Section 6 - Mountain Bike Alberni Inlet to Lake Cowichan

The original plan for this Section of the Relay was to mountain bike on logging roads from Port Alberni to Lake Cowichan. Instead, we decided to ride on existing trails between those two centres.

After riding from Port Alberni, we were treated to a gorgeous ride along the historic Canadian Northern Pacific Railway (CNPR) grade between China Creek and the Franklin River. This trail was about 80% rideable, with the exception of some creek valleys and oceanside ridge walks where the slope was too steep.

For the remainder of the Section we focused our efforts on the brand new, 20km "Runner's Trail", constructed by the Tseshaht First Nation in collaboration with a number of government and funding agencies. We traveled 18km of the trail from the CNPR grade south of Parson's Creek, all the way to Francis Lake on the way to Cowichan Lake.

The trip was grueling on bikes, as the trail was fresh and soft, with numerous creek crossings that involved a steep trail not suitable for bikes. In these areas, we walked or carried our bikes. However, probably 70-80% of the trail east of the Bamfield Road was ridable, as it travels along old logging roads and the CNPR railgrade in many sections. We passed two beautiful lakes and had many viewscapes of the mountains east of Alberni Inlet.

We spent the evening in the community of Nitinat Lake, the home of the Ditidaht First Nation. This is one of the access points for the famous West Coast Trail, part of Pacific Rim National Park. The goal is to connect the WCT with the Vancouver Island Spine Trail with a short side trail that will go to Nitinat.

Click here for more photos.

Click here for Nic Scott's trip description on vimb.com.