Some glamour shots of our bikes against the rising sun
Proof I was there
Still waiting...
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Norden Canada Ride Report (*pics*)
- Thread starter Lightcycle
- Start date
Some glamour shots of our bikes against the rising sun
Proof I was there
Still waiting...
The reason why it takes so long to board is that they have to load all the vehicles backwards. Also, it's low tide and the ramp that goes down to the ferry is super steep, as a result.
A lot of the longer vehicles have to use additional blocks beneath their wheels to avoid high-centering on the ramp
Caught a pic of a baby eagle circling around above us - its feathers haven't grown in yet. Still majestic though
Finally, it's our turn!
A lot of the longer vehicles have to use additional blocks beneath their wheels to avoid high-centering on the ramp
Caught a pic of a baby eagle circling around above us - its feathers haven't grown in yet. Still majestic though
Finally, it's our turn!
After riding our bikes in, we had to do a U-turn to have them face outwards. So we're the Last-In-First-Out!
With our bikes all safely in the hold, the staff helps us tie them down and we grab all our stuff that we need for the next ten hours. Once the hold has been locked, you're not allowed back down to your vehicle.
Turns out a couple of people died on a previous sailing when the ferry capsized and they were trapped inside their car instead of being above deck like they were instructed to. So now they're pretty strict about access to your vehicle once the ferry is underway.
Everyone goes up to the outside top deck to watch as our ferry sails away from Bella Coola
We are sailing what's called the Inside Channel, which stretches from Port Hardy on the north end of Vancouver Island, all the way to Prince Rupert several hundred kms north on the mainland. Indigenous tribes use to travel amongst all the villages along the coast by cedar dug-out canoes.
Just like them, our ferry moves slowly past dozens of islands, small and large, between the mainland and Vancouver Island. Most of the huge Alaska cruise ships also travel through this part of the channel. I was a bit apprehensive about the sailing because I get sea-sick very easily, but we're sheltered from the choppy waves by all the large islands to the west of us.
Rare pic of the two of us together
With ten hours to kill and no Internet or Wifi on the boat, we get to know our fellow passengers very well. We flit from one group to the next, on the upper deck, at the cafeteria, etc. Sat down next to a guy, John, from Vancouver Island, who gave us some great routes on the northern section. I was scribbling notes furiously!
Word gets out that whales are breaching out in the waters, so everyone scrambles up onto the upper deck to get a view. We also see dolphins out in the distance. Cool!
With our bikes all safely in the hold, the staff helps us tie them down and we grab all our stuff that we need for the next ten hours. Once the hold has been locked, you're not allowed back down to your vehicle.
Turns out a couple of people died on a previous sailing when the ferry capsized and they were trapped inside their car instead of being above deck like they were instructed to. So now they're pretty strict about access to your vehicle once the ferry is underway.
Everyone goes up to the outside top deck to watch as our ferry sails away from Bella Coola
We are sailing what's called the Inside Channel, which stretches from Port Hardy on the north end of Vancouver Island, all the way to Prince Rupert several hundred kms north on the mainland. Indigenous tribes use to travel amongst all the villages along the coast by cedar dug-out canoes.
Just like them, our ferry moves slowly past dozens of islands, small and large, between the mainland and Vancouver Island. Most of the huge Alaska cruise ships also travel through this part of the channel. I was a bit apprehensive about the sailing because I get sea-sick very easily, but we're sheltered from the choppy waves by all the large islands to the west of us.
Rare pic of the two of us together
With ten hours to kill and no Internet or Wifi on the boat, we get to know our fellow passengers very well. We flit from one group to the next, on the upper deck, at the cafeteria, etc. Sat down next to a guy, John, from Vancouver Island, who gave us some great routes on the northern section. I was scribbling notes furiously!
Word gets out that whales are breaching out in the waters, so everyone scrambles up onto the upper deck to get a view. We also see dolphins out in the distance. Cool!
