Upper Cowichan River (Part 3) – Lifetime Hiking Objective

–submitted by Su Castle
 
Part 3 Cowichan River Trail. ✅
 
By previous accounts, I thought parts of this trail was going to be really gnarly with bad bushwacking. We did follow a previous hiker’s track to keep us in line when the ‘trail’ was more elk than human. Most of the hike was lovely and obvious. The frozen ground helped to keep feet dry. Some areas typically would be pretty mushy. My shins bear the tale of walking into hidden branches along the ‘make your own adventure’ sections!
 

 
 
It was a beautiful day. Cold, crisp and bright. The plan was to walk to Lake Cowichan from Skutz Falls, with a car dropped on either side for a shuttle. Due to group attrition and a “no show’ we had to turn around at the end and backtrack along the Cowichan River Footpath until we arrived at the 70.2 Mile Trestle, where we returned to Skutz Falls via the flat trailbed of the Cowichan Valley Trail. It was awesome to see beaver sign along the way back.
 
One way Skutz Falls to Cowichan Lake Road- 13 kms (without our one wrong turn add on)
Total Day- 21.5 kms, 180 m elevation gain, 5 hours moving time; 5:45 total time (Strava)

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