walking

 

Bravehearts Cycle to Lake Cowichan 7/11/26
Saturday, 7/11/26 Bill (me) cycled the 65km (40mile) loop connecting Duncan, BC with Lake Cowichan

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There are two trails connecting these cities: Trans Canada Trail (TCT) on the southdide of the Cowichan River and the Cowichan Valley Trail (CVT) on the northside. The TCT is the former Canadian National Railway (CNR) and the CVT is the former Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR).

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Six Bravehearts riders and three Duncan riders left Glenora Trailhead a 11am heading westbound.

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Seven members took a long break at one of the bridges so Bruce and Bill carried on to Lake Cowichan.

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Bill gave Bruce a tour of the town — since he's been associated with it since 1952 — and Bruce bought the lunch.

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Bill left Bruce at Duncan and took Indian Rd. up to Tidewater Trail and the Trans CanadaTrail (TCT) back to Glenora.

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Bruce had his girl friend drop him off at Glenora and she drove back to Duncan to wait.

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With certain dalays we thought we were behind our times and this was confirmed when Frances phoned Bruce along the trail inbound to Duncan.

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Bill didn't want to waste any more time because he had the longest distance to go.

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Labels: bravehearts, cowichan, duncan, izip

 

I stopped to help this young couple with a flat tire on my outbound leg to Paldi, BC.

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He was about to start the process of changing his inner tube with the new one when I suggested he use my Slime®

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After giving them my bottle of Slime® I carried on to my destination.

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Upon my inbound leg, they were still in the process.

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Another cyclist had stoped and was replacing the inner tube for them.

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They stated the Slime® could not be use as they could not remove the valve-stem from the offending inner tube.

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The lad returned my Slime® and we all went our separate ways.

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Labels: cowichan, izip

 

Tuesday I drove the Honda 60km to Glenora staging area beside the Trans Canada Trail

Labels: cowichan, izip

 

Saturday morning at 6:19a.m. I left home in my wife's Honda for Duncan, BC, with my mighty steed secured firmly on its bikerack on the trunk.

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After fueling up the limo in Duncan I drove the old Cowichan Lake Road to Tansor Road trailhead along the Cowichan Valley Trail (CVT) arriving there at 7:29a.m.

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The rendezvous with Tom and Jennifer was not for another three hours so I had plenty of time to go places and have things to do.

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Firstly, it was Paldi, BC. This former milltown is still occupied by descendants and family members of its founder: Mayo Singh Manhas (1888-1955) and his wife, Bishan Kaur.

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Elk Ridge Estates is currently clearing Paldi lands where Mayo's son, Rajindi, built his own airstrip to fly his twin-engine Baron aircraft in-and-out to maintain the family's business interests.

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To this end, I thought it prudent to put the drone up and take a look.

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On my drive back to Tansor parking I took Payne Rd. into the Old Hillcrest Chinese Cemetery.

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It's located adjecent to the Cowichan Valley Trail so I could have waited until cycling past on my bike.

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I put the drone up just as some volunteers were arriving to do their maintenance work cutting and trimming the grave site grasses.

Drone View Old Hillcrest Chinese Cemetery Duncan, BC 3-minute VIDEO

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Labels: cowichan, cycled, duncan, ebike

 

Hi Tom, Thanks for sending out this week's Cowichan Chronicles and the effort you put into it. As busy as everyone (me) seems to be these days, it's a wonder we have time to read anything. We were particularly interested in your musings on John Tod and the location of his home in Oak Bay. Hidden in plain site?

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For sure. Bernice and I just walked Willows Beach again yesterday and never realized how close we were to the heritage home at 2564 Heron Street. next time we'll drop in a take a few pix. Keep up the good work, Tom, and stay safe.

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Bill
P.S. I was in your hood last Sunday after cycling down from the Kinsol (18.5km). Bernice is not well and was waiting at home for me so I didn't drop into your place for tea. LOL Here's a picture-to-prove it.

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Labels: cowichan, cycled

 

Thursday morning, my son and I drove 60km (38miles) to the Tidewater Trailhead at Koksilah Road, near Duncan, BC.

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The trail was blocked by a windfall that came down in the last storm.