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Neda catches up on her sleep while I catch up on this weekend's Superbike races
We also talked to the staff, who were very friendly. Turns out they work on the ferry in two week shifts, and although there aren't any sleeping cabins for passengers, the crew do sleep on board on their long shifts.
The cafeteria lady also turned out to be a rider, and we chatted bikes for a while. She told us that most of the traffic on the ferry is commercial. Since Hwy 20 isn't suitable for 18-wheelers, supplies to the coast are transported via water. They'll drive the trucks full of supplies into the hold, and then all the drivers disembark and remain on shore. When the ferry reaches the other side, new drivers will board and drive the supply trucks off the ferry to the nearby communities.
The lady who worked there said those commercial sailings are like a ghost ship - full of cargo but no passengers. So interesting!
Happy birthday Canada!
A few hours into the sailing, our ferry moves past the protection of the large islands, out into the open sea, and the waters become choppy. That's my cue to lie my head down and try not to vomit...
It's not too bad. Plus I get to catch up on some sleep.
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Awhile later, the ferry docks at Port Hardy just past 5PM, so we've gained about a half hour on the waters. What a great way to get a scenic break in the middle of our riding weekend!
All the bikes leave first, turns out we're all staying at the same campsite not too far away
All set up for the evening!
Dorian and the Kootenay guys invite us out for dinner. There's a seafood place in town, so we all ride there in a convoy. Unfortunately, being the long weekend, the restaurant is booked solid for the evening - there's an hour and a half wait for a table. So we pivot and everyone votes to buy some ribs, steak and chicken since there are BBQs in our campsite.
Grocery shopping for dinner
Those Kootenay guys fooled us! We thought everyone was getting BBQ food, so we picked up a couple of steaks. They ended up just buying a couple of bags of smokies!
No matter. We ate well that evening
The Kootenay guys kept making fun of our gourmet dinner... Was a brilliant idea for the campground to have a BBQ on site, since there are so many fire bans due to the forest fire hazard.
All the bikes leave first, turns out we're all staying at the same campsite not too far away
All set up for the evening!
Dorian and the Kootenay guys invite us out for dinner. There's a seafood place in town, so we all ride there in a convoy. Unfortunately, being the long weekend, the restaurant is booked solid for the evening - there's an hour and a half wait for a table. So we pivot and everyone votes to buy some ribs, steak and chicken since there are BBQs in our campsite.
Grocery shopping for dinner
Those Kootenay guys fooled us! We thought everyone was getting BBQ food, so we picked up a couple of steaks. They ended up just buying a couple of bags of smokies!
No matter. We ate well that evening
The Kootenay guys kept making fun of our gourmet dinner...
Was a brilliant idea for the campground to have a BBQ on site, since there are so many fire bans due to the forest fire hazard.
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It was a great evening hanging out with the guys and talking bikes and trips. Southern BC is laid out in an interesting manner, there are all these valleys which the riding communities are from. Near Vancouver, the Fraser Valley guys have banded together and created a large-ish dual-sport group, they have huge monthly rides which we've attended.
The next valley over is Nicola, which is a smaller community of riders around the Hope/Merritt area, and then the Okanagan valley is where we're from - big DS/ADV community here, then the next valley east is the Kootenays. Not many people venture outside of their valley. I think we're one of the few that roam from the west coast all the way to the Alberta border where the Kootenay valley riders hang out.
Also did a bit of wrenching: One of the guys, Owen, just bought an 890 Adventure for this trip but was only getting a half-tanks worth of range. Like Neda's bike, it has an under-engine gas tank, so we checked the two petcocks on each side of the tank to make sure gas was flowing freely. Then we took off the skid plate to see if there were any pinched tubes. Typical camp-side tinkering.
This has turned out to be a such a super social ride this weekend! We are meeting a lot of riders and getting ideas from them for routes in their local area. After dinner, everyone turns in for the evening, and air is filled with sound of bikers snoring well into the night.
Thank god for ear plugs!
