by fair means: mountaineering on the open groad

A few months ago an idea struck me, simple yet outrageous: to approach the upper Elaho high country via bicycle from my house in Squamish. I kept the concept a secret for the most part, dropping subtle clues here and there to friends that might be keen on such an endeavour. It would be the classic 'multi-stage' tour as big missions can be; the bike ride of almost 100km, gaining the treeline at 1400m and finally, kilometers of magical alpine ridgelines the likes of which are unique to the coast range of BC, returning whence we came in a true out and back fashion. An alpine climbing trip by fair means.

I zeroed in on a few special peaks that we could attempt to climb including Mt. John Clarke, Mt. Tinniswood and Mt. Casemont - three classic yet anti classic objectives along the high divide between the upper Elaho and the far reaches of Princess Louisa Inlet. As always, long google earth sessions ensued and after a time, I was reasonably convinced we could cover a lot of the terrain in a 5 to 6 day return trip and have a great time as a result....I started to plant some more serious seeds.

Julian is one of my favorite partners for these types of trips, always up for a long day in the hills and over the years we have shared many great times together. Almost as soon as I mentioned the idea, he was in. We started to plan some rough details as the weeks went by and then by happenstance, during a bike ride with one of my main riding pals and good friends, Chris Christie, I mentioned the idea and asked if he'd like to join. After spurting out a couple of the details Chris cut me off - 'Ya I am in'.  I started to get excited as the group formed and all the details for adventure were worked out - I was confident this would be a highlight of the summer - just great.

The day of departure dawned grey and uncertain in terms of weather but the outlook couldn't be more positive for the days ahead both in terms of the clearing trend and our excitement. As we rolled down the pavement out of town I glanced at Julian and Chris, I couldn't have been happier. I was exactly where I wanted to be, at the start of the an ambitious outing with some really great friends.

Over the next 5 days we rode our bikes just shy of 200km total, ascended about 3500 m and travelled almost 90km on foot over the week ascending Mt. John Clarke and Loquits Peak along the way. Our initial goal of ascending Mt. Tinniswood was eventually put aside as the realities of our approach became clear. I could blame it on our slow start on our second day due to being soaked through from rain the previous day. The truth is it was probably just a little too far for our 3 days in the alpine. I think if we had a 4th day we could have had a better chance of reaching the mighty T but hey, we will be back some day, it's just too beautiful up there to never return. 

Highlights would certainly include a sunset that I will never forget; splashing azure and chrome on the ocean below and the peaks around us as we sat in out high camp, mosquitos and flies carried away by the gentle breeze while we sipped our cocktails. A moon so strong it caused both Julian and I to consider rallying the group to 'get rolling!' at 2 am, the thought of moon light travel so tantalizing. The same moon would light up the mica in the granite across the valley the next evening so that it would appear to be electric or on fire, convincing us there were 'lights on' in the mountain sides. At one time, Chris was positioned on a high ridge as a steady breeze blew low clouds past him and all around as he stood motionless, sun backlit. Miles of perfect white bleached granite speckled with tarns, perfectly clear and warm to touch like hand drawn baths, perfect travel around each corner and interesting all the while. Jumping into Loquits lake, ice bobbing on the opposite shore for a cool down after a long day in the hills, laughing and seeing who might stay in the longest. 

Maybe my favourite memory was on the last day,  cruising down the 'trail' through the steep timber letting the experiences shared along with the distant memory of leaving on bikes only days ago from Squamish settle in. We arrived at a perfect camp near a clear river at our stashed bikes in a landscape of burnt old growth cedar and fir, the sun well below the horizon as we set up and quietly went through the routine of dinner and relaxing. I remember a moment as it was getting dark, taking in the last part of the day, the bright stars breaking through first. I could faintly make the outlines of the trees, soon the night sky shining bright with starlight and the promise of another day ahead. My friends laughing as we had our last bit of spirits and toasted another great trip. That will be hard to forget.

Thanks to Julian and Chris for the great outing, great nature and friendship!

Returning home after a great trip, along the Squamish Main FSR.

Descending from upper Sims creek to Elaho Creek.

Our last campsite on the shore of Sims Creek

Rounding Mt. John Clarke

Miles of perfect granite.

Our camp is visible on the ridge center left.

Princess Louisa Inlet below.

Chris on ridge.

Camp site below.

Mt. Tinniswood as viewed from John Clarke.

Summit of Mt. John Clarke. An easy peak that was ascended without difficulty.

En route to Loquits peak.

On the Bon Bon Glacier, who named this!

This rock was very special, wazy and perfectly solid. Made for some fun scrambling.

Later I had to convince Julian he stood on top of this boulder, we are both stubborn.

Ascending from Bug Lake on day 2.

Bug Lake is full of welcoming hosts.

The devils club is easily avoidable.

These two 'twin firs' are on the ascent to Bug Lake and are very special.

At the start of the trip!

The Mahalo Loop - Gibsons to Nanaimo on the open groad

Over the last few weeks, I had been scheming on an elegant looking 'loop' starting and finishing in Horseshoe bay. Some hours were spent searching trailforks for the best route up the Sunshine Coast from Gibsons to Powell River, google earth for a sneaky pass above Lake Cowichan that makes the whole thing viable and a collection of various blogs that describe other sections of our would be route. Eventually, I had enough confidence that the route would 'go' and it was time to hit the gosh darn open groad already.

