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!

Down Baker Street to Moriarty's Lair

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

Time Lapse: Return trip from 155

 

Track Flyover on Google Earth

GPS Track Playback at 100x Speed

Here's a direct track from doumont to Lake Moriarty.  Use it in conjunction with this track of the connector (Baker St) to get right down to the lake.  The track for the entire route, exactly as it appears on this blog page, can be found here.

  

155 Through to Moriarty: Baker Street

"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!

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.

Marshall Lake is Tamed, but Moriarty Lake Remains as My Nemesis

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.

What a fantastic ride!

GPX Track
KML Track

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.