Logs down over the Tuck Lake trail

Part of my work with the Vancouver Island Spine Trail Association is to check on sections of the trail.

I’ve been working my way through the Tuck Lake section. Take a look at the VI Spine Trail map to see the route. The Tuck Lake section is west of Cowichan Lake and south of Port Alberni. One of the lakes the trail passes by is Tuck Lake, hence the name. It also passes by Francis and Darlington which are beautiful.

This trip report is from a recent trip to hike the section from Nitinat River west to Tuck Lake and report back on it’s condition.

This section is about 11km out and back. I hiked from the road just west of Nitinat River to the stream just east of Nadira Main. The maze of logging roads in the area can get you just about anywhere along the trail.

A few trees down on the trail.

Nothing better than fields of ferns.

Steep up the hill

I never get tired looking at these views. Any marked portion of the Spine Trail has these orange markers along the route. 

One of the obstacles to creating a trail the entire length of Vancouver Island: logging.

We’re running through working forest and have to reroute trail sometimes. 

Tuck Lake Some trail junctions have green and white Spine Trail signs near them. This one is just before the right hand turn off this deactivated logging road. 

If you hit this stream bed you’ve gone too far. The trail on the other sign was strongly calling to be explored. I will be back.

I spy the Spine Trail sign. Can you see it? 

Across the stream continues onto the trail

This was the end of my hike for the day. The trail continues on the up the other bank of this ravine to the Nadira Main logging road and west to Francis Lake from there. Another day. In the mean time this was a beautiful place to stop for lunch. 

Tuck Lake from on the ridge after climbing back out of the valley.

Tuck Lake in the distance

The post VI Spine Trail: Nitinat River to Tuck Lake first appeared on Pack & Trail.

The Franklin River Alberni Inlet Trail Parking Lot

The trailhead has a brand new parking lot and an information sign about the 3 stages of the trail. Stage 1 ends at China Creek 11 km south of Port Alberni (measured from where Ship Creek Road and Anderson Ave turn into Franklin River Road near the entrance to the Inlet trail).

The turn off to the parking lot down Franklin Creek is 16.2 km from Ship Creek Road, and then another 3.4 km down the spur to the trail parking lot.

Starting the trail

The trail starts along the logging road right next to the parking lot. Hike up the hill to the end of the spur taking the left at the fork. The start of the single track is flagged at the end.

Note: There is a single track entrance further down the road towards the water but this is on private land. Please use the logging road next to the parking lot to start the trail. 

I had lunch on a beautiful viewpoint overlooking the water. When I realized I had cell reception, I couldn’t resist posting something on instagram.

Back to the logging road

I exited out onto the logging road and walked down to the parking lot. With its many trailheads and beautiful scenery, the Alberni Inlet trail is going to become a popular destination in the years to come. The China Creek entrance to the trail is already seeing many new visitors. The trailheads further south will undoubtedly see fewer hikers because of the longer drive if you do make the trek, you’ll probably get the trail all to yourself (hopefully not everyone will read this post and go out to hike at the same time!).

The post Albert Inlet Trail north from Franklin River [Trip Report] first appeared on Pack & Trail.

I was on the shores of the Nitinat River this past weekend wanting to continue my hike but the Nitinat River was in the way. The sun was out but the river was cold. Swimming wasn’t in today’s agenda.

My goal was only a kilometre away. I decided to get on with it. Boots off. Pants rolled. Into the water.

50 feet later my feet were numb but finally out of the frigid water onto the warm rocks on the other side. Boots on. Pants unrolled. Hike on.

Since helping a trailbuilding project near Tuck Lake for the Vancouver Island Trail a couple years ago, I haven’t been able to shake the idea. A 700km trail up Vancouver Island. I got myself on the board and am starting to hike the completed sections.  I started near Tuck Lake last weekend. A few photos from the bright sunny day: 

The post Wading through Nitinat River on the Spine Trail first appeared on Pack & Trail.

But that’s what I want! It’s my birthday this weekend.

Birthday’s aren’t what they used to be when I was a kid, but they’re still fun. On the other hand, I can ask for bigger things now.