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Seems no one in the entire Cowichan Valley was interested in removing it so the task fell to enterprising individuals from Victoria to go up and show them how it's done.

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what3words WINDFALL

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Labels: cowichan, tidewater

 

Drove Benz to Central Spur and walked over trestle to Selkirk Green Park

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Drove Benz to Malahat Chalet but it was closed due to overnight winds causing power outage.

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Drove to Langtry Rd. to checkout Tidewater Trail xing and gates on property. Good views and pix now that the summer overgrowth has died.

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Drove the Miller Rd. approach to the White Bridge Xing at Allenby Rd. and Indian Rd junction.

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Carried on down Craig St. to Just Jake's for lunch. Always good food and service.

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Drove home to stop in at Shelbourne Fairway ($60) and home by 2:45p.m. Nice sunny day but too windy for Mini 2 in the trunk.

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Labels: cowichan, duncan

Friday we drove the Benz to Duncan, BC and stopped in at UPAK, Bemberton on the way.

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The UPAK site is sporting a new gated fence which now uses a PalGate Electronic System App to gain access the 5800m section of the former BC Cement Haul Road. (aka Private Truck Road).

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One requires a cellphone with the PalGate App installed and initialized to gain access.

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Silly me exited there to Hwy-1 southbound instead of making a U-turn at the U-turn sign posted by the gate. Daah! This meant driving all the way back to South Shawnigan Lake Road which we took up to the village. There are still no eateries there that have restrooms open so we carried on back to Mill Bay at Hwy-1.

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I fueled up at the Shell station while she had a pee. We backtracked along the Shawnigan Lake/Mill Bay road to Deloume Rd where I took picures of the bridge-out and the haul road blocked. From there we carried on to Rowe Rd. in the Glenora Area south of Duncan and cut the large root from the wye trail access to the Great Trail there. This section of trail is also known as: The Cowichan Valley Trail. I've wanted to remove this obstruction from the trail since first encountering it in 2007. Well. it's finally gone.

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The Wye is a remnant of the CPR rail connection from Tidewater Subdivision to the mainline named — Victoria Sub. Only the southern wye remains open due to locals using it regularly over the intervening 35yrs since the railway was abandoned.

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We then drove Miller Rd , over the White Bridge (not to be confused with the Black Bridge or the Silver Bridge) crossing of the Cowichan River into Duncan, British Columbia.

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After chowing down on a hotdog at Cherries Ice Cream Parlor we headed back to Victoria and home by 2:15p.m.

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Labels: cowichan, drove, duncan, tct

Tuesday we drove 68km to the end of Rowe Road in the Glenora Valley region of Vancouver Island.

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We started here where the road meets the Trans Canada Trail and walked up to the Tidewater CNR Subdivision wye. Google Wye to find out what that is.

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CNR Tidewater Subdivision Rail Trail (Narrated by Eric Roberts)

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We then drove the Honda to the end of the Tidewater Subdivision at Cowichan Bay Terminal.

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The Rock Cod Cafe' does not open until noon so we carried on to the Kinsol Trestle. On the way we stopped in Shawnigan Lake Village in the hope of having lunch at the Village chippery but it is out-of-business due to Covid-19. Too bad. So sad.

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Once at the Glen Eagles parking lot we walked the 1400m up to the trestle. Lots of walkers and cyclists. Tom Paterson stated: “Build it and they will come.” He was right.

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We walked the 1400m up to and over the Kinsol Trestle. I went down to the river but Bernice sat and watched.

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Another good outing on which we learned a lot. I took a bad fall coming down from Holt Main logging road but should recover.

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Kinsol Trestle Re-Opens Thursday, July 28, 2011

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Labels: cowichan, kinsol, walked

Monday we drove Koksilah Road to the Tidewater Railtrail doing some reconnaissance.

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We've cycled this trail connector to the Kinsol Trestle a few times from here and other locations in the area.

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We walked the 720m from Glenora Staging Area up to Holt Trestle.

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Seems we haven't been here for over a decade.

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We found the Waters Road TCT Xing but not Rowe Rd. Xing of the Tidewater Trail.

