May 12, 2015. The VLH Team performed the annual maintenance run on this series today. All cache containers were replaced with painted Preform Tubes and Rite In Rain logs. If a log is damp, please just dry. If changes were made or caches replaced, a Maintenance Log will be on the cache page.
This series of caches are placed along the route of the proposed Valley Link Highway. For many years a committee of volunteers and former mayors of Lake Cowichan and Port Alberni worked tirelessly in promoting the route to upgrade it to highway status in order to provide an alternate route through the middle of Vancouver Island connecting the West Coast communities. They actually did have some success and got the road from Port Renfrew to Lake Cowichan paved.
Each year the committee put on a breakfast in Lake Cowichan hosted by the City and then a cavalcade of a bus carrying approximately 40 people and 20 to 40 private vehicles, (cars and trucks) made the trip to Port Alberni where they were welcomed by a group of business and other interested parties. A separate cavalcade did the Port Alberni to Cumberland route.
We have tried to place additional information about spots along the way that have their own significance. Those mentions will show up at the beginning of the description. Please read at least one full cache page to be familiar with the series.
All cache containers are the same and are placed where it is safe to pull off. PLEASE bring a pen or pencil as there are none in containers. Log books are waterproof paper. Please keep signatures small to conserve the log books and rehide container as found.
Cachemobile
The road is a mixture of public and open to the public industrial roads with some very big equipment using it. Some of the logging trucks are 14 to 16 feet wide! The Provincial government pays some of the cost of upkeep in return for public use. Make sure you have GOOD tires and a spare. Two wheel drive is OK. The route can start from either end but make sure your fuel tank is full! These caches were placed driving from Lake Cowichan to Port Alberni (east to west) and most of the pulloffs are on the right.
Driving Etiquette
When approaching a bridge (they are all single lane), slow down as you usually climb up and over and can not see oncoming traffic and you do not want to get caught in the middle with no place to go. The road in most places is wide enough to pass oncoming traffic but if it is tight with some of the larger trucks, pull off and stop so the driver knows exactly what you are doing. If you are traveling slow and a vehicle comes up behind you, please pull over and let him by.