And this birthday I’m asking for a big one. 700km of trail to be exact.

I’ve been helping out the Vancouver Island Trail project recently. They’re building a trail from Victoria to Cape Scott. 700km of awesomeness. I love the idea and I can’t wait until it’s finished but it needs more money to keep moving. It’s completely donation based so far and the more money it gets the faster trail gets built. Can you help out?

I would love to raise $1000 for the Spine Trail for my birthday. Before the end of January donate to the Spine Trail and we can help this awesome project move that much faster.

It’s quick and easy to donate and become a Friend of the Vancouver Island Trail.

The post Can I have a 700 km Trail for my Birthday? first appeared on Pack & Trail.

Della, my 30-pound formosan mountain dog, and I headed up to Port Alberni and started hiking at around 11am. The heat had already started to creep up. The interwebs had promised 27 degrees, perfect temperature for a hard hike….. I absolutely love hiking when I’m gushing sweat.

Della not sitting still – Alberni Inlet Trail

The trail starts out as small single-track through lush green forest. A great start. The elevation starts to creep up and in no time, you’re into switchbacks climbing up the steep hill to the first of the viewpoints. My first goal was a viewpoint that overlooks the inlet with 180 degree views of Alberni Inlet.

The trail wound its way along the back of the hill on the other side from the inlet, giving views of the lush forest around Port Alberni. Eventually we came up and over the hill to get some views of the water. There’s something about the water that I can’t get enough of. I don’t have to be in it, or even right next to it, but just seeing it from a mountain makes any hike that much better.

No water under the bridge – Alberni Inlet Trail

Well maintained trail – Alberni Inlet Trail

Port Alberni from Alberni Inlet Trail – Alberni Inlet Trail

Rocky trail – Alberni Inlet Trail

Della – Alberni Inlet Trail

Bridge – Alberni Inlet Trail

The trail pops out on a logging road and then cuts back into the woods. I hope they’re working on getting that trail to 100% single track. Using the logging roads as part of the trail for any more than a crossing is the easy way out. It’s great to get a trail up and running but hopefully they don’t use it for long.About 3.5 km from the trailhead we hit a fork in the trail. Heading left from this fork leads you up to the great viewpoint overlooking the inlet. Heading right at the fork will lead you down the medium difficulty trail to the water. The kicker here is that if you go to the viewpoint AND want to go to the water, you have to go down a crazy steep section after the viewpoint to get there. I wanted to see what both trails looked like so we headed to the viewpoint and the steep trail.

Lookout trail – Alberni Inlet Trail

Alberni Inlet from above – Alberni Inlet Trail

Just past where the steep trail takes you down to the water, there’s a hard to find side trail from the logging road up to the viewpoint. It’s quite steep but there’s no ropes involved. The viewpoint is well worth it.

If you’re only looking for a couple hour hike, going to the viewpoint and then straight back is the way to go.

If you’re looking for a much harder hike, go down the steep section to the water.

Steep trail – Alberni Inlet Trail

We headed back to the fork and down the steep trail to the water. The brochures and signs classified this part as difficult and steep. They weren’t kidding. Usually signs are  very conservative with their markings but it was steep and difficult. A lot of the dirt was loose and dry and slid easily. I grabbed trees on the way down to slow down. I keep the next tree in sight just in case I started moving faster than I wanted to. Careening down the loose rock bouncing off the trees wasn’t in my plan to get to the water. I like water but I didn’t need to get there that fast.

15 minutes later we hit the fork at the bottom. This steep difficult trail hooks up with the medium trail that comes down from the earlier fork in the trail. It continues on along the inlet for another 25 km to Headquarters Bay. From there it connects to the Runner’s trail which goes all the way to Francis Lake. From what I’ve read, the Runner’s Trail is very rough and not well signed. I’ll be exploring that one soon.

Alberni Inlet – Alberni Inlet Trail

We explored down the trail a bit and along the beach, where a driftwood shack had been built. It looked like a lunch shack for frying up that tasty fish from the inlet.