The next valley over is Nicola, which is a smaller community of riders around the Hope/Merritt area, and then the Okanagan valley is where we're from - big DS/ADV community here, then the next valley east is the Kootenays. Not many people venture outside of their valley. I think we're one of the few that roam from the west coast all the way to the Alberta border where the Kootenay valley riders hang out.
Also did a bit of wrenching: One of the guys, Owen, just bought an 890 Adventure for this trip but was only getting a half-tanks worth of range. Like Neda's bike, it has an under-engine gas tank, so we checked the two petcocks on each side of the tank to make sure gas was flowing freely. Then we took off the skid plate to see if there were any pinched tubes. Typical camp-side tinkering.
This has turned out to be a such a super social ride this weekend! We are meeting a lot of riders and getting ideas from them for routes in their local area. After dinner, everyone turns in for the evening, and air is filled with sound of bikers snoring well into the night.
Thank god for ear plugs!
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Super cool trip Gene. Great read as usual!
When I was out that way in 2020 I couldn't do the ferry from Bella Coola to Port Hardy because of Covid, so I'd love to do it on my next trip out there. Is there any reason you did this trip in that direction vs the opposite direction?
Those chalets at that campsite look pretty comfy too.
When I was out that way in 2020 I couldn't do the ferry from Bella Coola to Port Hardy because of Covid, so I'd love to do it on my next trip out there. Is there any reason you did this trip in that direction vs the opposite direction?
Those chalets at that campsite look pretty comfy too.
Thanks!
Mainly because of the ferry schedule. The Port Hardy to Bella Coola crossing for that time period ran on a weekday and didn't coincide with our Long Weekend plans, so the BC->PH crossing was more convenient.
Most of Hwy 20 is up at elevation on what's called the Chilcotin Plateau, so it climbs uphill just outside of Williams Lake, and then back downhill towards the Bella Coola valley. You don't get as good a view riding up-hill, so I'm glad we did it the way we did, because the gravel road descent at the coast is spectacular!
Yeah, the Port Hardy campsite (there's only one, I think) is one of the best sites we've stayed at. Very well-maintained and comfortable and the hosts are super-friendly.
We're up bright and early again. The Kootenay guys are getting ready for a day ride out to Cape Scott and they've invited us, but unfortunately, we've got to get back to work in a couple of days, so we're off to catch the ferry to the mainland later on this afternoon.
We're on a schedule again, and I'm kind of jealous that the guys have a few extra days to explore the island.
We say our goodbyes, but before leaving, I joined their FB group, so we'll probably meet up with them later in the season for a ride or two.
Cold morning start! 13C and we've got all our cold weather gear on for the ride south
Today is another straight shot down Hwy 19 from Port Hardy all the way to Nanaimo, and truth be told it's kind of a boring ride. Nothing but trees lining most of the way to Campbell River. Once again, I'm a bit miffed that we have to speed down Vancouver Island, especially knowing there's a system of trails around here called the North Island 1000, which has been on our bucket list for a while now.
It's okay. We're only a day's ride away from the island, so I know we'll get a chance to get out here again and focus on the NI-1K, and most likely with our fun bikes (the enduros) in tow!
The further south we go, the warmer it gets and we stop to peel off our layers
A couple of hours later, we stop in Campbell River for a break. We're sick of this boring road and decide to get off the main road and take the coastal route 19A in hopes of breaking up the monotony.
A bit different scenery, but not *that* interesting
It's a busy road and the speed limit drops to 50 km/h as it runs through small towns. We're kind of on a cannonball run to make the ferry and after about 45 minutes of this, we decide to deke back to the main road at Courtenay.
I'm a bit disappointed with the east coast of Vancouver Island. We've been out to Tofino, on the west coast, a few times and the huge waves from the Pacific Ocean, coupled with the rugged coastline offers a much more scenic and exciting ride. Oh well, at least we can say we've done the east coast of the island as well...
