Lawn Bowling for Youbou: Doumont to Youbou Figure 8 Tour

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). 

Elevation Track

For a downloadable track of this ride click here to visit us at Wikilocs!

Northwest Bay to Moriarty Lake and Beyond... (New Trail)

A few readers of both Dr. Siouxsie and this blog may remember the Key Trail which we found and rode for couple of seasons.  It was a way into the Nanaimo Lakes Road territory from the Northwest Bay Logging division without having to use the traditional (gated) route via 2nd Lake.  But it was long, rough going at times, and the actual "Key Trail" and subsequent route down towards Third Lake was choked with alder whippers.  We gave up on that trail and have looked for various ways though since. Yesterday, I found one...sort of...

Above (click to enlarge) The red trail is yesterday's ride.  The green trail is the old "Key" trail, so called because it was better than a key to the second lake gate...

Above: Turn left at 155-160, which is signed off 155 a few km past the hydrolines...keep on that extremely well groomed trail, and follow it to the end.  The views and ride are stunning. The connector waypoint at the bottom leads right to Moriarty Lake and the trails beyond...all the way to Nanaimo Lakes road near Third Lake.  It is blocked with 4 or 5 large logs, but where there is a will there is a way...

GPX File can be downloaded here.  Apologes for the quality of the return track.  The GPS seemed to lose it's position and jump around.  The waypoint is a little off, but just ride down 155 and you will see the sign post on the left "155-160".  Take it.  A DR, KLR or Vstrom could make this ride easily, it's wide well surfaced and well graded.  A caution - they are working on this trail, and towards the end you will see the equipment, and the blasting caps.  Weekends only.

Pics and Vids: I was pressed for time, so sorry for the lack of stills, particularly of the Moriarty trail...I'll be back soon and will flesh out this entry...

Alternative Tank Traps...

A tree has been felled in an alleged attempt to block access, again.  There were some rocks.  Rolling over was easy.  Shoddy workmanship by Tim Berwest again.

Marshall Creek Bridge has been dismantled...

Above and Below...Rode over this a couple of years ago.  Plenty of strength left then...

See original bridge here...

 Marshall Lake:

Above: Marshall Lake: the water is very low right now, super clear and the fish were jumping everywhere while I was there.  The trail up is in good repair and easily accessible by bike.

Below: 155-197 Spur.  A steep but easy and rewarding ascent - you really climb!  Views are stunning (iPhone doesn't do it justice...)

155-197 Spur - the end of the line.  This is what looks like the cribbing that I point up at from the Marshall route further south in the video below.

Time lapse you tube video of the ride...Click settings and choose 1080 HD

Google Earth Flyover of this track:

[Andy's Edit:  21/09/2014]

Really felt like I was missing out here, and so I did this route to Moriarty Lake yesterday to try out the new logging road that Paul mentioned.  Fantastic ride... "The Moriarty Highway."  No point in repeating this route with a new blog entry, so...

It's been about a month since I had a good ride.  An old back injury revisited me after hiking up DeCosmos on our last ride together.  I've been keeping off my feet as much as I can since then, but after picking up some decent pain medication that prevents me from emptying multiple bottles of the off-the-shelf stuff and having waiting for my back to recover considerably, I'm ready for a ride once again.  No Paul about!  Off sailing...  How la-di-dah!  (I can see the cucumber sandwiches with their crusts cut off).  Then I guess it's a solo ride.

Beautiful views along the serpentine "Moriarty Highway"

Approaching the lake from the upper road

Moriarty Lake from the road blockage.  (The road block is the pile of logs on the far left) 

The road block prevents you from riding down to the lake, although it's walkable.  

From what I can see, this blockage scuttles any chances of getting through to the roads that lead into the Nanaimo Lakes area.  I guess we have to start looking!

Mama black bear and her cubs.  Saw these guys on the return trip about 5 or 6km from the lake.  I was sure I had seen three cubs, but I guess not.

My track from Doumont to Moriarty Lake.

Made a quick visit to Rhododendron Lake and checked out the progress of the roads that appeared as if they're traveling towards Okay Mountain valley.  They don't connect yet, although there's now a cool trail that climbs a dead-end spur with good views of Okay Mt.  I took our usual route through the valley, back to the power lines, past Boomerang Lake and eventually Doumont using the original tank traps route.