Lush green forest – Aberni Inlet Trail

Satisfied with seeing the first bit of inlet trail, we headed back towards the moderate trail that would take us back up the massive hill we just came down. One viewpoint was left on our list just before starting up the hill, the beach access with a small trail along the water. A large log boom was hooked up to the shore right in front of the beach and one of the mills was right around the corner. The beach trail headed off in that direction but I didn’t really care to see what the mill looked like.

Waterfall – Alberni Inlet Trail

Near the viewpoint was a beautiful set of waterfalls, a mere trickle point with how dry it was. They looked like they could really pour over the falls when the water is coming down. I got a few pictures and had lunch at the bottom of the trickle. I was going to take more photos of the falls but Della got spooked and started barking at something in the woods. I didn’t want to push my luck with any animal encounters so I packed my gear and started up the giant hill.

Oh hai

Teva Tevesphere shoes – Alberni Inlet Trail

Deer – Alberni Inlet Trail

Fern – Alberni Inlet Trail

The moderate trail up the hill wasn’t nearly as steep as the one coming down from the viewpoint but it was still a gut buster to climb. It was about 2:00pm and the heat was still climbing. Della was plodding along slowly behind me. I wasn’t moving very fast either.

30 minutes to the top without any breaks. If you want more breaks, you’ll be longer. I slogged it out and pushed my way to the top.

From the fork at the top, it was an easy flat and downhill back to the car.

Great trail. Good viewpoints. Good slog up from the water. 

The post Trip Report: Alberni Inlet Trail first appeared on Pack & Trail.

What was this Trails Network Conference for?

The Vancouver Island Trails Network Conference was put together to kickstart the networking and community building between members of any and all groups on Vancouver Island that want to help build of the Vancouver Island Spine Trail and related trails. That’s a mouthful. Basically the organizers wanted to bring everyone together and talk about trails on Vancouver Island, and a bit more specifically, the Spine Trail.

Who is VISTA?

The focus of the conference always came back around to the Spine Trail, the soon-to-be baby of the Vancouver Island Spine Trail Association, who are based out of Victoria. The association was started by Gil Parker and is currently chaired by Andrew Pape-Salmon with the sole purpose of bringing to Spine Trail to life. One side-project within that goal has been to connect communities, adventurers and trail builders across the island. A 700km trail does not exist in isolation, it will require a huge amount of volunteer work to be completed and will connect communities that have stood separate for ages.

What was the conference about?

The main goal of the conference was to bring together trail builders, sport and hiking groups, communities, government members and leaders from other organizations and get them talking, to start the conversation around the Spine Trail.“How do we build a 700km trail?”“What can we learn from other large trail projects across the province and Canada?”“Instead of a struggling pet project, inching it’s way up the island, how can we make this a resounding success?”The conversation has obviously already started as the association as existed for years now and the south end of the trail is nearly complete.

Who was there?

Speaking at the conference were all sorts of folks from mayors and government employees to trail builders and hikers.Trisha Kaplan is the Trail Development Manager for Western and Northern Canada for the Trans Canada Trail. Building a trail across Canada is no easy feat and she had lots to say about the issues they’ve encountered while building the TCT. One highlight was how different every region and province were in what they thought would benefit them most. Communities in the rockies who like to hike and run are not the same as communities in the prairies that like to snowmobile.

Philip Stone is an adventurer and guidebook writer from Vancouver Island. He’s written great books like Island Alpine and Quadra Climbing. He’s been hiking, climbing, kayaking and sailing in the most remote regions of Vancouver Island for the last 25 years. Few know the backcountry here like Philip. He spoke to the challenge of running a trail through the middle of the island and also some history behind the spine or “backbone” idea of the trail.

Ken Melamed was the mayor of Whistler during the Olympics. He talked about the success of their trail system and the economic benefits it brought to his City.

Other names rounded out the list and provided interesting stories related to trails.

Amanda Ridgeway is a director of the Mountain Bike Tourism Association in Cumberland. She calls herself an “amenity migrant”, meaning she moves from place to place because of the amenities there. For her it’s always been the mountain bike trails. She’s moved from Australia to England to Fernie and finally to Cumberland in search of good trails. Many people are doing this these days. Trails can be a huge attraction for people of any ages looking for fun activities where they are going to live.

