NW to 155 Main. A left turn onto 155N had us heading directly to a water bomber crash site commonly referred to as the "water bomber near Mt. Moriarty." (49°10'60.00"N 124°22'60.00"W) We found the site: All that remains are a few snapped off large trunks of trees and a circle of trees marked in blue loggers' code to keep them untouched. No wreckage was visible at all and it can only be assumed that the site was cleaned up when a nearby, (now disused), logging road was installed in the area.
A Old Logging Road Leads Towards the Water Bomber Crash Site
The Water Bomber Crash Location Along a Disused and Overgrown Logging Road
One of Several Trees in this Area Marked for Site Preservation
Onward we plodded to a section of trail which leads to the Moriarty Lake region, aptly named "Baker Steet." This is a fun section of trail with a few good challenges to keep any rider awake and on their toes. No wipe-outs through here this time around, but we both managed to get caught up for a minute or two in one particular muddy section.
We continued along branch G. and after taking a wrong left turn, (which you might want to look out for if you use our track), we corrected the route and connected with Nanaimo River Road and a left turn onto Branch K. This road takes you to the dastardly "bridge-out" location.
Paul was cleverly silent about the nature of this "bridge-out" and its work-around. I was aware that a work-around existed, but was never really filled in as to how gnarly this section really is. For some, I'm sure it's a simple matter of twisting wrists with careful clutching in order to gracefully dance their way up the 25° gradient. I'm not the most competent of riders to begin with, but my newly repaired collar bone had me thinking twice about going up through this patch at all. Paul convinced me that a good push behind my underpowered Kawi would be all that was needed to get through and he was right, although I dare say I wouldn't have tried this chunk of trail had I been alone. Poor bastard had to push like hell! :) We both agreed that going down this rooty slope would be moderately easy.
Paul Clears the River and Begins the Rooty Section
We were faced with a couple of small river crossings after this, one of which was quite boggy with plenty of nasty quadders logs. Thanks guys, you had me off my bike after glancing off of one of your poxy wood chunks! I had my left hand nicely trapped under my bars long enough for Paul to snap a pleasing "buddy down" shot. Go ahead and post that sucker Paul! You know you wanna!! (Oh, I have, Lemming Boy - it's on the vid!)
Wet Boggy Section's Quadder Crap Beckons Front Wheel
Looking up the Shaw Valley North. Very inviting: must explore that soon.
From here we continued along the Shaw Main towards North Shore Rd., which took us directly into Youbou. Halfway along the north shore of the lake, a massive Roosevelt Elk bull crossed right in front of us, herding his 4 largish cows across the road. It was a close one! (Shots on the vid). We gassed up at a Youbou gas station, (which sells regular, but only marked premium gas), and went on to Cassy's Coffee Shop which is a newly opened venue selling small meals and good coffee. Drop in there if you're in the area, they are very friendly and the food is good. Paul is convinced his heated jacket kept him warm on the return trip, but I know it was Cassy's chili working its magic.
Cassy's Coffee House
Fuelling Up Chilli Powered Heating System
After devouring Cassy's tasty nosh, we took off traveling west towards Nitinat River Rd. where a right turn leads you north up the "black top highway" which eventually takes you to Fourth Lake.
The pass leading up to Fourth Lake is superb fun! We both remembered this road being pretty chunky with quite a few boulders at one time. It's pretty smooth now and we charged up this excellent steep road at a good pace. The twisty road and higher side mountains really add to the overall beauty of this pass. From here we blasted down Nanaimo River Road hoping to catch the gate open. It was locked! I think we both knew it would be, but it was worth a try anyway.
It turns out that the locked gate was a real boon! We decided to return west along Nanaimo River Road and head up Branch C to the familiar "HeLLeVaToR" connector trail that joins our more local logging roads with the Mount DeCosmos area. We reached the Hellevator and searched briefly for a trail we have heard about that runs parallel to this trail but is much easier and faster to ride. After deciding it might not even really exist at all we started down the usual route only to find the elusive connector trail directly ahead of us. (A big thank you to "The Highway Men" who opened this new connecting trail up. It's fantastic). In "REAL Motorcycle Diaries" style it was quickly named "The Escalator" and down we went towards the main floor and ladies undergarments.
