Vancouver Island trip coming up

arctictraveller · 10-01-2019, 11:49 AM

I posted this on a different thread, http://www.sportsmobileforum.com/for...e-s-21091.html but it didn't get much traction, so REF suggested starting a new thread..

A friend and I have put together an off road route on Vancouver Island that ends up at a very remote, wilderness beach at the far Northern end of the island, by way of a few hundred miles of logging roads and trails. It's likely we will run into mud and some snow, but nothing extreme and we have plenty of recovery gear. This trip is scheduled for departure on the Anacortes to Sidney ferry on Oct 9th, and picking up a couple more friends in Comox on the 10th and should last about four or five days, with options to extend it further. REF will be coming from the B.C. mainland, (Vancouver) and taking the ferry to Nanimo. At pretty much any point along the route, there are easy bail outs leading to the paved island highway, so if you want to depart early it's easy. Several folks have expressed interest in joining up, but have yet to fully commit, so I'm open to a couple others. If you might be interested let me know.

Cyrull · 10-01-2019, 10:37 PM

Hey Jeff,

I'll be on the island for Thanksgiving from Oct 11-14, but will be mostly in the Victoria area. I'm departing from Shwartz bay for the 6pm ferry on the 14th. If you are around the Victoria/Sidney area on the 14th I'd be open to do a day trip of exploring for a few hours.

marret · 10-02-2019, 06:03 AM

Sounds like a great trip. Unfortunately I have a hard commitment in 10 Oct that prevents my participation. Thanks Jeff, I know it will be awesome.

Beagle · 10-06-2019, 08:20 AM

I was on Vancouver Island for about a month last year. What a fabulous place. My intent was to explore the island on as many back roads as possible while also visiting different "civilized" areas. The disappointment was the amount of back roads and logging roads that have been closed by the logging companies who control the land. The locals also complained about it but the logging companies have the upper hand. I hope you have better luck than I did finding open off road routes. Either way, a great place with great people. Good luck and have fun.

arctictraveller · 10-06-2019, 10:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Beagle

The disappointment was the amount of back roads and logging roads that have been closed by the logging companies

Sadly, that's true, but many logging companies own the land they log, and past abuses have lead them to putting up gates to keep out folks who dump trash, leave camp fires burning, drive off trail etc. It's too bad that a few folks can ruin it for everyone, but that's pretty true everywhere. Some closures are seasonal due to fire season, and gates are opened in the winter for snowmobiler's and skiers. Some companies allow public use of their land, and a few clubs work hard to keep access open. The South end of the island is pretty restricted, but the further North you get, the more open roads there are. We plan to stick to the North end for the majority of the trip.