We hit traffic a few kms outside of Nanaimo. The temperatures have risen to over 30C and we're sweltering while creeping in island traffic. NOT FUN!
Rolled into town about a couple of hours before our ferry departs. We haven't booked this one in advance because it runs every couple of hours or so, but I'm glad we arrived early. No line-up for the 3:55PM ferry, but there is already a wait-list for the 6:15PM, due to the rush hour traffic between the island and the mainland. And the next one available after that one is 8:30PM, much too late!
Another two-hour wait for the Nanaimo -> Lions Bay ferry
A bit different scenery, but not *that* interesting
It's a busy road and the speed limit drops to 50 km/h as it runs through small towns. We're kind of on a cannonball run to make the ferry and after about 45 minutes of this, we decide to deke back to the main road at Courtenay.
I'm a bit disappointed with the east coast of Vancouver Island. We've been out to Tofino, on the west coast, a few times and the huge waves from the Pacific Ocean, coupled with the rugged coastline offers a much more scenic and exciting ride. Oh well, at least we can say we've done the east coast of the island as well...
We hit traffic a few kms outside of Nanaimo. The temperatures have risen to over 30C and we're sweltering while creeping in island traffic. NOT FUN!
Rolled into town about a couple of hours before our ferry departs. We haven't booked this one in advance because it runs every couple of hours or so, but I'm glad we arrived early. No line-up for the 3:55PM ferry, but there is already a wait-list for the 6:15PM, due to the rush hour traffic between the island and the mainland. And the next one available after that one is 8:30PM, much too late!
Another two-hour wait for the Nanaimo -> Lions Bay ferry
Riding a motorcycle inside a ferry. Very cool! Neda wants to do a few more laps!
We hang out on the deck and talk to other motorcyclists while looking out into the waters.
The ferry provides side-chocks to prevent motorcycles from tipping over on the non-kickstand side. Our ADV bikes need extra chocks piled on top of each other because of their high clearance! Especially Neda's Expedition - it's so tall, you could drive a Miata underneath it!
A quick 1.5 hour sailing to the mainland and then, "Land Ahoy!" Lions Head Bay straight ahead
With the heat and the non-inspiring ride, we're in a royally p1ssy mood. We are heading back home tomorrow and the plan was to straight-shot it back on the Coquihalla Highway. However, we are feeling like we've missed out on some good roads on the island so we're going to change course and do the Duffy Loop back home, instead. It'll add a few more hours, but this is a road trip dammit, not a commute!
We were initially going to head east and find a place to camp in North Vancouver, but now with our last minute change of plans, we're heading Norden on the Sea-to-Sky highway!
The S2S highway never disappoints. Always a scenic ride with great twists and turns!
We're very familiar with this route. When we first moved to BC, we lived in Squamish, just north of Vancouver. Stayed here for close to a year as snowboard bums, shuttling back and forth to Whistler every other day in the winter season. Was such a great time!
We know all the twists and turns on this road like the back of our hand. We know when to slow down for the speed traps, and where all the good spots are to gun it!
Stopped at the grocery store in Squamish to pick up some dinner for tonight and breakie for tomorrow
This is our old neighbourhood! We used to live just around the corner from this grocery store. Very nostalgic!
We head back on Hwy 99, northbound towards Whistler. The traffic has died down considerably as most of the commuter traffic is between Vancouver and Squambucks. We pretty much have the whole road to ourselves! More twisty fun ensues!
Salvaging the day with a most excellent ride!
We were initially going to head east and find a place to camp in North Vancouver, but now with our last minute change of plans, we're heading Norden on the Sea-to-Sky highway!
The S2S highway never disappoints. Always a scenic ride with great twists and turns!
We're very familiar with this route. When we first moved to BC, we lived in Squamish, just north of Vancouver. Stayed here for close to a year as snowboard bums, shuttling back and forth to Whistler every other day in the winter season. Was such a great time!