The plan was to leave a car at H Bay,  ride trails and gravel down the sunshine coast to Powell River, hop on the ferry to Comox, ride back roads to Port Alberni and later, Lake Cowichan of course camping along the way. After Lake Cowichan was where the unknown started, there is evidence of a road over a higher pass that connects you to the Nanaimo Lakes watershed, if this pass 'went' the trip would be in the bag. After the pass its simple rolling down towards Nanaimo, to the ferry, some beers and of course, our awaiting car at H Bay.

My companions on this trip were Pat Valade and Dave Kallai, both very competent bikepackers and awesome guys. Our goal was two fold: Stay on gravel and dirt for as much as possible and to swim in every lake in easy distance from our route. Just great.

Packed for the car ride to H Bay from Squamish.

Dave and Pat at our first stop, at the 'SUPER MAP'

The entire trip was highlighted by some great coffee stops, especially on the first half and of course, lots of swimming. . Here Pat makes his way into one of our favourites in Sechelt.

This Cinnamon bun was a real treat, crispy on the outside and gooey on the inside, like me.

The trails and gravel on the sunshine coast were superb. We did a mix of the Sunshine Coast lower trail, the Sun Coaster trail and some excellent gravel roads, it all went according to plan.

The salmon berries were out in force!

A few small hike a bike hills but not too many.

The gravel was great.

Really great.

Like, really really great.

We had a section that was an 'unknown' on this route, getting from the higer trail back down to a mainline logging route, this 'connector' worked but was maybe the only ugly section of the S Coast section, only ugly if you don't like a bit of mud and swamp, I happen to like mud and swamp so it was fine.

Lots of heavy machinery just laying around everywhere. My favourites are these giant feller bunchers.

Gas station pit stop.

We arrived in Powell River after a night at Saltery Bay campground. It rained some during the first day and we were keen to dry out and recharge for the rest of the trip. The AM brought sunny patches and a nice little pavement section to get us into town. Things were going well.

They continued to improve upon finding what I think is the best  commercially available breakfast sandwich in the known universe at 'Base Camp' coffee, if you find a better one please tell me as I need to visit it.

Due to a miss-reading of the ferry schedule, we had about 4 hours to kill in Powell River. This was a mixed blessing, our day will now go into the night in terms of riding to get us where we needed to go but there was a plus side: more coffee!

The evening beverage of choice for this trip was 'Alberta Premium' and juice crystals, I call this 'mountaineers lemonade' and it goes down real easy after a day on the ol open groad.

Eventually we caught the ferry and made it to the Island and around Lake Comox.

This section has a lot of ups and downs but it's not too bad at all and the views are just great.

Some really nice gravel after Comox Lake towards Port Alberni and some of the more 'remote' feeling sections.

We stopped for dinner at a great little spot on the river and had a good chill and water fill up. We all brought boil in bag food and shared one titanium jetboil stove. From here we would keep riding to make up for our lost time.

We rode into the evening and reached Sproat Lake around 9pm, this was a really great day. To our joy, there was a shower house at the campground and we all enjoyed a hot shower, a rare luxury on the open groad but one we were certainly happy to indulge in.

The next AM we cruised the 7km into Port Alberni and loaded up on trail snacks at the gas station, this will be our last chance for the rest of the trip so we loaded heavy and rolled into Timmy Ho's for a second breakfast. Bike packing and Timmy Ho's goes together like bikes and the open groad.

I love these welcome totems in Port Alberni

Off to Cow Lake!

Pat sometimes unclips and shakes his legs out while riding, it looks pretty cool.

I was hotter then spring break 89' so rode this entire day sans shirt, it was hot and clear and just a joy to be out in the mountains in fine weather with a couple of great guys.

The section from Port Alberni is fast and beautiful but filled with the gnarliest drivers, they really speed past you in top gear not slowing down at all. It would be dangerous if you didn't hear them coming for so long.

Halfway along we spotted a couple of lakes on the map, to our surprise they were perfect, cold and clear. Within 2 min I was in there bobbing around and just having the best time. Nothing better than a swim on a hot day on the open groad.

After the lakes there is this very random section of pavement, it was a nice change from the rough gravel that characterized the morning effort.

When we got to Cowichan Lake we were hit with a real party vibe, the campgrounds are filled with partiers and families, speed boats and floaties shaped like unicorns, we couldn't help but catch a little of the mahalo spirit. 

After checking in with the camp host, I slyly asked if she had a side hustle selling beer to bikepackers fresh off the open groad? She responded 'well I don't have beer but I could sell you some of these ciders, they are my favourite!'. We bought a six pack from Karen and were on our way to our beachside campsite. Dave made a fire and soon enough we were blissfully enjoying the scene and fitting right in. That was just great. Later in the evening, Karen sent someone to ask if we needed more 'beer' - how nice is that? Thanks for the great hospitality and evening. We needed to be up early so were in bed around 10.

Pat filling water from Lale Cow.

Early AM on the E side of Lake Cow, the light here was very special. 

We made our way up Shaw Creek, this was the 'unknown' section. I had some intel that it went on ATV's and just the night before, Vancouver Island bikepacker, Vik Banerjee (VikApproved) sent me an email saying he had done the section days before - it went and was great! 

This was maybe my favourite part, long easy roads in the early AM light. Later there was a bit of hike a bike and pushing but mainly easy travel.

Broken spoke in the middle of nowhere, this is fine.

After the pass it was easy cruising down to Nanaimo Lakes, this section was fast and efficient and included a lot of pavement. In no time we were in Nanaimo cruising around for a place that sold cold beer. To our incredible fortune, we discovered Patty's Palapas at the Wharf downtown, we mowed down some tacos and nachos and washed it all down with some cold beers. What a great finish to a great trip.

Thanks to Dave and Pat for the great outing, their good nature and for a very memorable few days on the open groad.

GPS Track: