3 Days Dual Sport Camping - Trout, B24 Bombers & Ghost Towns

I went for  our first ride/camp with Andy last week through the Cowichan Lake, Nitinat, Clayuquot and Alberni Valley areas.  We had been planning something like this for years, so we were both pumped.  The initial plan was to ride from the 2nd Lake area via 4th Lake to Cowichan Lake and then to Flora Lake and back.  However, the local logging company who lease the land from the government have taken in upon themselves to lock all their gates and station security at the main gate.  There were some weak explanations about "vandalism to company equipment" and quaders chewing up roads.  As it was Friday, he continued, he couldn't let us in, but if it was tomorrow, then he might turn a blind eye.  If we wanted to camp at the second lake campground, then we could pay $20, but we were not welcome to continue on. 

So that scuppered our first leg plans and we had to circumvent the Nanaimo Lakes area by riding the island highway and accessing the backroads via Youbou.  Wow, what a difference in hospitality and access between Nanaimo's reluctant TimberWest and Cowichan's Timberwest branch...

The first day's route was as shown above, starting in Youbou  and ending in a lake which was a real jewel.  While much of the route was dirt, when we turned north the road became paved and remained so all the way to the turn off for the lake. Purely for the sake of selfish exclusion, we'll call it Aurelius Lake.  The lake was the highlight of a great trip for me, and I'll be back there to sample its tranquility, amazing fishing and sublime wild camping spot.  The access to the lake was easier than I had envisioned via GE, as the logging company is re-engineering the road which leads into the Shaw Valley.  We got most of the way up, when we met an huge excavator digging up and re-grading the road.  At this point we were less than 100m from the lake, but it was a very steep section and the soil was soft and littered with rocks.  We could go no further.  The operator was extremely friendly and offered to tramp the trail down, but we declined and chatted about the lake's inhabitants, namely the trout. 

The view from the road's edge where we parked the bikes because of the excavator.  You're looking all the way to Nitinat Lake and the West Coast - (Pacific Ocean in the distance...)  Another view below...

The bikes parked because of the excavator's work just above and around the corner.

Water meadows surround the lake, so it is quite boggy and hard to find a good campsite...but despite the hardships we found one.

The view from the camp

We got a fire going in no time and I was surprised at how few bugs emerged given the recent wet weather, the numerous snow-melt streams and the boggy nature of some of the ground.  The tents were great, particularly for $15 from CDN Tire!



I caught these in no time the next morning.  Amazingly they were incredibly strong and fought much more than the local Nanaimo fish; they were aggressive and bit hard.  They were feeding on mayflies.  A great breakfast.

Day Two:  we reluctantly left the lake and headed off towards Flora Lake.  While the Nitinat Main is well groomed, the gravel is round and in ridgy piles, and the bike's movement is disconcerting at first.  Weight on the pegs and a loose grip works well, but watch those thick ridges of gravel - and don't try to turn out of them when you bury the front end in them.  We passed lots of trails to other areas like Tuck lake and took the Nitinat road following the Nitnat River before turning left and crossing the river and heading up to the RAF/RCAF B-24 Liberator plane crash site just east of Flora lake, off the Flora Main:



The switchbacks at the far west of the GE image denote the trail up to the bomber wreck.  But, and be warned, you can only ride to a certain point, beyond which you must slog up some serious grades, through some logging debris and up through thick forest to get to the crash site...

Entering the forest, about halfway now.  If you look carefully below you will see the road and bikes...It's a long hike UP on a 30C day!  You can see the typical slash/snag-strewn terrain you are fighting through to get to the site...



However, the trek up is well worth it. The following - with editorial finagling from me - is pilfered from the Pacific Wrecks site and gives details of the crash:

Pilot P/O Frederick Edward Brown, 165812 RAFVR (KIA) Lincolnshire, UK
Co-Pilot P/O James Frederick Cooke, 165715 (KIA)
Crew Sgt Frederick Douglas Hafford, 1614739 (KIA) Essex, UK
Crew Sgt Sidney Helper, 1320190 (KIA)
Crew Sgt Glyn Ivor Jones, 1837039 (KIA) Glamorgan, Wales
Crew F/O John Victor Kingdon, 147999 (KIA)
Crew Sgt Thomas MacDonald, 1369701 (KIA)
Crew Sgt Ronald May, 1596791 (KIA)
Crew F/O Morris Morganstein, 163835 (KIA) London, UK
Crew Sgt David Peggie Westwater, 1826189 (KIA) Fife, Scotland
Crashed November 10, 1944 at 3:30am

Built by Consolidated. USAAF serial number 44-10673 the plane was delivered to the RAF as Liberator B.VI with serial number KH-108 on August 9, 1944. Transferred to the RCAF and assigned to 5 OTU to the Abbotsford Detachment based at Abbotsford Airfield. Assigned squadron code "AT".  The entire crew were members of the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve (RAFVR). Took off on November 9th, 1944, from Abbotsford Airfield on a night navigation mission. At approximately 3:30am crashed into a mountain near Flora Lake on Vancouver Island possibly enroute to Tofino.  It is thought the entire crew was killed on impact in the crash; however, the crash site was not found until almost a year after the mission, so that can't be verified. During 2005, the wreckage included an engine, propeller, main landing gear, tail fin, fuselage, and fuel tank plus other scattered wreckage.

