"Power Line Trail" to Nanaimo River Road: Still Lookin'

We're still hacking away at finding a shorter route to Nanaimo River Rd. that bypasses yellow logging gates.  We have our current standard route, but it's close to being unusable as the winter and snow approaches.  In addition, the standard route is quickly becoming unusable as young alders are growing so rapidly that the trail will soon be overgrown.  (C'mon quads--we need you out there).

Paul and I decided to explore another possible route through from the "power lines trail" heading out towards the logging roads on Mt. DeCosmos.  Google Earth shows a faint line that could have been a connector:

  
 What a disappointment!  The blue trail turned out to be a good road, old and well covered with deep moss with many alder saplings.  Too bad that we didn't find the elusive trail...  It was looking pretty good for a while, but the line visible on Google Earth must have been an old creek bed or a road so old that it's long gone.

Old moss covered roads (the sky blue line above)

Same sky blue road at the beginning of the grown-in alders.  These became quite thick as we continued on this road.

We headed back to the main trail (orange) and revisited the route we had walked a few weeks ago that does lead to the DeCosmos roads, (shown here in red), but the rain has taken over and it's now a pretty steadily flowing creek over roots and well-sized boulders.  This isn't a good alternative route, at least, not in the winter.       

The flowing creek.  It's do-able, but not a good regular route through.

 
So here's the next try.  I don't know why we haven't tried this yet!  I had it earmarked as a possibility some time ago, (I think Paul might have too), but as yet we haven't given this one a try.  I'd like to give it a go next weekend if the rain cooperates:

We zipped out to Rhododendron Lake after we got skunked on our exploration.  Paul pulled in this really nice cutthroat trout.  Last cast, wouldn't you know it.

The catch piqued Paul's basic hunter instincts and the fish was devoured on the spot.

Parked just outside the "technical" trail to DeCosmos.  It's a fun ride to here.  Quads must be taking this route often to get through to DeCosmos:  We saw a few logs jammed into holes here and there.  Could you remove them once you're through so we don't break our necks on the bikes?  ;)  

Kidney Failure Lake

Nanaimo is lucky enough to have two Kidney Lakes.  Don't ask me how that happened!  Perhaps it was some cartographer's bad joke at attempting an anatomically correct map, or perhaps it was the more likely result of general confusion on the part of loggers and other visitors.  Anyway, we have two--and one has remained  a mystery to me for all this time since the local logging company closed off the main entrance to this region some time ago.  (Why they ever did this raises a few questions too.  Kidney Lk. II is such a buggered-up mess of dead logs, I have to wonder if they're saving the embarrassment of people actually finding it.  Maybe not, they have gone to the effort of leaving a scabby, thin boundary around it to maintain its pristine healthy look.  FfffPbwaaahahaha).   

I've attempted to find Kidney Lk. II a few times using trails from the east side that run through the university's excrement infested trails, but I've had little luck until very recently.  One riding friend, Sebastian, located the hidden trails a few weeks ago and his success was followed up recently by Paul who discovered Sebastian's route in from the Doumont Trail shortly before the "tank traps."  I came crawling along in third place to claim my own victory, although I did need Paul's poxy GPS track to actually get in there.

Here's the route:

The Route  (Click Image to Enlarge).

1.  Beginning of Dumont Trail at the shot up "No Dumping" sign 
2.  Turned right shortly before the tank traps  (This is at the first big pool in the road during the wet season.  It's the road pool that most bikes avoid by taking the shortcut to the left to eliminate the pond and the entire wet corner).  Actually, there's another right you can take 100m before you get to this one.
3.  You have some choices here.  It is possible to avoid the steep hill and the awkward trenches.  I like to go right at the wreck (to avoid the hill), next left to the bottom of the hill and then just follow the serpentine along to your right until you reach the logging roads.  
4.  Rode through the logging roads using the old maze solution: always turn left until you're out.  This brought me close to Kidney Failure Lake really quickly, so I rummaged through the undergrowth to get a photo, (see below).
5.  This road passes above Round Lake.  I'm not sure it's worth the hike down, since you can get there easily from the Sundew Main road on the other side.  There's fish in there, but it's not one of the better local lakes.
6.  I took a good look at the road block that I often pass from the other side.  It's a complete mystery why they went to the bother of blocking this route through.  I'm sure it was well planned and extremely necessary to ensure good environmental logging practice though.  ;)
7.  Stopped off to view the "lake" from this side too, (see photo below).
8.  Did this loop for absolutely no reason at all.
9.  Turned left at an entrance into the uni lands near the concrete pad (truck loading point) to follow a known trail that exits near the Biggs/Dumont intersection. 

