Extension Ridge is a beautiful part of the trail with single track winding all the way up and along the ridge. A power line crossing offers some mixed views, nice to see the neighbouring hills but for that you get to see the powerlines and towers as well.Some photos below are from the last trip I had out there. It was an overcast, wet day, perfect for keeping the heat down while hiking.

The post Extension Ridge from Extension Road, Nanaimo [Trip Report] first appeared on Pack & Trail.

A last minute change to plans this past weekend meant I had some time to hike but not as much as I originally though. Driving a couple hours to hike was out of the question so I quickly searched for some trails closer to home to try. The benefit to having that constant stream of trail information means I’m never without a long list of places near home to see.

Whisky Lake near Nanaimo River Road had come up a few times in my feed and new trails around there. I had never seen the lake and liked it’s likely 5km route out and back from the power lines on Nanaimo Lakes Road.

Off we go.

I parked on Nanaimo Lakes Road just before it forks into a dirt road and start hiking along the power lines. I was using one of Phil’s Maps of Nanaimo mountain biking trails to find the ones I was looking for and see what’s there. (Phil’s maps is now gone. Trailforks is a great place to look for mountain biking trails). I knew there might be some new ones around Whisky Lake and possibly some on the way that weren’t mapped yet. Follow along with the map of Nanaimo and you’ll see the route I used.

Tangerine A short connector trail from road to road, Tangerine was a better route than rocky logging road.

Unnamed trail? to FNG I’m sure this trail has a name somewhere but it starts just up the road from Tangerine. It’s mostly through reforested clearcut but would be a nice ride or run.It crosses a logging road, goes through some recent slash and into the woods to start what I think is FNG, or so the sign said.FNG pops out near the logging roads near Whiskey Lake. This just drops down right beside the lake.

Schadenfreude Walking around the lake to the west, I bumped into the the end of Riparian and Schadenfreude. I took Schadenfreude until I had to turn around near the south end and then came back up and started Riparian back towards the lake. Turning around before Wonderwall starts. The trail continues down to the right of the photo below. Another day.

Riparian and Whisky Lake Compared to all the other trails in the area Riparian is right around the lake and is thick and green. Some of the trail runs the cliffs along the lake. Great views through the trees from the mossy ledges. 

Logging road, and garbage Riparian spit me out on the logging roads near where FNG ended and I walked down towards the Magic Carpet start and looked for a better view of the lake.Of course, you give access to a beautiful place by 4×4 and ATV and they leave their garbage everywhere. Clean up your garbage when you go.

Magic Carpet to Hot Tamale to Samba to Black Jade Next to the lake Magic Carpet leaves the logging road and heads up the ridge back toward the powerless. The trails all blended together and finally spit me out on the logging road near where I started.Sad to see the trees left on the boundary of a clear cut all being pushed over by the wind and rain with no protection left. A few arbutus knocked down just the same as the others.

Coal Pile A bit of time to kill before I had to be home, sent me looking for one last short trail near the care. Coal Pile is short but green trail through the woods near the powerlines. It runs over a pile of coal along the way. Della waiting patiently.

The post Nanaimo Lakes Road to Whisky Lake first appeared on Pack & Trail.

I’ve been north from Haslam Creek before, along the suspension bridge then on to Timberland Lake but I had never made the hike south to connect to Christie Falls near Ladysmith. If you haven’t, you’re not missing much. The hike is all logging road but if you end at Christie Falls then it’s a worthwhile adventure. I got a few photos out of it anyways.

I had to start walking at an orange gate. I drove the truck to this point along the potholed logging road. The dirt road had some deep holes up to this point but it didn’t require a 4×4.

It looks like the road is deactivated and not used much. It’s still a logging road though.

The brush on either side is quite thick and pretty. The sun was trying to shine through when I was out.

Logging road walking.

The sun cut out and left us in the fog.The first bridge you cross heading south. After the bridge head left to Christie Falls and the final bridge. If you turn right, it heads up to an abandoned mine. I’ll try and post some directions to that one soon.The final bridge (or first if you are heading north from Christie Falls) has a Trans Canada Trail sign near it. You can see where to go and what else is in the area.

** One note on signage, I didn’t see any. The best I could see was at Haslam Creek and then one random trail marker on a fence post heading south from there. That was it until the sign near Christie Falls said that was the Trans Canada Trail. Not sure why the other sections are so well marked and this one isn’t. It makes it a bit confusing. I had to drive in a few circles near the Haslam Creek entrance just to make sure there were no other roads for options to take. I recommend grabbing the GPS track to follow so you don’t get turned around.