We know all the twists and turns on this road like the back of our hand. We know when to slow down for the speed traps, and where all the good spots are to gun it!
Stopped at the grocery store in Squamish to pick up some dinner for tonight and breakie for tomorrow
This is our old neighbourhood! We used to live just around the corner from this grocery store. Very nostalgic!
We head back on Hwy 99, northbound towards Whistler. The traffic has died down considerably as most of the commuter traffic is between Vancouver and Squambucks. We pretty much have the whole road to ourselves! More twisty fun ensues!
Salvaging the day with a most excellent ride!
It's pretty late when we arrive at our campsite in Whistler. It's a super-swanky place: hotel+restaurant but they offer tent sites as well. I'm floored by the price. $100. FOR CAMPING!!! Dammit, we should have rode a bit further to Pemberton and found a campsite further from the tourist blast zone. But it's late and we're tired and just want to crawl into a tent for the evening.
The tent site is a sad afterthought to the cabins and hotels on the resort. It's situated well away from the resort. The parking lot is just outside a BC Hydro site and we have to use a wheelbarrow to transport all our camping gear to the tent sites. WTF? For $100, I'd expect valet tent service!
The picnic table is covered in animal droppings and grease from previous campers. You'd think for the price we were paying they'd better care of the site. And our place is swarming with mozzies! We quickly scarf down our dinner and escape into our tent.
I think we're both still in a p1ssy mood.
Night falls. We've got a much better plan for tomorrow's ride.
The tent site is a sad afterthought to the cabins and hotels on the resort. It's situated well away from the resort. The parking lot is just outside a BC Hydro site and we have to use a wheelbarrow to transport all our camping gear to the tent sites. WTF? For $100, I'd expect valet tent service!
The picnic table is covered in animal droppings and grease from previous campers. You'd think for the price we were paying they'd better care of the site. And our place is swarming with mozzies! We quickly scarf down our dinner and escape into our tent.
I think we're both still in a p1ssy mood.
Night falls. We've got a much better plan for tomorrow's ride.
kurtrules
Well-known member
Such beautiful pics topped up with eloquent storytelling. Have always been a fan of your narration. Thanks for sharing your adventure!
Highway 20 to Bella Coola reminds me of another road back home which was terrific and terrifying at the same time - gravel, without guard rails and also on the list you have mentioned dangerousroads.org - Killar to Pangi road connecting Himachal Pradesh to Jammu & Kashmir in India.
Highway 20 to Bella Coola reminds me of another road back home which was terrific and terrifying at the same time - gravel, without guard rails and also on the list you have mentioned dangerousroads.org - Killar to Pangi road connecting Himachal Pradesh to Jammu & Kashmir in India.
Thanks!
Yeah, most of those mountain roads up in the Himalayas have no guardrails. Heck most of the roads in developing countries don't have guardrails period.
Are we overly-regulated in the western world where we need to protect those with low skill or poor attention due to fiddling with smartphones while driving? I guess if the latter driver runs you off the road, it's a nice-to-have...
Riceburner
Well-known member
Did the Bella Coola area ages ago ....in a car...always wanted to do it by bike....soon I hope.
It's going to be a hot day today, so we hastily depart our super-expensive campsite at Whistler to try to get some cool weather morning riding in.
The longer we stay in BC, the larger the radius gets of roads and trails that we consider local to our area. We're currently familiar with a lot of the good roads within 500 km in all directions around us, that includes the routes around the Vancouver area. So we're going to hit some of our favorites instead of just just heading straight home.
Breakfast in Pemberton
Found a frou-frou place in Pemby, about 30 minutes north of Whistler, which served some nice breakfast wraps. Some nourishment before we hit the trails!
From Pemberton, we head to D'Arcy and at Anderson Lake, we turn off to Seton-Portage Road AKA the Highline Road. We first did this road when we set out on our RTW trip about 11 years ago and it was an instant favorite of ours. I've been back a couple of times since we moved to BC, but this is Neda's first time since then.
