Revisiting the "Marianas Mars" CF-LYJ Crashsite

Some time ago we visited the crash site of the "Marianas Mars" CF-LYJ water bomber near Moriarty Mountain on Vancouver Island.  The "Marianas Mars" was one of four water bombers in service in the Vancouver Island region, each charged with putting out forest fires for Macmillan Bloedel.  We had looked briefly at the site during a ride to Youbou in 2015, but time was short on this earlier ride and we left the site quickly without really giving it the time it deserved.  Click here for details of that ride.

More recently, Dan F., one of our readers, fellow rider and associate of the local Nanaimo Historical Society, contacted us and invited us to a presentation by a past Mac Blo Administrator who has first hand knowledge of the crash and who was present during the extraction of wreckage during the aftermath of this tragedy.

His presentation was excellent.  He included historical details of the four Mars bombers, and covered details of two major fires in our local area, one being the large fire on Mt. Moriarty where the Marianas came down.  The plane had been in military service until 1956 and was eventually sold in 1959 and converted into a forest fire fighting aircraft (CF-LYJ) by Macmillan Bloedel.  The plane crashed on June 23rd, 1961.  It's believed that the water drop mechanism failed and the aircraft was unable to achieve the altitude necessary to clear the mountain.  All four crew members on board perished.  (Wikipedia reference).

This was a perfect ride to open the season and a great reason to begin posting blog entries once again. Paul and I decided to revisit the site and spend a little more time looking around.  Let's get a look at the track for this ride.  Here's an overview using Google Earth to fly over the route: (After you hit play, you'll see this better at full screen settings.  Takes a few seconds for the view to settle down).

Here's the track viewed with Garmin Navigator (at 1000x speed):

1.  We entered the logging roads from our usual Doumont/Biggs Rd. side.  Neither of us have been through here for a while since Timberlands began their most recent war against riders entering the region.  We were pretty interested in seeing how impregnable the "tank traps" area is to date.   

2.  Whaddaya know, you can get through!  That's right, it needs patching up again guys!  Get your finger out!  ;)  Quadders and bikers have bridged the newly dug traps and a route goes through to a location very close to the old "tank traps" exit.  (I've been asked in the past not to reveal news of entrances into the area, but quite honestly there's no secret here.  We're all using these common routes and the logging company is well aware when these major routes become compromised again.  In fact, they must expect it to happen pretty much on schedule.  It's nothing new:  They patch it...  We get through... They patch it...  etc).

3.  Turned N.W. onto Branch 142

4.  Turned left traveling  S.W. on 155 Main

5.  Turned left onto 155N.  This logging road entrance was recently gated.  Access is possible by bike and likely by quad, although it's tight.  You won't get a truck in there.

There are some pretty good views of the Strait of Georgia looking N.E. from high points of the road on 155N as it curves its way up towards the crash site.

 
 We hit snow as we got a little higher towards the crash site.  We were able to ride through it and managed to get right up next to the coordinates.

 
6.  The crash site at  N49° 10.996' W124° 22.996'.  It's pretty easy to find.  Park your bike on the logging road near the coords, and walk into the bush on the right side (A).

 
You can make out a clearing from the road where trees are thinned over an old logging road that runs at 90° to the road where you park.

You continue along this old remnant of a road for a couple of hundred yards and then enter the trees on the right side (B).  Look for trees marked in blue paint.

 
 Most are numbered and some appear to have the word  "OUT" painted above a number.  We were speculating on whether this number referred to a piece of wreckage or perhaps even human remains.  Numbers appear to reach into the twenties.  There are quite a few blue markers sprayed near the coords given above, although they continue as you proceed towards the N.W.

We stumbled upon an empty bear den half way along our short hike.  Not the sort of thing you want to get too close to during the spring, but it appeared to be safely abandoned some time ago.

(Er.... no, didn't happen).

Eventually you reach a steep downward slope where there is old fire damage visible in the remaining stumps and roots.  Pretty clear evidence of a fiery crash site is visible here (C).  We both looked carefully for any sign of wreckage all through the track shown above, but found no metal at all.  We looked in a few areas which appeared to be compressed from impact using a metal detecting probe, but found nothing metallic at all.

 
 At location C we separated and Paul traveled down the slope in the hope of finding fragments that might have made it to the bottom, (at the fire site).  Great idea, but unfortunately he didn't find anything there either.  Kudos to the MacBlo cleanup crew!  You guys removed every trace!  It's a heavily treed area and it very likely gets deep annual coverage of needles, covering any small traces they might have been left.  It's an interesting site to investigate nontheless; if you look carefully, the direction of travel can be seen by following broken stumps and old fractured and fallen trees from the fire location towards the blue marked trees at the coordinates.

 7.  We retraced our route and continued on towards Cottle Lake to see if the route was still blocked by gate.  The gate was locked.

8.  We looked at alternative ways of getting back through the tank traps, but had no luck.  The route we followed, which we have referred to earlier as the "tank traps alternative route," ended at a dead end with no clearly visible path through.  We then returned the same way we had entered the area.

9.  ESB poured like rain at the Black Bear Pub!

Here's a quick look at the elevations on this route:

You can get a better look if you click on these pics.

The movie feature.  Go get some popcorn:

Excellent ride!  Big thanks to Dan for inviting us out to hear that presentation.


Track for this ride is available here, at wikiloc.com


*UPDATE: May 22nd, 2017*

YouTuber "Cars show Island" send us a link to the YouTube video "Marianas Mars The Dean Fire 1960 British Columbia" which shows excellent footage of the Marianas Mars in action over the Nicola Valley.  He tells me it's the only known footage of this Mars water bomber.