If you don’t mind some dirty puddles you can from Haslam Creek and the powerlines south along the dirt road until you hit the orange gate. The woods are pretty around the road south of the powerlines so you could walk these. I just drove as far as I could and then started the hike.

Have you been along this stretch of the Trans Canada Trail? What did you think?

Let me know down in the comments below!

The post Trans Canada Trail: Haslam Creek to Christie Falls first appeared on Pack & Trail.

Years ago, I hiked from Haslam Creek up to Timberland Lake, a section of the Trans Canada trail. It was an easy hike, not a ton of interesting trail as most of it was on logging road. Timberland Lake at the end was beautiful. A bit of trash around from offroaders but the sun was out and reflecting off the water just right.

Around the corner from Timberland Lake is the White Pine Trail that continues up to Spruston Road. I left the lake after seeing one of the White Pine Trail signs and that was the last I saw of it.

In searching around for trails to hike next for Pack and Trail, I stumbled on the Trans Canada Trails again. I’ve been coming back from an ankle injury and needed some easy trails to wander. I headed out to check on the White Pine Trail.

The White Pine Trail

At the end of Spruston Road the trail signs start. The road is rough but there’s a bit of a pullout where you can park your car.

The trail starts out beautiful single track through the woods. It’s marked with orange markers on the trees with the odd “Trans Canada Trail” marker that was a bit bigger. Any major forks had a big blue signpost. 

I spent most of the hike just taking in all the green around me. I’ve been healing up an ankle injury lately and was just happy to be on the trail at all, nevermind on a nice day like this. It was a bit cold though. Hard to operate the camera too much when you can’t feel your fingers. 

The trail pops out onto the logging roads and continues to Timberland Lake. 

The trail was well signed. At points the signs were off in the trees. I’m sure they were once very visible but now they’re off in the brush a bit. Any time I needed to know the direction though there was a sign right there. Just need to look.  

Timberland Lake was pretty as usual. 

I had the feeling we were being watched. Then out popped this little guy from the woods. The funny thing was that Della (my dog) was going crazy at a tree in the other direction because she thought she heard a squirrel. Not so much a hunter. I had plenty of time to capture some shots of the squirrel munching on something sitting on a log.

The Verdict

Would I recommend the White Pine Trail? The south end of the trail just before Timberland Lake is just logging road which isn’t very pretty but the single track on the north end was beautiful. Easy walking over well-maintained trail made for a good hike. The trail was well-signed aside from the few in the trees.

The Nanaimo River

I took a quick look down the trail that goes down to the Nanaimo River as well. It’s easy double track to hike. We didn’t get very far though. It turns into rough single track and heads back up into the woods. There were a couple of trail forks that probably head down to the river but I didn’t have time to follow them.  

The post White Pine Trail first appeared on Pack & Trail.

The Trail Up Mount Gemini

Gemini Trail

It’s nice and easy to get to like Green and Gemini if you’ve got a 4×4. Head out to Nanaimo lakes and continue past second lake. Take the bridge with the painted rock that crosses the river. (Need to find branch number of Green turnoff) Hang a right on Branch number and continue on that road right to the top.

Snow on Gemini Mountain

The road is 2 wheel drivable all the way to the washout that’s about half way up the back of Green. It’s a fairly big ditch that only recently has had some logs piled in it to make it a bit easier. 2 wheel drive trucks might be able to make it through but lower vehicles definitely wouldn’t.

From here the road takes you up to Green. Just before you hit the trailhead for the trail up Green there’s a road that takes off to the right. Take that and follow it all the way up Gemini. You end up at the top of a clearcut with the trail, if you could really call it that, leading up into the forest.

Pay careful attention to the flagging, it is the easiest route up but hard to follow. I started just heading straight up the hill not realizing there was flagging until about half way up. It’s quite steep the whole way up but nothing requiring any ropes.

Half way up there was a bit of snow started to show itself and a little past there. The open ground was covered with 15-30 cm. The thick treed sections were still clear underneath. I covered the open snow-covered ground in good time with easy kick-steps but had to work harder finding a route through the trees near the top.

It was a welcome reprieve from all the mosquito’s when I broke out of the trees onto the snow. I have no idea where they all came from but the little bloodsuckers were out in force. Don’t stop for a rest stop for too long in the woods, you might be carried away by the long-nosed troops.