Ron Mills visited the crash site in 2005:
"I am logging near KH-108, and found out about it through my work mates. It took a lot of investigating to get any info on it. A very moving experience to visit, and soon the grave marker will be replaced."



The propeller which, unfortunately, people have seen fit to scrawl on and desecrate.  I wish people would understand that this a grave site.  The prop is enormous and gives incredible scale to the wreckage.   Below is a hydraulic landing leg...

The fuselage.  Judging by just how scattered these remains are, it was a heck of an impact.  It's hard to imagine any of the RAF reservists survived the initial impact; however, as the wreck wasn't located for a year, that will never be known.  November at 3000 feet in the bush wouldn't be a very hospitable time for healthy adult, let alone an injured or maimed one. 

After climbing down and riding down the trail, which was fairly steep but easy enough, we turned right and headed the short distance to Flora lake campground.  It had 4 camping spots, of which one was taken.  Wood was scarce, but the lake and location was beautiful, just not in quite the same the league as Aurelius Lake.  At one point, while Andy and I were eating and talking around the fire, a look down at the lake made me think it was raining, until i realised fish were rising everywhere for the flies.  I've never seen so many rises.  The fish here, though, seemed smaller than one would expect.  Perhaps the large ones are the wise ones...

Day 3:  We headed east and then north to find a "ghost" ex-logging town from the 60's called Franklin Camp.  The roads become roughly paved while passing Darlington and Francis lakes and some serious speed can be had, but only if you watch for the occasional deep pothole or piled up tar patches.   Franklin River Camp was, according to Wikipedia, at one time Macmillan Bloedel's largest logging operation, indeed one of the world's biggest.  Hmm.  Don't know if I'd be too proud of that.

Franklin River Camp was located where you see the highlighted red dot of trails after the first major left turn.  All that is left now is one part house, a few derelict roads and a flat gravely area with a water/fuel loading depot.

From here we turned east at the Alberni-Bamfield junction and headed for Port Alberni.  The road becomes a dirt road here, and gradually the traffic gets heavier as you start to run along the south side of the Alberni inlet.  We lunched in Alberni, then tried, in vain, to get to Arrowsmith Lake via a Cameron Lake logging road.  We even got to the Lockwood Main, but the road is so overgrown and rutted with creeks that you would need wings to get through.  We met a young lad on a Kawi 450 race bike who was trying to get to Rowbotham Lake, but he was finding no joy either. You can see our aborted attempt above on GE.  Finally, we had to succumb to the tarmac and ride home via the blacktop.  But I haven't fully given up on the idea of a back way to Arrowsmith Lake and then to the Englishman River main and back to Dumount Road...

Lessons learned from this trip?  We packed quite light, and surprisingly, in my case, I feel I still had too much.  I ate lots, but I would say the huge chocolate bar and nuts were the best snacks for energy.  I came home with a tin or two and some food left over.  I never used my camping stove which accounted for some 5 or 6 lbs on its own.  I carried a 2L snorkel pack that I could drink from on the fly.  This was a great idea, as I never had to unpack the bike looking for water.  Boiling water is a necessity as carrying enough for the trip would have meant rationing or extreme weight.  And although it is tempting to drink the alpine lake water, it's not advisable due to giardia (beaver fever).  I a very scant first aid kit including ibuprofen which came in handy for Andy.  The big Suzi handled the extra weight without a hitch and I really didn't feel it, despite the added 30-40lbs on the rear.  New Conti TKC80 tires with great blocks were a real bonus, as I've been riding with nearly worn ones all season long.  I could really feel the extra bite, particularly up hill.  The gas tank is 18L.  We calculated that I was getting 65mpg from mixed highway and dirt road usage.  That's about 22km/L.  So err on the safe side, I'd call it 20km/L, which gives me a range 360km.  In Youbou I had to fill with marked gas, as there was no premium un marked gas for sale.  You can see the line on the translucent tank: despite 3 days of riding and going a considerable distance since Youbou, some of it up hill, in 1st or 2nd gear, the rest in 3rd gear on dirt, the trusty DR has hardly used a drop.  Amazing.  I'll not be too concerned about running out gas any more.   Overall, I'd say Andy and I did extremely well considering this was our first overnighter. 

Paul