July 22, 2024
Roberts Lake to Montague Creek Recreation Site
The wind was ripping most of the night, which along with the lapping of the water provided a nice background of white noise. In the morning, the wind died down as we did our routine takedown of camp and breakfast. We got an earlier start than the previous days and were soon back on pavement.
We covered 9 miles in good time before turing onto a beautiful gravel road for the next 14 miles. During this time we crossed numerous creeks and rivers, and we came across several beautiful unmarked sites alongside several of them. During this stint we also encountered our first logging truck. The driver stopped to talk with us about our ride and remarked that he has encountered riders from around the world doing the Tree to Sea Loop. He was extremely enthusiastic and curious and wished us well as he left us in his dust. Wild to think a semi carrying 90,000 pounds of logs is faster than us two.
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Once in Sayward Junction we stopped at the local pub for lunch, where we ate a hearty meal and topped up our electronics. This trip is making me realize that I'd like to invest in a generator hub for this bike to help keep electronics charged while on the road, otherwise rest stops become a game of "where's the nearest socket?"
Once back on our bikes we had a steady climb out of town, with a persistent headwind making it even more challenging. We rested for several minutes at a roadside rest stop, laying in the grass with the clouds passing overhead and sunshine on our faces. After this stop, we hopped onto a gravel road that I spotted that paralleled much of the highway. I saw that we could take this almost the entire way to our intended stopping point at Rooney Lake. We've started to deviate a bit from the Tree to Sea Loop, opting to ride on the highway or paralleling gravel roads to avoid some of the extra mileage and climbing that the loop has. Still, making your own route is part of the fun of bikepacking, and we have still been getting a true Vancouver Island experience along the dirt roads we're finding.
It was along this stretch of gravel road that we saw evidence of bears everywhere, including lots of bear scat and the occasional scratches on tree trunks where bears were presumably looking for grubs and insects. But, despite traveling through what increasingly seemed to be a bear's porta potty, we never saw one despite wanting to. As I remarked to my dad, the road was "all shit and no bear."
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https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/28362-Thamnophis-sirtalis/browse_photos?place_id=46
4 months ago
It was a grind to get to our next campsite, and around mile 40 we both started to feel fatigued. After a punchy climb which we walked much of, we made it to Rooney Lake, where we were greeted with a campsite full of trash. Rather than tolerate that site, we pushed on several miles further to try and make it to Montague Creek Recreation Site. This section of the ride, while challenging, was beautiful in its own way. Watching the trees sway along the hills and mountains, the land itself started to look like a creature of its own. This island, logged as it may be, is still extraordinarily lush and the Southern Californian in me envies the greenery that is at every turn. Granted, we are here in the summer, and I know that greenery comes at the cost of countless damp, dark, and short winter days.
Montague Creek was an enormous improvement, and we had the spot to ourselves...at least, we thought we did (more on that in tomorrow's post). We were each beat, so after a quick meal we hung our food, set up our tents, and went to bed under the light patter of rain on our tent flies.
Today's ride: 79 km (49 miles)
Total: 373 km (232 miles)
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4 months ago