On ridge up Gemini

Cutting around to the left and up onto the ridge it was an easy jaunt to the top to hang out in the bright, warm sunshine. Great views led off in every direction. Green Mountain’s greenery was almost entirely void of snow. Looking back towards Nanaimo, De Cosmos, Hooker and Benson had lots their white coverage weeks ago.

View from the top

On the hike up to the top, I was pleased to see that the actual summit is only about 1 km from the clearcut. Researching the trail, I was under the impression the summit was over 2 km from the start, the taller peak just to the south. I’m not sure why the taller one is not the actual summit but after finally getting to the top I’m glad they named them the way they did. Another kilometer down and up the far peak would have been pushing my time that day.

Peak next to Gemini

The trip back down to the truck was a quick and easy one. The flagging was easy to follow all the way without much trouble and it seemed to be an easier route. I had already hiked most of it once though so we knew it better than on the way down.

What I liked about Mount Gemini

Gemini Sunset

It’s relatively easy to get to. There aren’t many places that you can drive an hour and hike an hour and be on top of a beautiful snow-covered peak with great vistas in the background. Green is similar if you want don’t care to fight off the bugs while you’re hiking.

The views are spectacular. If you’re looking for some unique views of snow-covered peaks in the Nanaimo Lakes area, check out Gemini. For extra view points camp in the area and watch the sunset over the mountains to the West. I camped in the truck in the clearcut the night before the hike and was thoroughly impressed with the views of the sun falling behind the peaks in the distance.

What I didn’t like about Mount Gemini

The bugs were horrible. The night before and during the hike the mozzies were everywhere. Any time to rest and 3 or 4 more bites were added to the pile. Some good bug spray might have helped. I highly recommend taking something to ward off the little critters.

For how nice the views were at the top, the hike to get up there wasn’t terribly impressive. There were a lot of trees packed tightly together so there weren’t any views on the way up. The trees break 3/4 of the way up and you get a bit of a sneak peak at the views from the top but hardly anything before that.

The trail was hard to follow. I found the way no problem since I just had to go up but the flagging left a bit to be desired. I removed some flagging from dead brush on the ground and placed it higher up in the trees. Some of the flagging had been placed when there was a ton of snow so they were 12 or 15 feet in the air and tough to see from the ground. I’m assuming there isn’t much traffic up there since the trail was hardly visible. Some sections resembled a trail but it could have been where the water runs down the hill.

What gear to take up Mount Gemini

Breakfast on Gemini Mountain

I only spent a few hours on Gemini so I had minimal gear. I was wearing my full Scarpa Baron hiking boots to get them ready for more hiking later on this summer. They proved very helpful with kickstepping in the snow and keeping my feet warm and dry. The stiff soles made the ascents through the snow nice and easy. Anything from runners up to full mountain boots would work for this trail.

On my back I had my Osprey Talon 33 pack which has served me so well the last 2 years. I was just carrying some food, water and a shell for the top so there wasn’t much weight in it. I used a platypus water bladder to keep hydrated on the go. I find I rarely need to stop for a break unless it’s incredibly steep so I just drink on the fly.

The sun was out blazing and with the snow doubling it’s effect sunglasses and sunscreen are a must. I had my Julbo Nomad’s with Zebra anti-fog lenses on my eyes and some cheap sunscreen. They both did their job well.

Get out and hike Mount Gemini

Even with the numerous bugs competing for blood as I trudged up he steep hill, the views at the top were worth every second of it. If there weren’t so many other hikes in the area that I haven’t done yet, I’d be out exploring Gemini more.

As always, if you have any questions or comments about hiking Gemini or any of the mountains in the Nanaimo Lakes area, please let me know. You can use the Contact Form or leave a comment on this post.

The post Hiking Mount Gemini first appeared on Pack & Trail.

Disclaimer: We try to keep these directions up to date but they can change without notice because trail reroutes and logging.

Mount Benson from Witchcraft lake

Witchcraft trail up Mount Benson

One of the more popular ways to get up Mount Benson is from Witchcraft Lake. Getting to Witchcraft is straightforward. Driving along Jingle Pot from the south end(near the pub) take a left onto Kilpatrick Road. Nearly at the end of Kilpatrick turn right onto Benson View (Google Maps shows Kilpatrick going all the way to Witchcraft lake right now but that is incorrect). At the end of Benson View Road is Witchcraft Lake. The trail starts at the very end of the road near the yellow sign.The trail from Witchcraft is easy to follow with new signs provided by NALT. It’s about 3 km to the top from Witchcraft Lake and takes most people 2-3 hours.