Seton Portage Road climbs higher and higher
This road is mainly used by BC Hydro to maintain the power lines up here, so they aren't as well-kept as other FSRs in BC. There are some rocky sections and lots of washboard bumps from the all the 4x4 service vehicles. This gives both of us a chance to play around with the off-road electronics on our ADV bikes.
Beautiful view of Anderson Lake below!
Neda's Expedition has quite an array of Traction Control settings when she puts it into Explorer Mode - which gives the rider the ability to adjust all settings manually. A neat feature is a short-cut on the D-pad which allows on-the-fly adjustability of the TC from 1-9, just by hitting the up/down arrows. After playing around, Neda left it close to the lowest setting, allowing the engine to trim the power just a bit if things got too gnarly.
In contrast, my GS has very rudimentary TC settings. There are three TC levels: on-road (no slip), off-road (some slip) and enduro (all the slip and fun you could want)
Where the GS' strength lies is tying TC, ABS, automatic pre-load and Electronic Suspension Adjustment to riding mode. Although the suspension isn't personalized to your riding style, automatically changing the damping with the click of a button is way more convenient than the old manual adjustments on the fork and rear shock which the Husky still has.
Although the Expedition allows a lot more manual adjustability, most people just leave it on one setting for on-road and off-road instead of continually messing with the fork clickers and breaking out the Allen key every time you go from tarmac to dirt. So that one setting ends up being a compromise both ways anyways.
So if you're truly diligent about changing the suspensions settings everytime the road goes from gnarly to MotoGP smooth and back again, then the manual settings are the way to go.
Enough shop-talk, let's ride!
Funny story about this next picture. My buddy JamieZ is really big on taking the same picture with the same people years after the original.
July 2023
I took the same picture 11 years ago when Neda was riding her F650GS:
August 2012
We always stop in at the Highline Pub in Seton-Portage to grab a drink
It's around high-noon and it's already hot.
Through the tunnel at Terzaghi Dam
The dam forms a large reservoir called Carpenter Lake. I've been meaning to explore the trails around this area, but no time today, we'll have to come back some other time. My list of bookmarks of places to ride is overflowing!
Towards the end of the Seton-Portage ride, Neda gives me the run-down on her new bike in the gravel. She says it feels like a big dirt bike and it didn't take her long to get along with it after getting off her Husky enduro. In comparison, the GS is not like a big dirt bike at all. The seating position is in the bike as opposed to on it, and the transition between sitting and standing is cumbersome. Although the boxer engine keeps the weight down low, the Norden's underslung fuel tank does a much better job keeping the bike nimble in the rough stuff. The GS is way more of a street bike with dirt pretensions, while the Norden is the other way around.
Bridge Road
The last half of Bridge Road into Lillooet is complete paved. This wasn't the case back in 2012 when we first rode it. Although it's a nice flowing road through the valley, it's kind of lost its charm.
Lillooet is always ~10C warmer than the rest of the surrounding area. We're super-hot from the ride so we duck into our favorite place for a late lunch:
Abundance Bakery. A Bun Dance... get it?
The rest of the ride home takes us through more of the same roads that we've done before. Instead of staying in the hotter parts of the valleys, we opt for mountain passes instead. More fun, but more importantly, a lot more cooler! The high road, 97C south of Ashcroft gives us a respite, as we watch our on-board thermometers drop from 35C to 20C. Ah, relief! But that respite is short-lived as the road descends back down to Logan Lake.
We make another routing decision based on the thermometer not the GPS and head down to the Okanagan Connector which is always cold. It's one of the most treacherous roads in BC during the winter because of ice and snow and it sometimes snows even in July at the Penask Summit. That sounds perfect right about now. The temps drop down to 19C at the summit! Super! And then this, as we roll back into our home town:
32C. Not super...
Great long weekend ride! A little bit rushed through the island, but it was such a social time meeting bikers from all over the province and we've got quite the laundry list of places to ride for the future!
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