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2008

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Labels: cowichan, tidewater

Sunday I cycled 22km (14 miles) roundtrip from Mayo Road to Lake Cowichan and return. We drove to the Taylors' home in Chemainus, BC where we met up with C&M. Joyce and B. shopped while the four of us cycled.

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C. put four bikes on his trailer-hitch rack and drove us to Mayo Road Trailhead of the Trans Canada Trail (TCT). The Cowichan Valley Regional District (CVRD) has been tasked (it seems) with maintaining this trail which connects Sooke Lake Road in the southeast (at the watershed) with the Township of Lake Cowichan to the northwest. The usable length of this section of the TCT is 47km (29miles) connecting Lake Cowichan with Sooke Lake Road. This section includes the world-famous, Kinsol Trestle, located some 20km (13miles) east and south of Mayo Rd. on the TCT. This trail is the former Canadian National Railway (CNR) right-of-way (RoW). Once this trail restarts (southeastward) it is designated the Galloping Goose Regional Trail (GGT). There is a section of the TCT -- or GGT -- closed to the public; this is the approximately 7km section within the Capital Regional District's (CRD) Greater Victoria Drinking Water System.

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The trail we cycled inbound from Lake Cowichan back to Mayo Road is the former Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) RoW. The original railway named the Cowichan Subdivision connected Hayward Junction near Duncan, BC to Lake Cowichan and Honeymoon Bay. This railtrail was named the Cowichan Valley Trail (CVT) when it was officially opened to the public in 2011.

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Recently, I've noticed the names of these two trails have been used randomly to describe either trail; i.e., the TCT being referred to as the CVT and vice versa. It seems the only logical way to describe them in conversation or correspondence is to revert back to the original railway names: CNR Trail or CPR Trail. Hopefully, the CVRD will figure out soon which name they want to designate which trail -- to get us back on track.

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Having said all this about all that: We cycled outbound on the CNR Trail and inbound on the CPR Trail.

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Cycling Mayo Rd. to Lake Cowichan 22km Loop VIDEO

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Cycling Lake Cowichan / Mayo Road 14 Mile Loop TCT and CVT
GPS Mapsend Data: Skutz Falls at Mayo Road to Lake Cowichan ("The Foot") on Trans Canada Trail (TCT) distance : 9.8km

GPS Mapsend Data: Western Terminus eastbound to Mayo Road on Cowichan Valley Trail (CVT) distance: 9.7km
GPS Mapsend Data: Roundtrip cycling distance from Mayo Rd. and return is 23km including the Mayo Road connector between trails (TCT and CVT)

We were one-hour outbound on TCT (from Mayo Rd.) to the Western Terminus and 45-minutes inbound on the CVT back to Mayo Road.
The one-hour outbound included stops to view a couple of sights along the route
Neither the TCT nor the CVT have many redeeming features to entice cyclists or hikers to travel this section of either trail -- but it's a good loop-ride.
This summary does NOT include the time-and-distance between trails down (DH) on Mayo Road connector.

Labels: cowichan, cycled

Friday, August 12, 2011, I cycled 35km roundtrip on the Tidewater Subdivision CNR Right-of-Way (RoW) to the Kinsol Trestle from Koksilah Road. After dropping the wife off in Duncan, BC, my vehicle transported us -- me and my Norco bicycle -- to the intersection of Miller & Glenora roads. There's an ample parking area here from which it's 100m to the Tidewater Trailhead beside Koksilah Rd.

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It's 6km uphill from here to the Trans Canada Trail (TCT) at Deerholme. From Deeholme to the Kinsol Trestle along the TCT is 11km. It was just another day in paradise.

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video Narrative:
Today we're off to the Cowichan Valley Trans Canada Trail & Kinsol Trestle. We'll start at the Tidewater Subdivision railtrail from Koksilah Road at Miller Road, south of Duncan, British Columbia. Sometimes finding the trailhead is the most difficult part of the journey and accessing the Tidewater railtrail is no exception. Directly west of the 50km speed sign on Koksilah Road is where we'll access the trail for today's 6km cycle up to the Trans Canada Trail adjacent to Rowe Road. This short section of the Tidewater
trail passes the TLC's Keating Historical Home to one's right and another hertiage home, Reneen, to one's left. At Langtry Road the trail comes to an abrupt end. Access beyond here is blocked by a farmers gates. A logical option here is to pick up the railtrail again at the Glenora/Seshia Road intersection. From here, the unmaintained trail continues uninterrupted to the former Deeholme Wye at the TCT. A WYE in railroad vernacular means where one railway line connects with another in the form of the letter Y - this permits access by trains heading in either direction. Once headed southbound on the Trans Canada Trail, it's 11-km to the newly, rehabilitated Kinsol Trestle.