Download the GPS track for Mount Benson from Witchcraft Lake

Mount Benson from Westwood Lake

Westwood Benson Trail

You can also hike up Mount Benson from Westwood lake. This trail is a little harder to follow than the one from Witchcraft. It is less steep but longer than the Witchcraft trail.To hike up Mount Benson from Westwood:

1. Start by going around the east end of the lake (to the right if you are facing the water from the main parking lot). Go all the way around the end and turn up onto the powerlines around the back.
2. Continue across the power lines and go straight up into the woods on the other side.
3. Continue straight up this trail all way up until you cross a stream and enter a clear cut. Follow the trail through clear cut and cross the road on the other side.
4. The trail goes from here up onto another logging road.
5. Cross this logging road, the trail continues just on the other side of it.
6. Turn right on this logging road and hike to where it intersects another road to form a “T”.
7. At the “T” intersection a trail will continue straight into the woods. Follow this trail until you hit another logging road then turn right and head up along this road.
8. Follow this road until you hit another intersection and a sign post.
9. From here you can go right and connect with the Witchcraft lake trails or you can go left and follow the Te’tuxtwon

From here there are good signposts up the rest of the way to the top. Basically follow the trails all the way up!

Mount Benson from Nanaimo Lakes Road

Benson Access Road

There is an access road that runs to the top of Benson but it’s gated to prevent vehicle access. While this prevents vehicle access you can still hike, bike and road the road that leads to the top. Head out Nanaimo Lakes Road from Wakesiah Ave. Where it changes from Nanaimo Lakes Road to South Forks Road there is a dirt road that leads off to the right. Take this and drive to the yellow gate. Crews still go in and out of the gate on a regular basis so don’t park in front of the gate. Start hiking at the gate and take right fork of the logging road. Follow the main road for about 5k and then take a right hand turn onto a smaller logging road. Follow this smaller road right to the top of Mount Benson! This way is quite a bit longer than the other two coming in at about 8 km each way. Check the photo below for what the smaller access road turn off looks like. I recommend grabbing the GPS track to know exactly where you are going.

Download the GPS track for Mount Benson from Nanaimo Lakes Road

Now go hike Mount Benson!

Getting up Mount Benson is easier than you think. If you haven’t been up there yet, you should pick a nice sunny day, pack up some food and water and get out on those trails.

As always, if you have any questions fill out the Contact Form or leave a comment below!

The post Hiking Mount Benson first appeared on Pack & Trail.

Directions to Haslam Creek Trail

Turn onto Timberlands Road across the highway from the Cassidy airport south of Nanaimo. Drive to the end of the road, you will go left around a sharp corner at the end. At the end you’ll hit a gate that should be open. Go through and into a big gravel pit. Drive straight through and take the road on the right. About 1k along this road you will see a blue sign and fence on the right hand side. This is the trail entrance. See the Google Map to Haslam Creek Trail for more info. The trail itself is well signed. Follow the blue signs on the trail posts and you’ll have no troubles staying on the trail. 

Haslam Creek Suspension Bridge

Take the trail along the fence for about 1 km and you will see the suspension bridge. The sides are chain link and the bottom is a rough grate so it’s very safe. Dogs should fine fine walking along the metal, people who are afraid of heights might be a little uneasy in the middle though. After the bridge stay left on the main trail and you’ll hit a logging road. Head left along the logging road. After about 1km you’ll start going uphill on a smaller trail. This section can be very wet.The trail heads uphill for a while here and then back out onto logging road. Another km and you will be very close to Timberlands Lake.

Timberlands Lake

Take the small road on the left before the lake to go around to the near side or continue on around the right to get to the main open area on the lake. The sign posts will lead you to this open area. Unfortunately 4x4er’s like this location as well so there might be broken glass. This is a fantastic location to have lunch in the sun and explore the shoreline. The main opening on the far side will get the most sunshine especially in the afternoon.

White Pine Trail

Near the main area on the lake the road continues on and hooks up with the White Pine Trail. This section of the trail continues on North to Spruston road and eventually Nanaimo River.

Additional Info

Trailpeak page for Haslam Creek Trail

The post Hike in Nanaimo: Haslam Creek Trail first appeared on Pack & Trail.

While a very nice car with loads of power and traction, I wasn’t sure if it had the ground clearance to make it over the many small ditches that littered the approach to De Cosmos.

The second thing was that even though the weather looked promising for the next 12 hours, I couldn’t help but wonder if the weather magicians had called this one right. Rain was closing in fast on the forecast and I couldn’t shake the anxious feeling we’d get stuck out on some bluff in a foggy, snowy storm.

