Skinny Dip with a View

July 13 My Day 5 - official day 3

Port Renfrew to Walbran creek and falls trailhead (just outside of Carmanah Walbran Provincial Park)

Cold night and a barking dog made for a sleepless night. I have been regularly chilly at night. The combination of my new light sleeping pad and a 32 degree sleeping bag are not doing the job.

I wore my rain pants for warmth as I sat at the picnic table during breakfast while eating my oatmeal and drinking coffee so now I have worn and used everything I brought except for the water filter but that will be needed tonight.

West coast trail hikers gathered near the check in area as we were getting ready to leave. Port Renfrew is their starting spot so they were all still clean.

We smelled the freshly cut lumber before we passed by the lumber yard. As we started pedaling up the decommissioned road we saw a big yellow sign warning of 18 degree grades. Loose boulders make for tough and slow climbing as the back wheel often spun out.

Not too far out of town,  we came across a black charred car recently burned because it was still smoldering. Pete peaked in looking for bones. That didn’t occur to me but luckily none were found. Shortly after, Pete avoided a Baby owl resting on road about the size of my hand. Of course we stopped, got off our bikes and took photos, carefully as not to disturb the little guy.

Sweat poured into my eyes as we pedaled up and up. There were numerous fresh scants from bears feasting on berries. We also tasted them when Georgia picked a few thimble berries - delicate and sweet.

Before the hike a bike we were greeted with two mounds of dirt built up to prevent us from travelling down one of the roads. It took four of us to push each bike up over the hurdles. The second obstacle course was due to a washed out bridge and we had to hoist our bikes over giant logs.

As we ate our lunch (in our perfect lunch spot) we could hear trees falling. This was an active logging area.

Shortly after lunch, an Irishman named Richie, on a mission, passed us. Solo rider, friendly and moving fast with a light load. He was going all the way to Bamfield possibly and started at Lizard lake. I appreciated the beer that he had perfectly positioned just below his saddle bag and said that it even tasted kind of good when warm. He filled up on water at Walbran Creek - our camp spot. He beat us there of course and it was about à 14 miles detour for him.

We were at Walbran Creek, our camp by 2 pm. Narrow double track and heavily overgrown all the way down made us wonder what kind of forested wild camp spot we would find. It was fun and fast on my Honzo.

To our surprise, it was a trailhead and a wonderful emergency shelter. After scouting a couple spots across the river we decided to camp on the side of the road near the shelter with a picnic table. The accommodations were incredible.

We had a wonderful afternoon by the river. I skinny dipped and washed up in the river. Filtered 5 liters of water and watched the fish in the nearby pools.

It was a treat to relax on the benches and cook on the picnic table. We hiked on the perfectly maintained board walk and checked out the slide area across the river where the trail ended.

Ashley and Daniel, fellow bikepackers, rolled in later in the day and setup camp on the other side of the river from us. There were flat tent spots but a bit further in the woods. They cooked on the bridge and we briefly visited with them. They are now on the same Alberni Bam Bam itinerary.

22 miles, 2148 ft

1 peasant

2 snakes

2 hike a bike sections

1 skinny dip

1 toilet with a view (five stars)