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90-second Tidewater Video

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Total Tidewater Video

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GPS Coordinates Langtry Rd: N48°45.589', W123°42.324'
Glenora/Seshia roads: N48°45.709', W123°43.011'
Intersection with TCT N48°45.023', W123°46.008'
Southside Kinsol Trestle: N48°40.085', W123°41.646'

Labels: cowichan, cycled, duncan, kinsol, tct

Tuesday, July 5, 2011, I cycled 32km from Lake Cowichan (The Foot) to Duncan, BC. Bernice and her friend, Betty, drove me and my ride to the Foot and then they returned to Duncan to shop-the-day-away. Summer has hit the valley (that be: Cowichan Valley) with a vengeance so the weather was severe clear with balmy temperatures around 25*C.

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After departing the Foot at 11:00 a.m., I arrived in downtown Duncan three hours later. It took 90-minutes to cover the first 17km to Paldi on the all-new, Cowichan Valley Trail. Again, the shade of the gazebo beside the Paldi Sikh Temple invited me to sit there and reflect upon the life of one Rajindi Mayo while enjoying my soon-to-be-world-famous, egg-salad sandwich.

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Upon crossing Sherman Rd at the end of the trail, the main objective became where to find the trailhead for the soon-to-be-completed, Duncan-commons Trail. This trail -- which is completed in sections -- primarily follows the E&N Railway tracks to join the City of Duncan with one of Vancouver Island's largest shopping complexes: Duncan Commons Mall.

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Cycling eastward on Lane Road brought me to Averil Park. This park is adjacent to The Commons and is roughly at the site of the former, Hayward Junction.

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Hayward Junction was the eastern terminus of the railline just cycled: the 18.4-mile, E&N Cowichan subdivision. Hayward Junction derived its name it part as it was the junction of the E&N Mainline (Esquimalt to Nanaimo) and the newly built line to Lake Cowichan in 1925.

The locals did not seem to know as much about the new Duncan Commons Trail as I did. Most of half-dozen persons queried had never heard of it. Go figure. After cycling the E&N mainline toward Duncan for a while (we are familiar with this section of rail as we've walked it in the past), I happened upon a survey crew who were (guess what?) surveying for the new trail! They knew exactly where and how I could pickup the new trail heading into Duncan.

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My wife and I both have cellular phones so she knew her shopping trip was over and the cycling journey had been completed successfully. What a great ride! What a great trail!

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90-second VIDEO // 30-sec. VIDEO Holmes Creek footbridge

Labels: cowichan, cycled, duncan, tct, video

Today I cycled 22km roundtrip from the Trans Canada Trail's Western Trailhead in Lake Cowichan, BC, to Skutz Falls and return. The 9.6km outbound leg was via the Trans Canada Trail sectioned which was formerly the Canadian National Railway (CNR) line tracking the southern side of the Cowichan River. The 8.5km Cowichan Valley Trail (CVT)inbound leg was on the former Canadian Pacific Railway (CNR) right-of-way (RoW) which is located on the north side of said river. This day, the 2.6km Mayo Road connector was chosen to get from one railtrail to the other.

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Oddly enough, both these railtrails are downhill (DH) when cycled in these directions. How so? Excellent question. The part left out here is the 177m (580ft.) gain from Skutz Falls, CNR railtrail Xing at Mayo Road up to the CVT. Yes, this cyclist walked part of it. The last time I cycled this loop it was done in the clockwise direction so the Mayo Road section was DH. "What goes up must come down". And so it is with cycling. In this direction, the TCT ride back to Lake Cowichan is 30m gain uphill. "Your call, captain", as we say in the airlines.

