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.
Congratulations GEONIGHTS on your FTF