240km; 24 Hours; 24 Trout

Andy and I took a ride from Doumont Road to Lure Lake.  Starting at Doumont we tried the tank traps, but were skunked prior to the Boomerang Lake backside by construction of a bridge, and, possibly, a gate. The crew were hospitable enough, but wouldn't let us through.  We back tracked and worked around this by using an alternative way into the NWB logging roads, shown below (click for detail).

There is one area along this alternate route which has a steep descent through trees, over roots and around some large rocks embedded in the "path". I think you would call this a hiking trail really.  However, we made it down unscathed. 

We then rode via 142, 155 and up the "Ridge Ride" stopping for a brief blueberry pick, and views of Moriarty before continuing through the key trail and into the promised land.  From there we took the 4th lake connector and continued over the pass and out of the Nazi governed Nanaimo Lakes area and into shangrila...Cowichan district, following the Nitinat River down on tarmac roads!

Below are views from "the Pass" as Andy and I have christened it.  I took a side road of to the south (left) and snapped a few shots.  The road continued on and up for some way after I stopped.  I will explore this spur, which is an easy ride, next time out.

You can see the spur continues up for a while.  The views are staggering and my little fisheye lens does not do them justice.  This pass tops out at around 3000 feet.  If you look in the bottom two snaps, you will see the main "Pass" road winding its way through the valley down towards the Nitinat River Road and towards Lake Cowichan.

The access to the lake is even better than before.  The campsite was as we had left it a month ago: my sun glasses still hooked to the tree, and the logs still on the fire.  It was very hot (over 30C, even up there), so we were in the lake and swimming withing minutes.  Gorgeous!  It was absolutely pristine and silent up there.  however, after fifteen minutes or so, it was setting the camp up time and fishing...



Weird, but the trees up at Lure Lake are all rubber trees and quite bendy.

The fish are on average 12 inches long, maybe a pound and a half.  There seem to be two types: black looking trout that live in the depths (they're very cold to the touch) and light looking rainbows that are snapping up flies nearer the surface - and are warmer to the touch.  These fish are not used to fisherman, or other predators apparently, and don't seem to follow the normal rules.  Perhaps because the season is so short at Lure Lake, they are voracious and aggressive.  If you lose a fish, it will bite the lure within seconds again!  They will jump and fight like hell.  In fact, my reel's clutch broke, and I had a heck of a time getting the fish in, they don't quit.  They do, however, taste good, with flesh that varies from white, through pink to deep orange in colour.  I caught the first, and smallest one on my first cast with a Miracle Lure (patent pending).  They seemed to like it's censored colour.  Within 15 minutes Andy and I had almost limited out:

Andy had a keep net, and after dinner (trout) and some coffee (forgot the beer!!), we fished again.  Andy had a keep net, and we filled it very quickly.  The next morning it was, predictably, the same!  In total, 24 fish were caught with 16 or so released back. 

Andy doing his "Itsy-Bitsy Spider" breathing technique to calm down after repacking the bike. 

After packing we headed out towards Tuck Lake.  On the way, we stopped at a bridge over the Nitinat River.  The water was amazingly clear, despite, in places looking to be over 20 feet deep. The colour was stunning.  I had a great swim, and soaked my tee shirt and skivves. Despite the 34C heat, the ride back was air-conditioned; however, I was completely dry by the time we hit the pass again.

All in all, a great ride.  We have cached some supplies up the lake, so the ride in should be a little lighter next time.  Rumour has it, that Ryan and Sebastian would like to come?  Has to be soon!

Below are some Vids of various portions of the ride.

The Pass

Campsite

Swimming in the Nitnat River-Yes it's really that colour...