Go give him a "like" if you get a minute:

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As a side note, the Aviation Safety Network website list this crash location with a lower level of accuracy.  (Possibly they desired it to be this way, but more likely they just found Moriarty Mountain on a map and pinned it).  Their listed location is 7km out, so don't go there!  ;) 

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.

Deadhorse Creek Gold Mine

Holy cow... No blog updates for a while now!  This one was such a great ride it must be recorded.  Paul and I have been waiting to do this ride for quite some time.  I found reference to a gold mine for sale in the Mt. DeCosmos area towards the end of the riding season last year.  Now that we have found a tried and true route into the Nanaimo Lakes region without having to use a gate, we decided the time was finally right to go and find this mine.  Actually we attempted to get there a week earlier following trails along the north side of Decosmos from the power lines, but the trail didn't look too friendly.  We walked it and managed to reach the DeCosmos road and we quite likely could have got the bikes through the rocky trail, but we just didn't welcome the struggle.  So, on Sept 29th we made our way through the standard Moriarty Lake route using what we have come to call "the key trail."

Here's our route to #19 (the mine) and back to the starting point at Doumont Rd:

 1.  Stopped and watched some amazing young riders flying over the track at the Nanaimo Motocross Assoc. (Wastelands).  Very skillful riders on that track.  We met up with Ryan there, who was able to join us on his 450 KTM.  VERY nice bike!
2.  Through the tank traps.
3.  Left turn on Branch 142 towards Boomerang Lake.
4.  Past Boomerang Lake, turned right and then right again towards the power lines route.
5.  Headed NW along the power lines.
6.  Right turn to follow Okay Mountain Valley, (on west side of mountain).
7.  Left onto 155 main.  Got to try Ryan's KTM here... WOW!
8.  Turned left off of 155 towards mountain ridge NE of Moriarty Mountain onto 155N.
9.  Left turn towards mountain ridge.
10.  Ridge Trail NE of Mt. Moriarty
11.  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.  (Might not be easily accessible if quaders don't hurry up and help us in keeping the trail usable).
12.  Down through alders.
13.  Left turn towards Healy Lake.  This was a failed attempt to get through to the DeCosmos roads by cutting past Healy Lk. 
14.  We stopped briefly at the lake to take a look:  Catch and release with non-barbed hooks here.  Daily limit=0. 
15.  Past the lake it began to get pretty steep and rocky.  Too rich for my blood!  Ryan had little trouble blasting through this section on his KTM, but Paul and I would have had much greater difficulty.  Do-able I think, but not without pushing and pulling each other.  :(  Much easier to continue through Nanaimo River Road.
16.  Back onto the main trail and downhill to Nanaimo River Road.
17.  Left turn at the beginning of Second Lake to follow the road leading up Mt. DeCosmos.
18.  Right turn onto mine trail and a sharp left again up a well grown in trail that begins to climb a bit steeper.

19.  We reached the Deadhorse Creek Gold Mine.  The narrow trail comes to an abrupt end where it meets the creek.  You can see the mine opening from here if you look slightly upwards at about 2 o'clock.  You need to climb down into the creek bed, which is about 15ft below you.  Someone has very kindly attached a couple of ropes to a tree to help you climb down about ten feet.  Once down, the entrance is clearly visible to your right and easy to reach.  (It has a flat roof, which I found a bit surprising).  We entered the mine for about 50m and encountered a vertical ventilation shaft that lets a good deal of light in.  From here there are a couple of spurs leading off in different directions.

We discovered that Paul had acquired a large metal staple in his rear tire.  It was pretty clear that a gentle ride out would be the best fix.  Excellent bit of riding on his part, not only in protecting the rim from damage, but staying upright on a tire with broken beads down a pretty bumpy trail.

20.  Luckily, the yellow gate was opened by a truck ahead of us and we escaped through without needing to retrace our route heading north.  We turned left shortly after the main gate and continued towards Doumont on logging roads once more.
21.  Continued along the SW side of Blackjack Ridge.
22.  Right towards Boomerang Lake.
23.  Thru the Tank Traps and out to Doumont to put Paul's sick bike onto Ryan's truck.  ;)

Here's some photos:

Healy Lake

Parked at Healy Lake

 

The end of the trail leading up to Deadhorse Creek.  You gotta wonder how that staple managed to get up there.  Surely nobody would be stupid enough to keep riders away from looking at a mine by puncturing their tires? 

 

Climbing down into the creek bed

Climbing down using the ropes.  You can see the entrance to the mine in this shot:  Look at the tree on the right.  Now look between the two sets of main branches on the left side of this tree.  The darker spot in the gap between is the mine opening.

You can see the mine entrance a little clearer here.  Ryan is pointing his camera directly at it.  I'm standing at the bottom of the ropes where we climbed down.

The mine entrance, (lit by daylight).  Square!?  I thought rounded would have been stronger/safer.  What do I know?

    

In the mine.  Looking back towards the entrance.

Looking up.  This is a vertical shaft about 50m into the mine.  Pretty wet here...  Lots of water dripping into the mine from this spot.  There were a couple of rotting timbers that appeared to be carrying some load at this location.  Good time to watch your step a bit more carefully.  Tons of ventilation happening... No worries about gasses, although I guess that's more of a coal mine problem.

Oh, another shot of the entrance, like it's any different when you're on the way out.

Ryan at the entrance and Paul further back making ridiculous "scary faces" with his little Walmart flashlight.

Detail view of the road past Healy Lk. where we turned back.

Detail view of the DeCosmos road that begins left, right before Second Lake.  The top shows the right turn onto the mine road and the following left turn up towards the mine.

Outstanding ride!  Highly recommended!

(Updated route to this mine with a downloadable track can be found here).