10.  If you turn right here, on what looks like the main trail, it comes to a dead end.  Go left when travelling east.  (It's weird riding this trail in this direction.  I always come up it the other way). 
11.  Found myself at the backside of a well-secured yellow gate. 
12.  The white bridge and exit gate to Dumont.

Some Photos:

Paul's earlier track in red and my earlier (failed) attempt to get here a week ago in pink.  (There's a nasty hill where the red and pink join that made it impossible for me to get through from that direction.  I walked it).

The wreck mentioned at #3.  Left for the hill and right to avoid it.

(Animated gif) A 4x4 truck on his fourth attempt to make the steep hill.  He did well considering his tires weren't that chunky.

Panoramic view of Kidney Lk II

Beginning of the asinine road block between Sundew Main and the Kidney Lk II area.

Peeking at the north-east end of the lake at location #7.  Sorry... crap shot!

 

Returning at point #3.  I went left.

Returning at #3.  I went left again...  Right is okay until you wipe out into the trench.  :)

Nice to finally get in there and check the place out!

Blackjack Ridge: River Bed Loop

We needed a short local ride today to seat Paul's brand spanking new D606 rear tire.  What better than a quick ride up and over Blackjack Ridge to get the job done.

Here's what we did:

1.  Entered at Doumont Road
2.  Through the Tank Traps and a left turn towards Boomerang Lake
3.  Left again towards southern end of Boomerang
4.  Past S. end of Boomerang and then straight along the N.E. side of Blackjack Ridge towards Lucid Lk.
5.  Right turn after Lucid Lake
6.  Climb up creekbed towards top of Blackjack
7.  Explored dead end spur
8.  Through open gate at the top and explored dead end logging road to our right
9.  Right turn onto untried route (went straight on previous trip up here)
10.  Downhill creek bed for a fair way here.  (approx 3km)
11.  Rotten log make-shift bridge (Hurry before it's all gone)
12.  Left turn at the main logging road
13.  Return on same route to Doumont Rd.

Photos:

The descending creek bed at #10.  We walked this for a short distance before deciding to go on.

The makeshift bridge of half-rotten logs at #11. 

Other "Real Motorcycle Diaries" blog entries containing search criteria "blackjack."  (There are some better Blackjack shots in these entries).

Here's today's GPS track on video.  Realtime x100.  (Best viewed at 700p/full screen). 

Fun ride, but only once so you can say you did.  It's not horrendously difficult, it's just slow going for much of it when going through old creek beds.  My clutch wasn't very happy.  :)  Likely quite slippery in the winter!

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).

Off to Heart Lake ❤

Last winter Paul blogged about a route to Heart Lake that he was keen on trying.  Heart Lake is situated at an approx altitude of 860m on the eastern side of Green Mountain, about 30km SW of downtown Nanaimo.  Yesterday Paul, Sebastian and I headed out to find Heart Lake on what is becoming a standard route for us:

1.  Began at Doumont Road and went through the tank traps before turning left.
2.  Travelled over the new bridge...  No new yellow gate :)
3.  Turned right at Boomerang Lake's southern intersection.
4.  Followed power lines trail. (Many improvements have been made to the roads here... The loggers may be busy soon).
5.  Turned right off of power lines route onto Okay Mt. valley road.
6.  Turned left onto 155 Main.
7.  Turned left onto 155N.
8.  Travelled up the ridge road. (It was cloudy and rainy today... No views of Mt. Moriarty).

