Auuuuugh... My Bloody Hip!

Great ride today!  I feel like we fooled the weather completely; not a drop of rain for the entire ride.  With that said, there was enough rain sitting in pools and around wet logs to get me flying off my bike.

Here's the route today:

Click Me to Big Me!

We left from Metral Starbucks today and entered the logging roads from the usual direction: We decided to risk going through the tank traps again, boggy pools and all.  Paul wanted to show me an alternate route to Nanaimo Lakes Rd. via the logging trail that leads to the Boomerang "boatramp."  We turned right at the Boomerang Lake Y junction and headed through some really great twisty logging roads, (pink on the map).  That is, without doubt, one of the better local trails in that neck of the woods.  We ended up joining onto Nanaimo Lakes Road at an open gate very near to the main First Lake entrance.  It's a far better ride than my earlier "Behind Benson" route.  We both had our rods with us and we decided to head towards Second Lake where I had seen some pretty busy swirling fish action a week ago.

Second Lake was alive with rising fish again today.  We both clambered down a steep embankment just past the Second Lake Bridge and fished there for about half an hour.  It was frustrating as hell watching masses of bloody fish swirl on the surface while casting into them with every lure in the tackle box.  We both left with nothing but tired legs from climbing the embankment.

First Lake looking right from the fishing spot

Looking left from fishing spot

 We clambered back onto our bikes and flew off down the half gravel logging road to Fourth Lake, (which we nearly missed because some clown has knocked over the sign).  We fished to the right of last weekend's spot.

A normal photo of Paul fishing at Fourth Lake.  He was practicing his highly unusual, (and slightly anti-social), "Gandalf cast" this afternoon, but I wasn't lucky enough to capture it on camera.  Look at those two rising trout to the left.  Trust him to be looking the other way.

Fourth Lake

I caught two monsters in there!  I assure you they would have appeared as monsters to any passing mosquito larvae.  I chucked 'em back in.  Paul claims to have caught a 13" trout of over two pounds, although I never did actually see it.  The only evidence of the catch was his constant flitting around on a nearby rock with a cheap wooden handled knife.  Should you visit his blog I suggest both comparing his new trout shot with earlier posted photographs in addition to heedful checks for flakey Photoshopping technique.

We returned to Weigles Road the same way we had come.  The ride back was equally as good as the ride out to the lakes until we hit the Tank Traps.  I'm well aware that motorbike tires have no traction when riding over wet logs when approached at an angle... did that stop me?  No, I made a stupid error and cleared one of the wet traps only to glance off a small wet log at about 45° as I reached the top.  I dumped it, bending my brake lever and bruising my right hip.  That %^@#& hurt!!  I beeped my horn to get Paul's attention and luckily he heard me and did an about face, leaving his bike between mud holes while carefully placing his helmet where it would roll into one of the muddy pools.  No big damage, except for a lever, a bent mirror, and my damaged dignity... I can live with that.

(Photo courtesy of Paul). The Helmet.  Nothing will ever prevent Paul from being a bit wet behind the ears.  Unfortunately there is no shot of the downed bike.  I wasn't in the mood for photographs, so kudos to Paul for at least taking a snap of his own misfortune.

 Altogether it was a really good ride.  That twisty logging road will be great fun in the summer!

Oh, I nearly forgot...  Here's another cheesy 3D anaglyph image.  (You'll need red/cyan glasses):

View Full Size.  3D view (Made from GoogleEarth images) of the area surrounding Fourth Lake

Fourth Lake Dam

Wooohoo, there's a window appearing in the local weather.  It looks like a rain free day... perfect for a quick ride out to the Nanaimo Lakes area.  Nanaimo has a series of lakes that run west from the south end of the city.  The area is owned by a large logging company who open their gates on weekends for campers to travel the logging roads into campsites on the lakes.  I was heading for Fourth Lake today, the last of the Nanaimo Lakes, to try some fishing off the dam if possible.

The route (Click to enlarge)

I picked the route heading south behind Mount Benson to keep it interesting rather than heading through the city.  I entered the logging roads through Weigles Road and headed through the worsening gummy tank traps.  (I got my bike stuck in a pool of sludge going through there today).  I followed the route I had taken on an earlier ride with Paul, past Boomerang Lake and down to the locked gate that exits onto Nanaimo Lakes Road.  The work-around is to the right of the gate and leads through a series of hills and pools that have been pretty overrun by quads that like to churn up the mud.

The "work-around" to the right of Nanaimo Lakes Road gate

The gate "work-around"

After ten minutes of navigating on foot to check if parts were passable I emerged onto Nanaimo Lakes Road and made my way on real roads to South Forks Rd.  This road takes you directly to Nanaimo River Road, the stretch of road that leads to all of the lakes.

Some miles along you reach an opened gate.  There was a gate keeper there today, as there is on most weekends, and he took my name, address, phone number and licence number.  I was instructed to check back out before five-o-clock.

First Lake is just beyond the gate.  I could see trout swirling around near shore and I wish now that I'd taken the time to stop there to fish for a while.  I wanted to move on and try fishing at Fourth Lake and still get out by five so I went on.

Second Lake

The logging roads are in great shape all the way through the lakes area.  I wouldn't take a regular car through there, but it's quite manageable for a 4x4 truck or trail bike.  After a few turns, approximately 30 minutes after passing the gate guy, I reached a Y in the road and a sign pointing left to "Fourth Lake."  The lake is only a few minutes ahead after climbing a small hill.

Left for Fourth Lake.

I turned right at the lake and drove along the length of the dam itself.  You can't fish easily off the dam, but there are many spots visible along the shore nearby.  I rode off towards the end of the Fourth Lake campsite and found a good spot on the lake shore for fishing.

The far end of the dam

Looking along the dam towards the road.  That's my fishing spot on the shore near the yellow tree furthest to the right.

Taken from the dam looking SW

Cheesy self-timer shot off the dam wall.

Further round the lake... This is the campsite area.  I fished from this spot.  That's the dam on the left.

The dam

Looking SW down the lake

I fished for about forty minutes and got many hits but I only managed to pull one in, a tiny trout that I was determined to keep.

The monster of the lake

I followed part of the same route home, but this time I opted for a trip through the city because it started to rain.  Altogether it was a really good ride and one that I'll repeat again.  Next time I think I'll stop at First Lake to do some fishing though.

That was five hours of wicked entertainment, traveling 140Km through some fantastic terrain, and the whole thing cost me $5.80 in fuel.  Not bad value since I brought a fish home too.  ;)