The Escalator Starts a Short Distance In
The Newly Visible Escalator Entrance. Bear left for the gentle escalator ride down; fork right for the Hellevator ride to hell.
After our float down the pillowy-soft escalator ride provided to us by The Highway Men, we followed our standard route out, taking a right-hand turn down through the power lines, zipped past Boomerang Lake and finally through the Tank Traps. Our final destination, oddly enough, was the Black Bear Pub where we once again administered muscle relaxing fluids (orally of course).
Our recent rides have been centered around using the excellent new roads created off 155 main by our friendly outdoors-sharing logging company. Paul and I took a round-about trip out that way today to see if we could navigate our newly-discovered trail that leads to Moriarty Lake, aptly named Baker Street, without running into TimberPest's gargantuan road blockage. We walked it during our previous ride in that area and decided that it was quite do-able if the weather remained dry. So we picked a nice soggy Sunday with lots of running water to attempt riding it. :) It was a terrific ride and a great success!
Here's the shape o' the day:
1. Entered the logging roads at Weigles Road/Doumont 2. Turned back at the "alternative tank traps" due to wind fall tree across the trail. We need a quader in here with a chainsaw! 3. Through the old tank traps, which is nicely cleared, and left turn on branch 142 towards Boomerang Lake. 4. Turned right and joined the power line trail. 5. Intended route towards the "hellevator" trail has turned into a pretty rapidly running river. We decided to head towards 155 main and blast up our recently more regular route. 6. Rode up Okay Mountain Valley, past the Rhododendron turning and turned left onto 155 main. 7. Uphill left turn onto signposted 155-160 8. Left onto connector trail to "Baker Street" (wikilocs track) 9. Through the connector and right down Baker Street to the logging roads surrounding Moriarty Lake. Took a quick visit to the Moriarty cabin where Paul was kind enough to share his British Rail type sandwich. Actually it was very good! (Yes it was - judging by the way you inhaled it! - P) Thanks mate. 10. Retraced route towards home. Dumped the bike up Baker Street. Darn you Moriarty! Followed 155 main up to a right turn onto branch 142 11. Back through the old tank traps. 12. Black Bear Pub for a pint o' IPA and ESB! Cheers!
Wind Fall timber across the trail through the alternative tank traps (2 on map above)
Colour Coded Altitude Track
New burned out (stolen?) truck appears on route to the Tank Traps on the Doumont side (shortly before 2 on map)
Washed out! River running down the route towards the HeLLeVaToR (5 on map)
Approaching Moriarty Lake Cabin on foot
Moriarty Lake Cabin at 9
Moriarty Lake Cabin at 9
Moriarty Lake Cabin at 9
Moriarty Lake Cabin at 9 Pack your garbage out...please
Above: Real Time Vid of the "Highlights" of the route to Moriarty Lake.
Time Lapse: Turning off 155-160 onto connector leading to Moriarty Lake ("Baker Street")
Time Lapse: Back up Baker Street connector trail towards 155-160
"Baker Street" is a way into Moriarty Lake from 155
Andy and I found a trail into Moriarty Lake from 155. "Baker Street" is perfectly doable for a bike in drier weather, and much more palatable, IMHO, than the old key trail. The blocked access to 155-160 is for reference. To get to Nanaimo Lakes Main, turn left (east) at "Moriarty's Key". ATVers that we met later told us the access route to it (green trail below) is easy. More maps and a video below.
While it looks overgrown on GE, it is not. The single track quad trail is clearly defined and obviously well used.
The unexplored green trail is accessed easily from 155-160.
