Ride Report: Camping at Labour Day Lake

During the summer, my girlfriend and I rode the KLR up to Labour Day Lake. I've uploaded a route; it makes for a nice relaxed trip. From the Alberni highway, the ride was basically abandoned logging road suitable for anything resembling a 4x4. There's nothing really difficult, you just need a bit of clearance from the rocks. I wouldn't do it with anything you were worried about the paint though, it's pretty overgrown.

There is a trail from the parking area to the lake, about 1km long. When I was there, a large log had fallen across the trail, at a really bad spot, and this effectively ruled out motorcycle access all the way in. If the log wasn't there, then the trail would be difficult, but probably not impossible, for a decent rider. There are a lot of stream crossings, some with slippery corduroy bridges, that make the going rough for 2-wheeled traffic. We hiked in with out camping gear and spent the night.

The trail in T's off with the main camping site to the left and, to the right, a trail along the side of the lake. People were already at the main site so we decided to try our luck with the trail. After hiking another kilometre or so, we backtracked a bit to a fairly tight little spot along the lake shore. At least it was private.





















Things were wet but we managed to find enough dry wood to get a fire going, cook dinner, and settle down for the night. The next day, we hiked back out, rode into Port Alberni for lunch, and then cruised the very dusty mainlines down to Lake Cowichan . After dealing with a plugged air filter, and lunch at the A&W, we headed further south to a campsite along the San Juan river... but that's another post.

The route is available for download in both Google Earth and Ozi Explorer formats.

Be sure to read the DISCLAIMER as well.

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