Montague Creek to Woss Lake Provincial Park

July 23, 2024

At 2:30am, my dad and I were each woken up by the crunching of gravel and the lights of a car shining on our tents. Odd, we thought, considering the time and how remote we felt we were. My mind immediately jumped to a statistic my mom shared with me before leaving this trip: "The chances of being injured by a bear are approximately 1 in 2.1 million, according to the National Parks Service. You are more likely to be killed by a bee than a bear, and way more likely to be killed by another human than by either a bear or bee." After few minutes of lingering, the van turned off its lights, the driver got out for a smoke and then retired inside, which we both were viewing from under our rain flies. Weary, I slowly fell back asleep, hoping that I would wake up once again in a few hours.

At 6am, I was no less dead and got up to use the restroom and make coffee. It looked like our late-night visitor was just a lone traveler that must have been trying to cover some distance and found this site late into their journey. My dad slept in considerably longer, which was fine by me because yesterday's ride really knocked us both out. He was also at a bit of a disadvantage in that he packed a sleeping bag that was about as insulated as a piece of toilet paper, so he was cold all night long.

I spent the next few hours around camp and along the creek, watching the coots swim upstream and clouds cling to the hillsides, only to be blown away and reappear a few minutes later. At 9:15 my dad awoke from his fitfull slumber, and by 10amwe were packed and on our way.

We have 4 more days to make it to Port Hardy, which means that we can travel at a slower pace if needed. With this in mind, we decided to take an easier day and ride to Woss Lake, some 30 miles away on a mix of paved and gravel roads. The road out of camp was a nice gradual climb, during which time we enjoyed the cool cloud cover and views of the mountains. At the summit, we joined the gravel roads, which we would stay on for the remainder of the day.

The riding was just as scenic as the previous day, and with an equal amount of bear scat along the road. What's that saying again about "If a bear shits in the woods...?" All I know is that they must do that often because it was everywhere, yet we didn't see a bear the entire day.

We continued to make our way through extensive logging operations. It's astounding just how much time and effort goes into logging, and just how much it has altered the landscape of the island. We regularly pass through thickets of doghair forests, which are beautiful but also dark and impenetrable. Counter that with the recent and historically logged areas, where you can see old growth trunks that are easily 7-8 times larger than what grows in their place. The island must have looked wildly different before the arrival of Europeans. It's a sad thought to consider the damage that has been done all in the name of the almighty dollar.

We ran into two cyclists from Truckee going in the opposite direction of us. They were wrapping up their full Tree to Sea ride and had nothing but good things to say about it. It turns out that the loop has made quite an impact on the island, as many locals we run into ask us if we're doing the full loop. Loyal route development can have a very positive impact on the small towns they pass through, and I'm hopeful that this route does that for the communities we've been through.

Under grey skies and light rain we rolled into Woss, stopping for a burger at the only restaurant in town before heading down to camp at Woss Lake Campground. Tomorrow is slated to be rainy until early afternoon, but with 40 miles to cover to Telegraph Cove we intend on leaving early, throwing on our raincoats and embracing the damp. Another great day of riding in the books!

Today's ride: 50 km (31 miles)
Total: 423 km (263 miles)

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Floyd JonesThe bears up in that part of the island are green, which is why you probably haven't seen any.
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