John Hawkings is the Manager of trails with the Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resources. He talked about provisions in sections 56 and 57 of the Forest and Range Practices Act. Section 56 deals with the establishment of public trails and 57 with the legal authority for them. Having section 56 status means that the Province provides public liability insurance.

What’s going to happen next, going forward?

By the end of the day there was a buzz in the crowd with excitement about new trails on Vancouver Island. There was also some skepticism as well. Other groups have tried in the past to bring groups together only to fade away.

The crew from VISTA committed to keeping in touch with email newsletters about new developments and to arrange for another conference in about 2 years time.I thought the conference went extremely well and brought together some great voices that can put a serious dent in the work that’s left on the Spine Trail as well as all the other trails on the island. No trails are built or maintained without good people and lots of sweat.

How do you connect and help VISTA with the trail?

If you want to know more about the Vancouver Island Trail Association and the Spine Trail and keep in touch, visit their website at http://www.vi-trail.ca.

The post Vancouver Island Trails Conference Recap first appeared on Pack & Trail.

On June 5 relay runners, bikers and hikers will make their way all the way from Port Hardy along the trails, up the mountains and across the roads down to Victoria by June 27. Now they’re not expecting you to do the entire thing. One of the organizers (aka one crazy d00d), Andrew Pape-Salmon, has agreed to do the entire relay.

Jen Segger made the trip last year during her Vancouver Island Quest 2009, but she does it for a living! Needless to say, it will be an epic trip.The registration fee for the Relay is going to be $30 but that will essentially just buy you a membership into the association. Just think, you will have supported the construction of what will undoubtedly become one of the worlds greatest trails.

You can also get a membership or donate right now.

Here are the initial dates for all the legs. Along the way there will be Community Days in Port Hardy, Campbell River, Port Alberni, Cumberland, Cowichan Lake and Victoria to support the event. There will be lots of food and goodies at the events kindly provided by Overwaitea and Thrifty’s.

Saturday, June 5, 2010, Section 1, hike from Cape Scott Provincial Park parking lot to Nissen Bight.

June 6, Section 2, run the North Coast Trail to Shushartie Bay, travel to Port Hardy by boat.

June 7, Section 3, mountain bike from Shushartie River to Port Hardy along river and logging road.

Tuesday, June 8, Community Day at Quatse Salmon Stewardship Centre in Port Hardy, short hike with participation of local schools, businesses, service clubs, First Nations, local governments, community members.

June 9-10, Section 4, road cycle to Campbell River, overnight in Woss on June 9.

Friday, June 11 morning, Community Day at BeaverLodge Lands in Campbell River, short hike (with schools, etc)

June 11 afternoon, Section 5, road cycle to Mount Washington.

June 12-14, Section 6, hike from Mount Washington to Cumberland in Strathcona Provincial Park, via Forbidden Plateau and mountain bike trails.

Tuesday, June 15, Community Day in Cumberland, short “historical hike” starting at Community Centre (with schools, etc)

June 16, Section 7, mountain bike in Cumberland area on the community trails.

June 17-19, Section 8, hike from Mount Clifton to Port Alberni along Beaufort range and down from Mount Joan to Log Train Trail.

June 20, Community Day at McLean Sawmill in Port Alberni,  short hike along Log Train Trail (with schools, etc).

June 21-23, Section 9, mountain bike from Port Alberni to Lake Cowichan via logging roads and Runner’s Trail between Headquarters Bay and Francis Lake (including trail runners on this section on June 22).

June 24, Community Day in Lake Cowichan, short hike in Cowichan River Provincial Park (with schools, etc).

June 25-26, Section 10, run from Lake Cowichan to Victoria along Trans-Canada trail (including horseback riders from to Shawnigan Lake on June 25).

Sunday, June 27, Community Day in Victoria,  hike from Legislature to Mile 0 through Beacon Hill Park (with schools, etc).For more details hit up the VI Spine Relay page.

The post VI Spine Trail Relay June 5 to June 27 first appeared on Pack & Trail.