2010-07-17 48 -123

Location

Very close to the Malahat summit, just off the highway. Looking at the Google Street View, it looks like it's a no-trespassing area.

Participants

Wenslayer

Plans

I planned to simply bike out there, as part of one of my big weekly rides, and see if I might gain admittance to the property -- who knows, maybe the owner will be there (and be willing to let me in)?

Expedition

I took my time getting up in the morning, enjoying breakfast while Google-mapping the route and location. I packed up, and hit the road just before 10am. I knew I was in for a big climb, so I took it easy getting to the bottom of the Malahat. I made a quick pit-stop at Goldstream Park and then began my ascent.

I've driven this route before and thought it was quite a climb, and now I was experiencing it on my bike. The first part was a real grind, with the road twisting and narrow (down to less than a metre of shoulder on this highway). The road straightened out, and the grade eased off, but it was still uphill. A few parts leveled off and even dipped a bit, but then before the summit, the grade increased and I ground out the last couple of kilometres to the top.

Wow, what a view! A nice sunny day, and a feeling of accomplishment as I made it to the summit. I snapped a few pics, fueled up, and then continued down the other side for a kilometre to the familiar gate I saw in the Google Street View.

Now the gate was open when I got there, but the no trespassing sign on it was still clearly visible. It's too bad, since my GPS reported it a mere 81m away from the gate. I could have easily walked in to the coordinates, snapped a pic and left with none the wiser. However, I respected the sign and simply snapped a few more pics.

I crossed the highway and began my ride home. The ride down the Malahat was a lot of fun, although somewhat frustrating due to a significant head-wind that restricted my top speed to only 60km/h (my friend reports it's easy to reach 80km/h down a particular stretch). The rest of the ride home was pleasant but uneventful.

Despite not reaching the Geohash coordinates, I felt a sense of accomplishment having summited the Malahat for the first time. In addition, I knew tomorrow's Geohash was doable and closer!