Pacific Marine Loop Tour

A Loop Tour on the Pacific Marine Route
on Southern Vancouver Island

Port Renfrew to Lake Cowichan & Duncan

 When folks in Port Renfrew say that they are driving "up" to Lake Cowichan, they do mean "up!"

 After a gentle start today from the campground on a relatively level Road for about 8km, things changed!

  The road gradually started upwards with very few downhills so climbing was the order of the day. The last few kilometres into Mesachie Lake on a good downhill were well deserved after climbing to about 400 metres at the highest point. The road was quite boring at first as it traverses through bush and views are minimal, but as the elevation increased so did the vistas. Many views of Harris Creek and Harris Canyon were available and well worth the effort to reach them.

 Once more, logging trucks were my main companions, but they were very respectful of my position on the road and gave me ample space - good job too, as one wrong move on my part could have meant disaster, as there are no barriers on this road to prevent a steep drop into the canyon.

 All was well though and a much deserved second breakfast in Lake Cowichan prompted me to ride the Cowichan Valley Trail (actually, the old CPR railbed) to Duncan, where no campsite could tempt me after the tiring 90km today, so a motel room was the order of the day.

 And not surprisingly so - once settled into my nice room I figured out that just the last two days were over 11,500ft. of accumulated climbing! But many wonderful views today!

 

AdamK & (I closed my eyes some of the time!) Basil.

 

Duncan to Sidney

 Not far to ride today, so a leisurely start for the ride to the Mill Bay Ferry and then on to Sidney from the  ferry landing at Brentwood Bay.
 A complimentary breakfast was offered at the motel which including waffles, so I loaded up on them anyway, even though today's ride would not be as taxing on the body as the previous two days had been! I set off down Highway 1 towards Mill Bay. The highway has a good shoulder, but I soon got fed up with the traffic noise so turned east onto Koksilah Road to join up with the quieter roads of the "Rotary Route."
 A little hillier than the highway in places, but a very pleasant ride south to Kilmalu Road at the north side of Mill Bay. A short jaunt back on the highway to the left turn off at Mill Bay Road, which runs adjacent to the ocean and leads to the ferry dock.

 It was  a short wait for the ferry as I chatted with some other cyclists who were waiting for the boat to arrive - this is a popular ferry for local cyclists as it enables a circle route from Victoria up the Malahat Mountain, then a return via the ferry and other quiet roads on the Saanich Peninsula back to Victoria.

 I was lucky enough to see and take a photo of one of the large First Nations canoes out on the water - quite impressive and moving quickly through the water with the fast strokes of many paddlers.

 

 Once  in Brentwood Bay, I rode the short climb to the village and stopped at a Subway to pick up a sandwich, then high-tailed it back to the Sidney waterfront where a picnic table was my choice for my "al fresco" lunch. Only a short ride from there for me and I was home!

 

 And that's it! 2km to home from there!

 

 AdamK and (Glad to be home) Basil.