Tuesday, June 25, 2019 (Thunderbird RV Park, Campbell River, BC)

Our plan for today was to go ATVing from Brewster Lake with Earl, Allison, Doug and Candice. They are camping there for the week.

We had lunches made and all our gear packed in the truck. Ray and Deb came over to say goodbye before returning home to Cowichan Lake. We were both feeling a little rough after yesterdays festivities with them :) Looking forward to our visit at your place in August! Then we were on our way just before 8:00.

We drove to Menzies Bay Mainline, a logging road, about 20 minutes north. We found a spot just off the highway where we could off-load the quads and park the truck for the day.

And we're ready to go! I'll pass this over to Steve now to tell you about our ride...

As we rode in we noticed many signs to various lakes and campgrounds...

About a half hour later, we arrived at Brewster Beach Recreation Site. After riding through most of the campground we figured they were at their second choice, Apple Point Campground. Then suddenly we recognized Earl and Allison's truck and side by side.

Earl and Allison's site...

Doug and Candice's site...

Abby has had her summer haircut...she looks like a different dog from her Quartzsite self...

 Always wanting a treat...good thing Earl had some...

 Earl and Allison...

Time to get on with our ride...

Arriving at Apple Point Campground...

Brewster Lake...

There were several more sites as we continued on down the road...

One thing I've noticed capturing photos from video on the GoPro camera travelling through the forest and bush is some tend to be blurry (: I'll have to check and see if there is a setting to correct that...never had that problem on our Arizona rides...

An old overgrown trestle over a creek...

Salmon River...Looking right...

They all turned right after the bridge and went down below...

Looking left...

Look at the colour of that water...just beautiful!

The valley below is a long ways down and extremely steep...

 Lots of yellow flowers on the roadside...

Stopping at a remote campsite...

It overlooks First Lake...

They wanted to have another look for a geocache they've never been able to find. With no luck again and seeing it showed that it hasn't been found since 2016 we listed it as a "Did Not Find." Earl decided to place a new one a few feet away...

Next up, Earl wanted to show us a large tree...

Wonder what kind of a critter made this their home. It was large but too small for a bear...

We arrived at our destination...Earl, Dianne, Allison, Candice and Doug...

This is the worlds largest Yellow Cedar tree. As of 2013, height 200 feet, circumference 42 ft. 11 in, diameter 13.7 ft...

It's hard to get a perspective of the sheer size of this tree, so Steve scrambled across the wind falls...see him at the base of the tree?

Maidenhair ferns...don't recall ever seeing these before...

It's amazing how shallow the root systems are on these giants...

Admiring the root system of another dead giant...

Well that was cool...time to go!

 Earl wanted to check out a road that might be a shortcut, a little overgrown in some spots...

After getting in and out so many times to move trees and branches across the road Earl decided to walk ahead clearing a path...

 The old road became too overgrown to continue...

So we turned around...Doug's in the lead now...

 Allison got a little hung up crossing this washout...peddle to metal and she was out!

Dianne's turn...

 My turn...

27 second video of a huge off road logging truck passing by as we were pulled over to find a geocache. The bungs on the trailer holding the load of logs are 16 feet apart. These trucks used to be quite common years ago but most are regular size semi trucks run by independent contractors. I've had bad experiences with these big trucks many years ago. Once on a hunting trip at Cowichan Lake when one clipped the back corner of my camper and the fender on the boat trailer I was towing that belonged to my hunting partner. The other time was on our way to a campground with the whole family. There were three of these brutes, the first two passed by and the third one clipped the back corner of our travel trailer. In both cases I was pulled over to the side of the road as far as I could and stopped. With most roads 24 feet wide and 16 feet between the bungs on the trailer that just leaves 8 feet for other traffic. In both cases the timber company refused to pay for my damages until I threatened to write a letter to the editor to our local paper...they paid up!

Crossing a bridge at Brewster Lake...

We were back at their campsite at about 3:30. Another great ride, now it's time for some chit chat and relax with a brew before we head back...left to right, Steve, Candice, Doug, Allison and Earl. Thanks for leading the ride Earl and it was great seeing you again Doug and Candice!

The track from our ride today...(click on it to enlarge)

After our beer, it was time to get back on our quads and head out to the truck. It was just before 5:30 when we got home. We quickly got cleaned up and then walked over to the highly recommended Jiggers Grill, located right next door to the RV park. We have been wanting to have fish and chips there before we leave...which is in less than a week! So Steve had one piece halibut and I had cod...both were delicious! A great way to end the day!