Valley behind De Cosmos

The third reason was that my friends and I have been trying to knock of De Cosmos for a while now and something always comes up. Gates are closed, we don’t know the way, motorcycle chains break, we run out of time. The reasons we’ve turned back already planning the next attempt a great in number.

I’m happy to say we finally accomplished what we’ve been gazing at for years from Nanaimo and Mount Benson.

Izzy, Ryan’s Impreza, handled the road and ditches wonderfully although we did put a little crack and a couple scratches into the paint coming back down. A truck or higher vehicle is highly recommended for the road that we took. That said, we were only able to make it up all the way to where we parked because Izzy was so short. A tree had fallen across the road and any taller vehicle wouldn’t have made it through. Magically on our way back, it had been sawed in half and removed from the road.

We got to within about 3 km from the peak of green on the road. Let me remind you that this was as the crow flies. We definitely couldn’t hike as the crow flies! We followed the road as for as we could go and then summited the small peak next to De Cosmos. Luckily there is a high ridge in between this secondary peak and De Cosmos. The hike would have probably take 2 additional hours if the ridge wasn’t there and we had to descend into the valley and up the other side to the peak. The ridge dropped maybe 20 meters total as we traversed and definitely saved our backsides from the otherwise steep terrain.

The snow ranged from soft and powdery letting us sink through to past our knees to solid ice. The snow that was out in the open was quite soft while that in the trees had melted more and frozen making for a tough hike over sections on the ridge. Snowshoes would have helped a great deal but we might have had to take them off for the steeper sections. I think it would have cut 10 to 15 minutes off our trip time but our legs would have thanked us!

The post Summiting Mount De Cosmos first appeared on Pack & Trail.

Ammonite falls is a beautiful decent-sized waterfall right very close to the heart of Nanaimo. This route from Doumont is slightly more difficult than the route from Jameson Road.

This route to Ammonite Falls is a bit hard to explain. Driving up to Doumont stop at the first yellow gate on your left. There will be two trails that head into the bush from here, one goes to the left around a mount of dirt, the other a small single track to the right. Take the single track to the right.

Continue on this trail until you see a main double track and cross over it. There should be a trail continuing on just to the left of where you came to the double track. After a few meters on this track hang a right and head downhill to the stream. In the summer you can usually just cross straight over but in the winter you may have to cross over the leg that’s just to the left.

Follow the trail up the steep bank on the other side and continue on until you get to the quarry.  Head out along the right side of the quarry for a few hundred meters until you see a trail back into the woods. Take this wider trail until you hit a clearing and can hear the falls. Hang a right at the clearing to head down to the falls or continue straight on to Mini Ammonite.

Ammonite is just one of many amazing Vancouver Island waterfalls.

Ammonite Links

http://trailpeak.com/trail-Ammonite-Falls-from-Doumont-near-Nanaimo-BC-4727

The post Hike in Nanaimo: Ammonite Falls from Doumont Road first appeared on Pack & Trail.

There are 2 main ways to get to Ammonite Falls. One from Doumont Road and the other Jameson (off of Kilpatrick and Jingle Pot).

Directions to Ammonite Falls from Jameson Road

This route is the easier way in to the falls compared to the Doumont route. Drive all the way to the end of Jameson Road. There is about 25 meters of dirt road before you get to the yellow gate. Make sure you park down the hill from the yellow gate in the proper parking lot. Your car will most likely be towed if you park by the gate.

Follow the dirt road off into the bush and get lost… I mean find the falls!

Stay on the main road at the first fork. Don’t go up to the left.Stay on the main road at the second fork. Don’t go down to the right.

The road will get a little steeper uphill here but not much. There will be a bit of a clearing at the end and the it turns to single track. Go straight into the trail and immediately hang a right to go over a little hump in the trail and then down the other side. You might be able to hear the creek by now. Keep this on your left and follow this trail. You’ll end up at a blue sign nailed to the tree. Keep to the left of this sign. You’ll go down another small hill and find yourself in a clearing at the end of a dirt road. Just head straight across the road and follow the little trail. You’ll end up just above Ammonite Falls.

Relax and take some photos at the viewpoint above the falls or continue down the rope and across the stream to get a real close look.

Variation: Hang a left at the clearing at the end of the old road and hike down a steep but short section of trail to Mini-Ammonite, a very, very small set of beautiful falls just above the larger Ammonite Falls.

Ammonite Falls Links

Nanaimo Information has a great page about Ammonite Falls.

The post Hike in Nanaimo: Ammonite Falls from Jameson Road first appeared on Pack & Trail.