The video is not very exciting, but does let you take a gander at the trail surface and terrain. It goes from "Sherlock's Trick" to "Moriarty's Key" From there, 4th Lake, "The Great Divide", Nitinat Main etc. are all accessible. Vancouver Island's backroads are your oyster...Again, apologies for the music...but it fits...;) [Apology NOT accepted ~Andy]
Google Earth flyover from 155 to the lake shore. (This is the track of the connector trail that can be downloaded right below this movie. Use it with the track "Doumont to Moriarty Lake" to find 155).
Here's a track of the connector trail which is a left turn off of 155N when heading SW, (the "unexplored green trail" shown in the photo above). The track shows the route to the lake shore, bypassing the nasty road block encountered when approaching the lake using just the major logging route.
Couldn't resist a shot of the beast. Handsome Devil, aint she!
As you can see from the previous five excellent posts, The REAL Motorcycle Diaries and DR Siouxsie's Travels have joined forces. Paul and I have decided to manage this page between us and to pool our resources since we often ride together anyway. This way, you get to read my hard-hitting, straight-to-the-point riding facts while enjoying Paul's verbose clatter sometimes in the same post! Speaking of verbose clatter, here's a mindless post that's sure to lull any reader into a deep sleep:
I've been playing around with timelapse videos on my ipod once again. (The resolution is crap, especially after YouTube have taken their bite out of it, but it serves its purpose quite well). I just set my bike up with a 12v/5v accessory plug in and I wanted to get out there and give it a whirl. So, here's a video to further illustrate my last post "Two Doumont Gates that Lead to Bonnell Main (The Sundew Road)". This video ride was identical to the previous post, except that I exited onto Harwood Dr., instead of returning to a Doumont gate, using a short and easily navigable workaround. (The tracks for this ride, including the workaround, can be found here).
The Route:
1. Entered through yellow gate off of Doumont Road 2. Over the white bridge and next left up the hill 3. Through the "Mud Pass" into the Lantzville Foothills 4. U-turn at Bonnell Main 5. Left towards alternate exit 6. Exited onto Harwood Dr. using workaround. (Harwood Dr. is very close to Phantom Rd., giving a couple of options in this area)
Here's the workaround at #6 above. It has been posted on here before, but with all the recent blockages by Tim Berwest, I thought it would be good to show that it's still open. (Go on Tim--do your worst. You know you wanna).
Now, the video you've ALL been waiting for.... *yawn*:
Well here goes... It's high time to start a blog! My wife has one <live link) and my friend started one a few weeks ago, and since my motorcycle collection just grew by one, I need a blog to record my adventures too. I love motorbikes. I've been riding them, on and off in some shape or form, for the last thirty five years.
My first was a Honda CB350--a twin and a lovely bike which I would love to own again one day, (yea...won't happen). I graduated to a 600cc BMW after that, (slash six series), and rode it for many years across Alberta, B.C. and down to Mexico when I was in my teens and twenties. Next came my 400XS Yamaha which I used to commute to and from university. It now lives in my brother's garage and still gets ridden regularly. I can't believe it's eligible for collector plates! My next bike was a real monster and easily takes the award as my most punchy machine: A Triumph Trophy 1200. It's quite amazing how flexible the right wrist of a man in his late forties can be. The Trophy 1200 is classed as a sport tourer which is part of the reason that riding it at 160Km feels like 100Km. Eventually I decided I needed a smaller bike for local touring and I traded it in on a Triumph Thruxton 900, my current street bike. (Here they are)
I've always been a bit down on trail bike riders. Street biker conditioning maybe. I never really understood what all the fuss was about. It wasn't until I went out with a couple of friends, who enjoy riding local trails, that I realized what a pile of fun riding the trails can be. I was smitten and so I added a Kawasaki KLX250S to the growing list. It's the first off road, (dual-purpose), bike I have owned and I love it.
So, that's what this blog will be about. My adventures on my bikes--probably more on the off-road side since I've discovered the excitement of discovering "far-away" places practically on my doorstep.
