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...
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.
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.
Man, what an outstanding ride today! Paul came up with a plan to attack Moriarty Lake a short time ago and we took a ride out there today. It didn't go exactly as planned, but it turned into a spectacular ride all the same. Here's the route:
Click Me! I get bigger.
We started out at the Doumont Trail and rode together to the Boomerang Lake turnoff, ("Int B") . Paul turned right and I turned left so we could compare travel times arriving at 155 Main, the main Englishman River route. My route was much slower and it appears that the older route is the one to take if time's an issue. I think I still prefer the scenic route though.
We met back up and headed SW along 155 main, continuing until taking a left turn onto 155N, the road to Moriarty Lake. We followed a route that both Paul and I had plotted separately on Google Earth. The route looked like it could quite possibly take us to the lake shore, and so it was definitely the preferred route. We got stopped however: A relatively steep section with some problematic rocks proved to be too difficult to climb. (Marked on the map and graph above with small, red triangles). We gave it our best shot, but I'm afraid it will have to wait until another attempt.
We turned back and tried the left turn, an earlier alternative at the previous Y intersection. My GPS showed that this route ended abruptly before the lake, but it was worth a try at least. The road quality was really good on this trail and the 400m gain in elevation from the Y to our next stopping point was easy, BUT we hit snow.
The Snow! I've got to give Paul his dues here; he tried repeatedly to get through that lot. After twenty minutes he quit digging with his rotten log and retreated from the deep trench he was carving with his rear tire.
No Comment
The ride up to this unfortunate blob of snow had been excellent and we both intend on returning to get to the end of the road. Who knows, the hike into the lake might not be that bad. The views along the way were truly outstanding. We caught many excellent views of Mt. Moriarty:
Mount Moriarty
I really like this shot. The original panorama was twice as long, but the tree on the right made it impossible to stitch the photos correctly. Just as well... I prefer it.
So, we made our way back down this excellent road. Paul had been in this area a short time ago and had found another really good route leading to Marshall Lake. I've been interested in trying it since he blogged about it. We decided to follow his previous route, entering the area on one road and returning on a different one.
This proved to be another great ride. A gradual climb brought us to the familiar rotten and closed bridge seen on Paul's blog:
The Closed Bridge: The spans are massively wide in diameter and although the bridge is closed, it's undoubtedly strong enough to hold a bike and rider. There's a deep lip on both sides that would prove to be extremely difficult for larger vehicles. The large gaps look to be a real problem for 4x4's wheels too.
We couldn't read the first word on this sign, so we just proceeded across the bridge to find whatever had been closed.
[Edit: 27/09/2014] This bridge has now been taken out by the logging company. See this more recent post.
Next came a steeper section of road with some good sized rocks. It was quite manageable although I wouldn't complain if the logging companies rushed out there and graded the road surface! It was surprisingly easy to come down; a lesser slope than the more difficult road descending to Rhododendron Lake along the power line trail.
We arrived soon at Marshall Lake. It's a beautiful lake surrounded by mountains. The water has a clear glacial look to it and the two waterfalls off to the right add a fantastic sound and view to the whole scene.
Great camping spot at the lake's edge
Marshall Lake Panoramic
We stopped here for a half hour or so and then followed the road a short distance to a spot overlooking the lake:
Now we began our return trip on a different road, eliminating the bridge, but shortly before making our left turn we encountered a large black bear on the road. He began to run off as Paul's bike approached him, but stopped briefly to inspect us from a distance. He was one big and healthy looking bear... big shiny black coat. Fantastic looking animal! After looking into the forest briefly from our bikes and seeing nothing, we continued on our way. This was another really good road and I'm glad that Paul decided to show me this alternative route leading to the lake.
That was it... We continued along 155 Englishman River Main to Branch 142 and returned back into Doumont through the Boomerang lake turnoff. We sucked back a quick coffee at Starbucks, washed the bikes and went our separate ways.
Here's the route spelled out blow-by-blow: (It's advisable to bring the video up full-screen and then tweak the resolution up to 720p if you want to read any of it).
Want more? Here's one that's sure to bore you to death unless, a) you were there, b) you wish you were there or, c) 16 minutes of constant repetition excites you. Re-vamped... Now it will just waste 2 minutes and thirty-nine seconds of your valuable life. It's a Google Earth "Flyover" of the same KML track.
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