Tuesday, September 13, 2005
Campbell River here we come

As we finish our jont from Port Alice I see that it is only 220 km to Campbell River, our next destination spot. I have already abandoned my wool sweater, taken out the liner in my jacket and opened the vents. I guess the temp to be approximately 24. We enjoy travelling at the posted speed limit of 80 km. When I say traveling at specific speeds, I am only estimating as my speedo cable was non-operational on this trip. I estimate with the RPM's and gears. For the most part you can judge how fast you are going. Recently we have been reading about the parts of the motorcycle and how everything works together. I am amazed how smoothly the bike has been running considering that it is traveling at approximately 100 revolutions per second. This is the normal running speed of these bikes 6000 rpm. When Bax and I did the calculations per second it is mind boggling.
The travel today floats by without effort. Although my bum still aches after time I don't think about it. I focus on the trees, the valley's and the lakes. There are many parts of this trip that rival Banff Jasper, in fact the trip is more pleasant due to the lack of significant traffic.
We grab groceries for supper and a full breakfast. We speak more at length on the breakfast later ie bacon and grilled cheese. The pressure to find a good campsite is great this time because we are planning on staying 2 nights and commute to Campbell River for our town day. On my map there are over 50 FS sites. How to chose? As we drive close I miss the first few forest roads, others look too steep and there is too much loose gravel. After some amount of frustration I just turn off and start to drive down the forest road. I turn into the first site which apparently has been privatized. The owner wants $15 a night. I almost dump the bike turning it around on the sandy ground. I tell him no thank-you and keep driving. We pass a loaded logging truck even though it is past 6pm. This unnerves me as I do not want to run into much traffic on these roads, especially truck drivers who work too long hours and are only wanting to get home to their families. After much hunting and pecking we find a nice little road which I hope leads to Brewster Lake. We start walking down the road as it is narrow and it has a steep rough hill at the start. We walk back once we realize the road broadens out and is passable. The forest here is kind of spooky and ominous in it's vastness, and dark shade under the canopy of the forest. I shrugg off these thoughts, and grab the bike. The road into the lake is 3 km long, it if filled with about 20 sites all sandy and open. There is a gorgeous lake, with a beach, with a dock. We are convinced that this is perfect icing on a perfect day.