Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Google Earth Epic #7: UBC Research Forest

I have wanted to get up to the Malcolm Knapp UBC Research forest for years. There are three different lookout points that I'd like to explore and today I did one of the three.

My ride started at Mike Lake and using the research I did ahead of time I navigated my way on up into the hills. While climbing the fire road just before Loon Lake, I ran into this bear. At one point it seemed as if he wanted to walk over towards me, but I made a lot of noise that sent him packing into the bush.


The forest in this area is as lush as they come so I paused to take a picture of one of the creeks.



At the top of the logging road that runs North East of Loon Lake you are greeted with this pretty sweet view. For anyone that knows the area they know that not many people get to see this area from this viewpoint. This spot is 15km up a logging road and to say that the logging spurs are like a labyrinth would be an understatement.

I was running out of time when I took this last picture and I needed to turn my bike around and head home. It was pretty cool navigating to these view points and I can't wait to make my way to some of the other higher viewpoints in the area.


My total ride time was 3 hours and a little over 32km round trip. I think some of the view points further into the area might turn out to be a whole day affair. Next time I'll invite a few friends to enjoy the view with me. The super cool thing is that I can start this ride from my house if I want to add a couple hours of XC singletrack to the ride.


View Route to UBC Views - Malcolm Knapp Research Forest in a larger map

2 comments:

Ian said...

Did you have problems with the guy at the gate? I see you pass by pretty close. Love the blog by the way!

Liz said...

Yeah, you're not actually allowed to ride bikes in the forest, only hike or run. This is both for your safety (there's lots of logging and research traffic on those roads), so the trails stay in good shape, and to reduce the effects of recreation on active research in the forest. I understand that the forest is an attractive place to ride, but as someone who researches there, I really appreciate it when people follow the regulations put in place to protect our research sites.