Red shows track available from link directly above, (Doumont Rd to Moriarty Lake), and blue shows my return route.  The elevation profile shows the red track only, with the red arrow locating the highest point at 1023m (3356ft).  

Doumont Rd to Moriarty Lake:  Colour Coded Elevation Track

Here's the whole ride from Doumont Rd to Moriarty lake in time-lapse at 4x speed:

And, the tank traps through the original route at 3x speed.

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.  ;)  

Doumont Rd. to Moriarty Lake and Nanaimo River Rd.

FINALLY, we did it!  We managed to punch through to Moriarty Lake and Nanaimo River Road from the north.  We tried this a few weeks ago when there was still snow up in the nose bleed region, (1015m).  This time, the ridge we were climbing to the east of Mount Moriarty was clear all the way, (sweltering hot actually), and we were able to ride right over the top at 1090m (3576ft).

Here's the route in brief:

 

1.  Started at Doumont Rd. entrance to logging roads
2.  Turned right at the intersection NW of Boomerang Lk. onto Branch 142
3.  Left onto 155 main
4.  Turned left off of 155 towards mountain ridge NE of Moriarty Mountain onto 155N
5.  Passed "snow" waypoint
6.  Turned right onto key trail linking the northern logging roads to the southern roads (thanks Google E).  There's a nasty downhill section full of young alders shortly after this location. 
7.  Right turn to Moriarty Lake
8.  Lunch at the lake shore
9.  Descent towards Nanaimo River Rd. on Branch G
10.  Nearly went to 4th Lake... oops.  (I've been staring at this route for too long).
11.  NO GUARD at the gate on Nanaimo River Rd.  Their schedule is extremely odd!
12.  Turned left to follow the lower Blackjack Ridge route back to Doumont
13.  Doumont Rd.

Plenty of dust out there today.  The logging trucks were working and we had a few of them blast past us doing 9 869 862 km/h, leaving us confused and dazed in a cloud of thick dust.  The bikes were kicking up plenty too, measurable by the layers of dirt up my sinuses.

The ride up the ridge, (a left off of 155 Main), was noticeably different from the last time we came this way:  The dryer weather and some wear from quads and bikes have loosened dirt and rocks making the road surface quite a bit looser than we both remembered it.  It was pretty easy going, only the wheel had a tendency to spin out more times than last.  It's a great climb up there...  I love how Moriarty Mountain opens up on your right as you get higher.  The weather was so good today; it would have been a good day to bring my decent camera.  Hindsight is 20/20...  I was stuck with only my GPS pics again.

We reached the end of the road as planned and explored the "brownish key trail" we have both been spying on Google Earth, (item 6 above).  Part of me thought this was going to be a complete waste of time and I thought we were in for a line of dead branches and stumps that only appeared to be a trail from satellite.  I was delightfully surprised!

A big log marks the entrance on the right, which starts about 120 yds before the end of the road.  This short joiner trail is about 100 yds long.

It was a good quad/bike trail and had obviously been carved into place by riders who were doing exactly what we were doing;  looking for a route to the lakes and Nanaimo River Road.  i.e. Getting access to the Nanaimo Lakes area even when the logging gates are closed.  (Of course, this is completely legitimate, otherwise there would be signs posted to prevent it).

We made it through with little trouble.  Occasional ditches have been strategically placed to make access more difficult than a straight trail, but these ditches are more of a mild nuisance than a trail stopper.  We continued downward through a series of these ditches, perhaps four or five.

After descending a fair way we reached a "T."  From here you can turn right to Moriarty or left to Nanaimo River Road and Fourth Lake.  Time was an issue today and we decided on saving the " check Fourth Lake gate" ride for another time.  (Note, Aug 31/12:  We've discovered there is no gate.  Hahaha). We began to climb once more and than started to descend towards Moriarty Lake.  There are terrific views of Moriarty Lake and a couple of other no-name lakes as you crest the round road leading to the lake.  We stopped at a large "tank trap" at the end of the road and decided to walk the remaining 170yd four iron shot to the lake.  Ahhhh, lunchtime at the lake.

