The BC - Washington Loop - Phase One: Horseshoe Bay to Vernon

Click for a larger view...photographs are referenced by numbers on the map

1 The Brittania Mine - well worth the stop if you've never been into a mine before.  We were barely off the ferry, and we stopped to check out the mine.  I found it somewhat disappointing as compared to Andy and my previous visit to the Myra Falls Mine, but it was a worthwhile stop if only to adjust our gear!

 
The train ride is short, but the gold panning lucrative if you persist.  Of course, time is of the essence, so 3 flakes had to do.

 2 Shannon Falls: Another stop, another gear change.  Beautiful falls, and the road to Whistler is great to ride, but the weather seemed to change every few minutes.

3 Whistler: We actually stayed at the Fairmont for the night.  What an over-hyped, overpriced joint. They wanted to charge me $35 for parking.  Forget it.  Your bike won't trigger the automatic sensor, so ride around the gate (you should be used to riding around gates if you're a regular reader of this blog!), find a stall and enjoy a free stay. You won't be asked about parking in the reception/foyer, as you settle up with a machine on the way out, unless you ride around the exit barrier...Use the saved money for some liquid refreshment at the end of the day, or to tip the snooty Valet parkers...  So instead of free advertising for Whistler, I'll show you how you get a week's worth of clothes, iPads, iPhones, Kindles, passports, documents, spare keys, sunglasses, glasses, some minor medical paraphernalia and shoes into a Suzuki (Rebranded Trax) 38L Aluminium top box and Suzuki (Rebranded Bags-Connection) Tank Bag...Use a straw, an iron, and some ziplocks!

4 Mount Curry, Lillooet Lake to Duffy Lake:  Ok the serious stuff.  The roads.  The surface strangely degrades substantially after Whistler.  Christy is all about image.  The weather got wet too, but the much maligned Bridgestone trail wings were amazing, especially considering this was the first rain in a couple of weeks.  The road winds after Lillooet lake, up some tasty switchbacks with great elevation changes and views...a feature of much of this route. 

That's all the luggage...the tank bag and the top box...

Typical wet coast weather greeted as the elevation climbed, but what a difference in Lillooet.

5 Lillooet: Cross the coastal range and the climate and vegetation changes abruptly.  But the road continues to dish up exciting curves and elevation changes at will.  There is no end to them. The traffic is very light and the only speed tax collector we saw after Whistler was on a Harley ripping up the blacktop with abandon.  Great guy, who pulled over when he saw me adjusting my camera and had a chat.  

The Thompson starts to meander its way through this cowboy country...as do the roads :)

It was hot, and another gear change was required.  If you're a dirt rider, and you have a ballistic mesh vest, then this is the country for you.  Unfortunately we only had one...and you can guess who got that.

6 Cache Creek: Here you have a choice - head south along the 97C through Merritt and along 5 and 97C again to Kelowna and north to Vernon. OR, shorter,  head east on 1 through Kamloops, and turn southeast on the very scenic 97 through Falkland to Vernon. This is the route we took.  The 97 through Falkland is another great motorcycle road with good surface, great curves and scenery.

 Triple digit speed limits, something we don't see much of on Vancouver Island

7 The Falkland Road: Again, light traffic, scenic and flowing curves made for a nice end to the day before Vernon.  Vernon was not a place I would choose to stay again...It was a long a ride, and stopping in one of the smaller communities after Kamloops and before Vernon may have been a wiser choice.  Nothing against Vernon, but after the scenery we had seen that day, it was...grubby.

Phase Two - Vernon to Nelson

Doumont Road to Cowichan Lake with NO GATES!

We set out today to look for a second possible route to Moriarty Lake, an alternative to our new "key trail" which allows us to get through to the Nanaimo Lakes without passing through a Timberwest gate.  We got skunked unfortunately and we were unable to find a possible joining trail that Paul had picked out on Google Earth.  We decided instead to use the standard "key trail," make our way to the Nanaimo Lakes and then push on past Fourth Lake to Cowichan Lake.  If nothing else we could check the state of the gate just past Fourth Lake.

Here's our route:

 
1.  Entered at Doumont Rd.
2.  Turned onto the 155 Main logging road
3.  Turned left off of 155 towards mountain ridge NE of Moriarty Mountain onto 155N
4.  Looking for alternative route to Moriarty Lake
5.  Shelton Lake
6.  Passed Fourth Lake turnoff to our left
7.  Mountain pass... NO GATE
8.  Paved black-top section - Logger's highway to Cowichan!
9.  Through Youbou...  Supper in Cowichan Lake & #1 highway home

So, we got past Fourth Lake and stopped at the approximate cross-over location between two local logging company's boundaries where the gate should be.  There was no gate!  We've been wondering about this gate for quite a while now, and it appears that it's nothing but a figment of my imagination.*  I had imagined there must be a gate between the two borders since they went to the bother of removing a bridge at a similar location not far from here.  I had managed to convince us all about the problem of getting around this gate that never existed.  :) 

*  Oct 27/12:  Just saw the gate position shown in an old "V. I. mapbook," so I'm not delusional after all.

We saw some really great looking logging roads in this area that we must get back and try another day.  One in particular climbs steeply towards the SE and it looks like it would have some fantastic views of the pass we were riding through.  The road through here, an "S" that makes it's descent through the mountains north of Sadie Peak, are not nearly as difficult to ride as I had imagined.  Google Earth's exaggerated 3D view makes it look like you're about to ride the Himalayas, but the road is in pretty good shape and the steeper grades are hardly noticeable.

Mountain Trail  Heading SE through the Mountain Pass

 
We eventually reached a really good black-top section of road that takes you a fair distance towards Cowichan Lake.  You can reach speeds of 80km/h if you watch carefully for the odd crater and the occasional not-so-smooth transition between gravel road and tarmac.  This great little road follows the Nitinat river and offers some terrific spots to stop and check out the view.

Smooth Black-Top Between Fourth Lk. and Cowichan Lk.

 
We passed our previous route into Marcus Lake, (although I forgot to notice the turn as we rode through).  This will definitely be the route we take next time we take off for a camping trip into that area;  it's a far better alternative than being forced to take the highway down through Youbou as we did last time.

We continued on towards the east and drove the northern shore of Cowichan Lk. through Youbou and onto the town of Cowichan Lake for supper.  "Jake's at the Lake" is a great place to eat if you're going through town.

We blasted up the highway from here.  It's a much more boring way to travel, but we were feeling pretty satisfied from our tremendous ride from Doumont to Cowichan without hitting one logging gate!

Kudos to Paul for oiling up his plugs and riding back at 100km/h so my 250 wouldn't melt.  ;)