We'll be coming up from Victoria on Saturday morning. Would be happy to meet up in Duncan or something to join a convoy. In theory i'd like to leave my house nice and early for the trip but with wife and dog sometimes its a bit slower to get things moving.
I imagine some people will be waiting to make the call to go or not closer to the date, but hopefully we can get a good group around the fire on Saturday night. Any new members looking for an easy adventure?
So today we went out to scope out a couple of good spots in the Nitinat area including the Nitinat Lake rec site and Francis lake.
Francis lake was pretty awesome! Beautiful clear lake with an inch or so of snow still around. The trail into the camping spots on the lake was pretty fun. Mainly it was driving along the creek, overall depth was fine with only one spot where it got deeper than our axles, and it was about 2 feet deep at that final crossing. The creek bed is made up of smooth rocks about basketball size, so its a bumpy ride in but we didn't have any clearance issues with me on 33's and Nate on 31's. There was a bit of a log jam in the creek which we cleared. There's a good bit of space for tents, probably set up 6 or 7 and then loads of more rocky ground which would be fine for those sleeping in trucks or rooftop tents. A fire ring, functional floating dock (currently pulled ashore) and outhouse complete this fine little spot.
The rec site on the Nitinat Lake was also pretty good. Standard sort of campground with fire rings and picnic tables, several pit toilets and easy access by heavily potholed road. Awesome forests with huge trees and an excellent beach too. Run by BC trails and rec sites, its not open for reservations etc now but we just drove right in and checked it all out. Loads of room for dozens of people. Probably close to 40 sites and lots of room on the beach too.
We also stopped at the Nitinat Bridge Pool site, its small but very pretty and has no amenities, you could set up wherever and bring your own everything.
My vote would be for Francis lake because it's more of an adventure to get down to the lake, although I don't know much about the surrounding area yet. I'm still available for March 24th and 25th.
Who's in, and are you thinking about bringing your dogs? Mine would love some playmates
The only stuff I know about near Parkville is Hammerfest in Errington. Not easy at all, Maybe if you have a key to the gate I guess. I banged up my 4runner against a couple trees in there. We just wanted to get the truck in so we could shuttle mountain bikes up the hill! If you are worried about scratches on the big shiny new truck you'll have a hard time on this island. Buy a back roads mapbook from a book shop or gas station, then explore along the fat black lines and build up your comfort level and learn about what you can and can't do in your truck. There are a lot of really cool places on this island you can get to without banging up the truck
We'll be coming up from Victoria on Saturday morning. Would be happy to meet up in Duncan or something to join a convoy. In theory i'd like to leave my house nice and early for the trip but with wife and dog sometimes its a bit slower to get things moving.
I imagine some people will be waiting to make the call to go or not closer to the date, but hopefully we can get a good group around the fire on Saturday night. Any new members looking for an easy adventure?
3rd gen wiring a mess, sounds familiar to me! Looking forward to seeing this 5th gen beauty in person
Its confrmed, the wife and dog are coming too! We'll be heading up early on the 24th. Maybe we can do a bit of Sunday wheeling on the way home?
So today we went out to scope out a couple of good spots in the Nitinat area including the Nitinat Lake rec site and Francis lake.
Francis lake was pretty awesome! Beautiful clear lake with an inch or so of snow still around. The trail into the camping spots on the lake was pretty fun. Mainly it was driving along the creek, overall depth was fine with only one spot where it got deeper than our axles, and it was about 2 feet deep at that final crossing. The creek bed is made up of smooth rocks about basketball size, so its a bumpy ride in but we didn't have any clearance issues with me on 33's and Nate on 31's. There was a bit of a log jam in the creek which we cleared. There's a good bit of space for tents, probably set up 6 or 7 and then loads of more rocky ground which would be fine for those sleeping in trucks or rooftop tents. A fire ring, functional floating dock (currently pulled ashore) and outhouse complete this fine little spot.
The rec site on the Nitinat Lake was also pretty good. Standard sort of campground with fire rings and picnic tables, several pit toilets and easy access by heavily potholed road. Awesome forests with huge trees and an excellent beach too. Run by BC trails and rec sites, its not open for reservations etc now but we just drove right in and checked it all out. Loads of room for dozens of people. Probably close to 40 sites and lots of room on the beach too.
We also stopped at the Nitinat Bridge Pool site, its small but very pretty and has no amenities, you could set up wherever and bring your own everything.
My vote would be for Francis lake because it's more of an adventure to get down to the lake, although I don't know much about the surrounding area yet. I'm still available for March 24th and 25th.
Who's in, and are you thinking about bringing your dogs? Mine would love some playmates
The only stuff I know about near Parkville is Hammerfest in Errington. Not easy at all, Maybe if you have a key to the gate I guess. I banged up my 4runner against a couple trees in there. We just wanted to get the truck in so we could shuttle mountain bikes up the hill! If you are worried about scratches on the big shiny new truck you'll have a hard time on this island. Buy a back roads mapbook from a book shop or gas station, then explore along the fat black lines and build up your comfort level and learn about what you can and can't do in your truck. There are a lot of really cool places on this island you can get to without banging up the truck