Moriarty's Lake Shore

We rode the circle road once again and arrived back at the "T" intersection.  Continuing straight we rode a steady and quite lengthy descent down to Nanaimo River Road.  From here we continued along the less-than-exciting N. R. Rd. back towards more familiar logging roads and zipped straight through the unguarded open gate.  This annoys me!  They stopped us a week ago when we attempted to ride through here and turned us back with fully loaded bikes, forcing us to ride the #1 highway down to Cowichan Lake.  Today, they decide that it's okay to leave the open gate unattended.  Who's writing their rule book?

A quick left turn took us back onto more familiar roads.  We rode the lower Blackjack Ridge road back past Boomerang Lake and followed the tank traps back to Doumont.

What an outstanding ride today!  Finally, we conquered Moriarty Lake and we found a way through to Nanaimo River Road and beyond.  :)  It might be a bit of a struggle going the other way, although it looks quite do-able.  We'll see. 

Quad riders:  We need you guys to ride between location 6 and 7 to help stop those alders coming through the road!  :)

3D Anaglyph Images of Local Trails

I've been playing with Google Earth making 3D images of some of the more mountainous terrain.  The results are quite surprising.  The roads to the west of Fourth Lake look pretty hairy!

You'll need red/cyan glasses to view these.  Red/green will work, but not that well.

The two summits of Mt Decosmos

 

Doumont Trail and the Tank Traps

West from Fourth Lake

South from Fourth Lake to Cowichan Lake

Local Logging Roads

Okay Mt Valley to Rhododendron Lake

Didn't Get the Jump on Jump Lake!

Had a terrific ride with Paul on Saturday.  We headed out to see if we could get to Jump Lake, one of Nanaimo's watershed lakes.  The route looked plain enough; through the traps, follow the logging road that runs the base of Blackjack Ridge, a short spell on Nanaimo Lakes Road and then follow a short route in behind (south of) Gemini and Green Mountains.  It was good in theory... then we ran into the locked "Nanaimo Water Shed District" gate shortly after we crossed the Nanaimo River.

The locked gate at Nanaimo's Watershed District.  Paul's trying out his new helmet, goggles and a fancy Swann digital movie camera.  Nice gear!

 

Looking east from the bridge crossing the Nanaimo River.  There were a couple of guys panning for gold off the other side. 

What now?  We were well on our way to the Nanaimo Lakes and we both had our fishing gear, so off we went to Fourth Lake to try our luck.  We were stopped at the entry gate by some little man masquerading as Hitler who demanded $2 entry to the lakes!  Didn't get that the last time we went through.  Just lucky the last time I guess since Hitler maintained that people always pay at the gate.

The ride to Fourth Lake was great.  Lots of dust out there already.  It was really interesting to have a quick look at the entry road to the gold mine on Mt. DeCosmos, an upcoming summer ride.  That's a big mountain as far as local mountains go and it looks quite intimidating from the Nanaimo Lakes Rd. side of the mountain.  The logging road that leads to the summit skirts around its edge and climbs up a much milder looking NW side.  

We hit snow at the final turn off that leads to Fourth Lake so we parked a short distance from the dam and walked up the rear slope.  Terrific day for fishing.  Beautifully clear up there; a bit breezy but comfortable sitting on the dam catching its radiant heat.

Panoramic (180 degree) down the length of the dam

 

The lake's water level was much higher than it was during our earlier visit in the fall.

 We didn't catch anything here and decided to continue with our ride with a stop off at Boomerang Lake to see if we might get something.

Boomerang Lake 

I fished at the usual spot directly forward of the trail that leads in and Paul fished off to the right.  I got skunked and Paul caught two small trout. 

I packed my Garmin's battery housing with memory foam for this ride.  It worked well and I didn't see anything of the bothersome cutting-out and rebooting that had driven me close to insanity on my previous two rides.  I was pretty pleased that the unit had stayed on for the entire trip while recording the entire ride.  That's going to work better in the bush!

Great ride!  It's really nice to get back out there with Paul after the winter hiatus.

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