Blueberries on the ridge road

9.  Went through the "key trail" and turned left onto a possible alternative to having to descend through the alders as we usually do on this road.
10.  Fought our way through heavy young alder growth. (It was heavier than the standard route).

mossy road surface on the "alders alternative" road before we encountered heavier alders

Paul reaches a clearing along the "alders alternative"

Sebastian emerges through the alders

11.  We stopped the bikes and walked to check the route.  We didn't walk all the way, although we went far into the overgrown road.  Not a good route without a chainsaw.  If you're a quad rider, please head up here with all your quader friends and stomp all over the alders.
12.  After deciding that the trees were too thick we retraced our steps and followed the usual road through the alders towards Nanaimo River Road.

those alders will grab onto anything from front brake levers to cameras

13.  Over the bridge and left towards Heart Lake.  (A small trail to the left of the gate appears to have been provided by the logging company for small vehicles to pass through).

(top left to bottom right)  A small trail left of gate provides access.   It's difficult to see the road you need to follow when looking on Google Earth.  Follow an immediate fork to the right after the gate.  Both forks head to the lake although the right fork is more direct.

 
14.  Uphill road to Heart Lake.  It's a steep but fairly easy ride.  There are many drainage ditches on this road that keep your speed in check.

climbing up towards the lake

15.  Heart Lake at near 900m.  Beautiful lake with a depressing "grapple-yarded" mess of logs and stumps on the far shore.  What a terrible mess these people have made of one of our beautiful lake areas!  :(  Surely there are other spots you could have logged.

approaching the lake

290° stitched panoramic from the western shore of Heart Lake

good fishing cliffs on western shore

There are a number of good fishing spots on the road side of the lake.  Some spots are off of low cliffs while others can be found nearer to the water level.  We fished for a little over an hour today, (I think), and we saw very little action.  Eventually we walked out with three fish between us.  We saw a bear on the far side, which helped to make things more interesting.  (Unfortunately, the bear was looking for trees and had less luck than us).

One of us took a spill on the way out.  No large injuries luckily...  Just an improved healthy respect for downhill logging roads with ditches.  ;)  Lesson learned!

It was a terrific ride and it appears that we all really enjoyed it except for the spill. 

Here's our route spelled out on my GPS map at 100x real time.  (If you increase the resolution at the bottom right of the window, you can read the writing without squinting). :)

Back to Marcus Lake

Paul and I took another overnight trip to Marcus lake a few days ago:

1.  entered from the Doumont Road entrance
2.  through the "tank traps" and stopped by bridge construction
3.  returned and took alternate route to bypass "tank traps"  (walked bike down steep bit like a big baby)
4.  up branch 142 to 155 Main
5.  left onto 155N and over ridge overlooking Mt. Moriarty
6.  through small joiner trail giving access to roads heading south to N. River Road.
7.  over the bridge leading to Fourth Lake
8.  descending through mountain pass
9.  stopped at a wider section of the Nitinat River (actually on return trip)
10.  stopped at Nitinat River bridge (searching for, but not finding, Tuck Lake on day 2)
11.  camping/fishing at Marcus Lake

A wider section of the Nitinat River (location #9)

The logging company's ridiculous trench digging, offering a greater challenge to recreational riders.  I guess it keeps the trucks out or something.  (#9)

Beautiful section of the Nitinat River near bridge at location #10

Nitinat River bridge (#10)

Great fishing at Marcus Lake, at least for Paul who limited out on both days.  It was clearly very exciting for him!  I managed to catch a couple.  The trout have taken on a really interesting colour in this lake:  Many are darker and display a thick red line along their sides.  A few had a distinct copperish tone running their entire length...  I thought it was interesting that Paul's lure copied this colouration quite closely.  (I'm not sure if he agrees on this).  He was using a small copper lure with a red flash.  Must get one for this lake!  Cannibalistic little @%#&'s they are! 

Very dusty on the roads riding in the rear.  I ended up trailing far behind for much of the riding, more to improve my view of the road surface than to reduce dust in my filter:  It's irritating as hell hitting deep potholes that appear through the dust under your front tire.  With that said, it was a terrific ride...  I love the route though the pass below Fourth Lake.  I can't believe it took us so long to start using this road.