Traveling the Back Roads

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I was on the road again today, off to the Nitinat Salmon Hatchery on Vancouver Island. It’s a major hatchery, but not one I’ve visited before, or was familiar with. All I knew was that it is sizable…and somewhere out off the Bamfield Road. I was given directions to turn off the Bamfield road at Franklin Camp and head South. OK, sounds good.

But when I got to the ferry I thought I’d grab a back roads map book and see exactly where it is….I feel a little more comfortable knowing where I am going….particularly on a logging road where there aren’t a lot of great places to stop and ask directions…bears aren’t so clear on directions usually……

However, as luck would have it, there were no back-roads map books for Vancouver Island on board. Bummer. So I bought a new BC road map book and another for the Island and wandered back down to the truck. As I pored over the maps, I realized that up to Port Alberni, and then back down to Nitinat was not the most efficient route. Rather, south from Nanaimo looked much better. And, to top it off, there appeared to be a road that went straight in off of the Nanaimo Lakes road! Most excellent! So off I went.

What a lovely paved road I thought to myself, so glad I came this way instead of dodging logging trucks and potholes and washboards on the Bamfield road. Why I didn’t even need the truck on this trip, I could have done this in the CRX I said smugly to myself. Everything was going along swimmingly until I saw a road sign that said “Caution, meridian in the road ahead”. Of course, they really should post a few more details like….”The road will suddenly turn sharply to the left at which point it will cease to be pavement and will instead become a gravel topped moonscape filled with holes the size of small volkswagens in less time than it takes to read this sign”…..Holy Crap! There wasn’t enough time to hit the brakes and get slowed down to any reasonable degree before I was in the thick of it!

And with that, I tested the new tie rod ends on my truck very effectively! I don’t believe I left any truck parts behind…..

I should have realized that was a bad sign right off the bat.

Next, I passed a locked security shack that said something like “All who enter must report to security” Well, since there was no one there, of course I assumed that it wasn’t in effect.

The road wasn’t great, but it wasn’t the worst logging road I had ever been on either. Farther on I passed some cabins at the edge of the lake. Very lovely. Then I passed a sign that definitely caught my attention and made me slow down and wonder…. it said “Absolutely no public vehicle entry Monday through Friday” Did I count I wondered? I was off to a Federal hatchery after all…on business….somewhat cautiously I continued on and saw another sign that said “Gate ahead” Yup, there it was…in all it’s locked glory….crap! With no choice but to retrace my path, I turned the truck around and headed back through the minefield of a road. At least I was able to check the road for any bots of 4Runner that might have been left behind.

At this point I am committed though. It is too far to go all the way up to Port Alberni….there must be another way in…I remember seeing directions to get there via Cowichan…..of course those directions are safely back home….. so I pull over and examine my maps again. Yes, it appears that I can drive south past Ladysmith and turn inland from near Chemainus. From there it looks like I head to Cowichan, then on to Youbou, Nitinat….but the hatchery itself is not on my maps….or my computer maps…. and I have no directions from this side…well…time to navigate the road using the braille system. As least this way there are towns to go through so the road should be nice and easy (famous last words).

The drive to Cowichan was quick and I pulled in to grab a sub for lunch, and some groceries. I was pretty sure this hatchery was stocked and I did not need to bring my own food…but I’d rather be safe than hungry. Stop for gas, a quick check with the fellow who filled my tank as to whether I could reach the hatchery via Youbou. “Oh yes” he says “I’ve never actually been there, but I know it’s well past Youbou. The road is a bit rough, but just take it slow and easy” (He obviously thinks I look like a city slicker and has never seen me whiz along logging roads….or slam my truck into reverse to avoid a logging truck….I mean really, this road is great, what’s he talking about?)

On the road again, uh oh, where did the pavement go…..? Here we go again.

Oh boy, this is bad….really, really bad….this makes the Bamfield road look good! Left side of the road, right side of the road, middle of the road……shake, bang, slow down, speed up, dodge the holes. I hate the ones that hide in the shadows….it’s always too late by the time you reach for the brakes…you end up gritting your teeth and hoping you can hold on to the vehicle. Then some REALLY big ones appeared…I got the truck slowed down to about 20 before connecting with them….but they were so deep and so well spaced that all four tires were in holes simultaneously…and then again…my poor little truck did jumping jacks!

Up ahead I see a car at an odd angle….brake lights…pulling out, I switch over to the other side of the road and start to go by them relatively slowly…two terrified looking older women peer at me. Then a pickup truck going slowly, braking repeatedly. “Must be really bad” I think. Not really, just more terrified city folk. I find it absolutely hilarious that people will drive almost religiously on the left side of the road…no matter how bad it is. It’s kind of comical actually.

A short distance on, a fork in the road. Shit, I hate it when that happens. A sign points ahead, Nitinat Provincial Park. I look at the map….it shows the road cutting inland. Doesn’t feel right…. back up and turn down the left fork. Road improves…good choice….as long as I’m going the right way. There is no turning back this time, I’m already an hour and a half committed here. I continue…then check the map again….then continue, then I see an almost completely grown over sign that says “Port Alberni” I now know I am on the right road!….but then I hit another fork…..Why so many damned forks in this road!?!?

High on a tree is a tiny little sign, no more than a foot square, with the words “Nitinat Hatchery” and a little tiny arrow. Thank goodness! I continue….farther and farther…and then that little niggling doubt begins to set in…..did I miss a turnoff? No, a little further on another little sign, oddly, this one is about 30 feet up a tree..very easily missed.

Another fork in the road, strangely familiar….I think I’ve been here before…. I think I came in on this road once when I was in my undergraduate degree and we wee coming back from a field trip to a bunch of fish culture facilities. A post stands there, with a series of little red pointed signs that remind me vaguely of M*A*S*H* …but not as much as the grizzled fellow in full camouflage I just passed…..

A choice, right = Bamfield….left = Nitinat Lake….left seems obvious. I go left…a few hundred meters down to road and the road begins to deteriorate…..I question my choice…..

I question my next choice even more…I’m going to double back and see if I can find my Commando. He’s still where I passed him and he sticks his thumb out hopefully. I roll down the window and ask him if he knows where the hatchery is. He doesn’t, but he tells me that Nitinat is to the right and I can surely find someone to answer my questions there. I say thanks, sorry I can’t help him out (he tells me his car has a flat tire). I go right and whiz around a few bends int eh road and almost zoom right past the hatchery turnoff. Slams on the brakes and skid to a halt, reverse….down the road. A fisheries truck passes me going the other way….feeling mighty confident now. Shit, another freaking fork! But to the left, a sign proclaiming me to have reached my destination!

Later that day, the hatchery manager and I take a short jaunt down to the net pens at the top of the lake…only then do I realize Commando guy either lied to me, or was thoroughly turned around because the community of Nitinat was exactly the opposite direction from which he told me to go! Good thing he didn’t know where the hatchery was!

Travelling the back-roads, always an adventure!