No joke, that's the name of the place... 
A couple weekends ago, my daughter ( and I began to explore the ATV trails between "Poacher's Pass" and the coast. We've long known they eventually lead to some beaches/old farmsteads/camping opportunities, but we'd never really had the ability to explore it. She's getting a lot stronger this summer.
We packed a picknic lunch, PB&J, brownies and some snacks, a good bunch of water and her camera. The last time we went this direction, we totaled up 14km of riding, but stopped short of reaching the coast (time pressures!). Leaving at 11am gave us "all day".
I rode my '95 Stumpjumper M2 FS and my daughter, her rather newer Norco Katmandu.
The day started with very thick fog, but by 11 it had mostly retreated to the coast. Still sweaty riding, though. We humped over the Mitchell hill and turned up Poacher's Pass. Climbed to the top, and descended past Millican Lake, down the "triple hill" and on out the road for another km or so. Finally, West Beach Road appeared on our right. It's a well worn ATV trail, complete with a couple km's of head-sized rocks in a water washed section, some sections of roots that evoke railroad ties and a half-dozen or so hub-deep mud and water holes along the way. Good fun riding!
Shortly after entering the road, we stopped to enjoy the hundreds of water striders stroking about on a small stream crossing our path... Then ground our way up the baby-heads until finally the road began to tend gently downward. The downhill section switched out the rocks for roots. Good exercise for the old Specialized FSX carbon/ti air/oil fork!
After about 5km of riding, we reached an intersection and took the right branch. This leads down a steep (maybe 10% grade) trail, again railroaded with roots, beside a small stream in a mid-sized short gorge, with a little waterfall. This spot seems to have been too challenging for the logging practices of yore, and my daughter enjoyed spruce trees too big to encircle with her arms (she managed a little over 1/2 way). The tallest must have been well over 120'.
Back on the bikes, we rolled down to the bottom of the descent and eventually came upon a 4 way trail intersection, and chose the most travelled path. Soon we were in "new" territory, as the path wound back somewhat on our travel, heading generally west along the coast, a half km inland. Crossed a stream or 2, then the soil began to change to a sandy character, and we came upon grassy areas interspersed with alders. The coast was clearly near.
Continued....
A couple weekends ago, my daughter (
and I began to explore the ATV trails between "Poacher's Pass" and the coast. We've long known they eventually lead to some beaches/old farmsteads/camping opportunities, but we'd never really had the ability to explore it. She's getting a lot stronger this summer.We packed a picknic lunch, PB&J, brownies and some snacks, a good bunch of water and her camera. The last time we went this direction, we totaled up 14km of riding, but stopped short of reaching the coast (time pressures!). Leaving at 11am gave us "all day".
I rode my '95 Stumpjumper M2 FS and my daughter, her rather newer Norco Katmandu.
The day started with very thick fog, but by 11 it had mostly retreated to the coast. Still sweaty riding, though. We humped over the Mitchell hill and turned up Poacher's Pass. Climbed to the top, and descended past Millican Lake, down the "triple hill" and on out the road for another km or so. Finally, West Beach Road appeared on our right. It's a well worn ATV trail, complete with a couple km's of head-sized rocks in a water washed section, some sections of roots that evoke railroad ties and a half-dozen or so hub-deep mud and water holes along the way. Good fun riding!
Shortly after entering the road, we stopped to enjoy the hundreds of water striders stroking about on a small stream crossing our path... Then ground our way up the baby-heads until finally the road began to tend gently downward. The downhill section switched out the rocks for roots. Good exercise for the old Specialized FSX carbon/ti air/oil fork!
After about 5km of riding, we reached an intersection and took the right branch. This leads down a steep (maybe 10% grade) trail, again railroaded with roots, beside a small stream in a mid-sized short gorge, with a little waterfall. This spot seems to have been too challenging for the logging practices of yore, and my daughter enjoyed spruce trees too big to encircle with her arms (she managed a little over 1/2 way). The tallest must have been well over 120'.
Back on the bikes, we rolled down to the bottom of the descent and eventually came upon a 4 way trail intersection, and chose the most travelled path. Soon we were in "new" territory, as the path wound back somewhat on our travel, heading generally west along the coast, a half km inland. Crossed a stream or 2, then the soil began to change to a sandy character, and we came upon grassy areas interspersed with alders. The coast was clearly near.
Continued....