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Bernice and I were ostensibly in the Foot (as in foot-of-the-lake, the Township of Lake Cowichan) to attend the official opening of the all-new, rehabilitated former Esquimalt & Nanaimo Railway (E&N) RoW which has been used as a trail for many years but never official designated as such. The Cowichan Valley Regional District (CVRD) was reluctant -- unable would be the correct word -- to open the trail as such for legal reasons. It was pretty rough in spots! It was posted with signs warning users they do so at their own risk and cable barricades were erected at every road xing along its route.

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Fortunately for us, those days are gone. We have this marvelous 26km route from Lake Cowichan, BC to Duncan open for our year-round enjoyment and convenience. Once a suitable connection is made between the CVT's eastern terminus at Sherman Road to the Duncan Commons Trail (currently under construction) one could presume locals and visitors alike will use the route to commute to the downtown core or, alternately, Duncan Commons Shopping Mall. Either way, this new trial is a winner.

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We had arranged to meet with T.W. Paterson to get copies of his newest Firgrove Publishing book: Rails to Trails Historical Map & Guide. Tom does nice work! Perhaps best known for his ghost town books which have been in print since the 1970s, TW Paterson is a familiar byline to thousands of readers who enjoy his newspaper and magazine articles, and his 26 books on popular British Columbia's history. For 14 years, TWP has written a twice-weekly historical column, Cowichan Chronicles, in Duncan's Cowichan Valley Citizen.

Cowichan Valley Trail Officially Opens // 6-minute Roundtrip Cycling VIDEO

Labels: cowichan, cvrd, cycled, mayo, tct

Today I cycled 18.7km on the Cowichan Valley Trail (CVT) west of Duncan, BC. After heading westward from Lake Cowichan Road parking I arrived at Paldi, BC, 40-minutes later.

This 7.6km stretch has a 100m (328ft.) gain which slowed me down to approximately 10km/hr. But hey, it's my day off and out here enjoying myself. We made up for any lost time on the DH inbound leg hitting speed in excess of 20km/hr. Cool.

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The week prior to this adventure -- and contemplating where to ride -- I reflected upon one Rajindi Mayo and the significant contribution he and his family have made to the Cowichan Valley. I considered how nice it would be sit in the shade of the gazebo beside the Paldi Sikh Temple eating my soon-to-be-world-famous egg-salad sandwich and reflect upon Bubba's life and accomplishments.

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No sooner had I arrived at the temple and a woman drove and parked her vehicle in the driveway. After the obligatory niceties, she introduced herself as one Joan Mayo -- the widow of the before-mentioned, Bubba Mayo. Bernice and I have met Joan on previous occasions at events in the Duncan area.

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Now I'm not a mathematician, but one could reasonably calculate the odds of me deciding on Wednesday to cycle to the Paldi Sikh Temple to meditate upon the life of the late Rajindi Mayo the following Saturday and to meet his wife, Joan, there within three-minutes of my arrival, are, conservatively, in the area of a million-to-one. Ah, serendipity. Joan and I reminisced about the previous times we've met and phone discussions we've had regarding her wonderful published book: Paldi Remembered, Fifty Years in the Life of a Vancouver Island Logging Town. Joan was at the temple this day -- in the company of her son and daughter-in-law -- to make preparations for her granddaughter's upcoming wedding. Joan has her work cut out for her as the bride-to-be has invited four-hundred guests!

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N.B. To those paying attention a roundtrip of 7.6km does not add up to 18.7km. By adding an additional 3.5km (1.75km oneway) roundtrip to Holmes Creek Xing, the numbers do add up.

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After all-of-the-above we drove to Lake Cowichan for a cool one at our favourite pub then drove on to Mesachie Lake and Camp Imodene.

Labels: cowichan, cycled, duncan, railtrails

Today we walked parts of the Cowichan Valley Trail after driving to Lake Cowichan, BC, on Vancouver Island, Canada.

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We didn't walk much did take a lot of pictures on what was basically a reconnaissance mission to sleuth out the remnants of the old railways in the Township of Lake Cowichan. Jay & Suzanne joined us so we saw things anew through their eyes.

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We enjoyed lunch at the Irish Pub & Grill (as in Dermond & Dudley's) beside the river in Lake Cowichan. This is our habit as it is the best wateringhole and eatery in the valley.

Labels: cowichan, duncan, railtrails