Post by Captain Morgan on Jun 4, 2016 12:29:39 GMT -5
Hey all,
Again, I got rained out. There was a couple of nice days and nights, clear skies and starry nights, but once a large swath of weather started moving up in to the island it was constant rain - drizzle - rain - heavy rain - drizzle - rain - drizzle . . . it was like Chinese water torture, if CWT was a rock concert.
Since there was no way to tell how long that would last, after nearly 2 days of it I packed up in the rain early in the morning and headed for home.
While I had decent weather I did some call blasting at night till 3 - 4 AM, played some Native American chants and dance songs, female vocalists, various other music to make my location known. At one point I thought they might throw rocks at me to quiet down. The sound from my little bluetooth portable speakers was sufficient to travel pretty far in that area as I pointed it N E S W etc. I just pointed it down the roads and it went pretty far.
So I'll say a few things about my trek around lower VI from Victoria > Duncan > Tofino > Ucluelet > Port Alberni > Nitinat Lake > Doobah\Sprise\Cheewhat Lakes area.
1) There was just a sighting and tracks cast between Tofino and Ucluelet. I don't have all the details it was just passed on to me by the VI researchers. So if there are any suspicions whether Sasquatch inhabits the coastal areas where there are fresh water inlets the answer must be yes. Along the same lines consider Florida in the US.
2) You don't have to drive the hundreds of miles to see very remote squatchy areas to do research. In as much as these areas are free from human traffic, this is not the primary determining factor, FOOD resources is. If food sources are not as abundant than Sasquatch population is not either. How does one know if food sources aren't as good? I don't know this per say, but to say that if you can't find bear scat then there is not a large bear population, and if there is not a large bear population then the area may not be prime for research. Anywhere around Doobah Lake, I only found one single bear scat and it was so far back down an abandoned road \ rabbit trail. Somewhere the bear had berries but I never saw any berries in the areas I explored.
3) Old growth (former) - it looks majestic and mysterious. It's stealthy and comfortable. The forest floor is dense with moss and soft debris. It's conducive for encroachment. It has stumps that are fully 10' wide or more that sadly says "we did this". The canopies are still thick enough as to block the light from much vegetative growth; so large fern and lichen are the primary plants there. You may find running water through these areas. Having said this, in as much as it can be a traffic area and safe, comfortable place to rest or nap, there's nothing more of interest or function there. Unless you find an obvious active animal trail through an area to hide and leave a trail cam long term, there's no point being in these areas.
4) THIS AREA looks squatchy on a map and on the ground. I was referred here and around 7 PM once I did hear some far distant screams; apparently not at the exact same locations that didn't sound like elk etc. Maybe it was extreme forest chickens, hell if I know, it was just too far away to really get on the recorders. I was told someone once heard drumming near here that freaked them out, it could have been hippies in the Carmanah Walbran National Park. You never know. I camped at the intersection of the trails, but 200 meters more there is direct access right down to the lake. Personally I didn't prefer it and felt like it was a mosquito pit and bottleneck.
5) The road going South between Doobah and Sprise has been reclaimed by nature. Don't try to take your vehicle in there! In fact, don't even walk it alone. If you are more than one and have bear sprays and or guns, risk it to the end (of the road). If you ask the flying monkeys from the Wizard of OZ if they want to tag along, they say "That's OK , we're good
".
6) Further North of here are many many great places to research. A few KM North of Doobah as you travel the Nitinat lake area on Rosander Main there plenty of off-roads, rivers, streams and clear cuts that are prime to camp and research. This is MUCH better than the East side of Nitinat Lake imho. The East side has been so heavily logged and looks nearly bald to me, there are hundreds of clear cuts between Nitinat and Bamfield. *Note* The road on the West of the Nitinat Lake Ecological Reserve is very rough, don't go that far South or to Doobah etc, it's not worth it.
7) All the way up to the far West side of lake Cowichan is really really great area, many clear cuts and fresh water sources, no homesteads. This is a better area than the Doobah Lake location IMHO. *Note* Stay off the South West side of Cowichan Lake this year until they've opened the roads again as they are currently cutting along the road and there are hard gates, soft gates and signage. There are phone numbers posted to call for access but there is no cell signal on the south side and they wouldn't open a gate for you anyway, they would tell you to go around. Those Hitachi tree whackers are some serious machines.
8) Cowichan Lake area in general looks great, except along the North side where the property is privately owned and no access.
9) Sutton Pass area - Don't go far back in to here. Besides unless you have a really robust 4wd that you don't care about, you can't get very far back in there anyways. Secondly, there is bear scat every 150', and one of the worlds most dense mosquito populations this time of year. If you can get half way down the road through, you can see a huge creek bed to investigate, but not much silt to leave tracks in. This area and the one North of here are areas to call blast through with a track record and history of sightings.
In closing I would like to thank a list of people that helped me prepare, decide on locations and gave me boots on the ground advice. Thx to Thomas Steenberg, Bill Reid, Bill Miller, Jason Sakrisson. Also the VI reseaqrchers: Alex Solunac, Lesley Butterfield, Stephen Gray, David Hill, Ty Croft, it was great to visit with you while on VI! And also Cindy Dosen who was very gracious to meet up with me in the spur of the moment and present her hair analysis evidence and donate specimen preserving supplies, chain of custody lists etc. A fellow named Adrian Dorst was very helpful \ informative and I drove all the way to Tofino to meet up with him. He's a very likable guy, it was a pleasure to meet him too.
If I forgot anyone I apologize.
.
Again, I got rained out. There was a couple of nice days and nights, clear skies and starry nights, but once a large swath of weather started moving up in to the island it was constant rain - drizzle - rain - heavy rain - drizzle - rain - drizzle . . . it was like Chinese water torture, if CWT was a rock concert.
Since there was no way to tell how long that would last, after nearly 2 days of it I packed up in the rain early in the morning and headed for home.
While I had decent weather I did some call blasting at night till 3 - 4 AM, played some Native American chants and dance songs, female vocalists, various other music to make my location known. At one point I thought they might throw rocks at me to quiet down. The sound from my little bluetooth portable speakers was sufficient to travel pretty far in that area as I pointed it N E S W etc. I just pointed it down the roads and it went pretty far.
So I'll say a few things about my trek around lower VI from Victoria > Duncan > Tofino > Ucluelet > Port Alberni > Nitinat Lake > Doobah\Sprise\Cheewhat Lakes area.
1) There was just a sighting and tracks cast between Tofino and Ucluelet. I don't have all the details it was just passed on to me by the VI researchers. So if there are any suspicions whether Sasquatch inhabits the coastal areas where there are fresh water inlets the answer must be yes. Along the same lines consider Florida in the US.
2) You don't have to drive the hundreds of miles to see very remote squatchy areas to do research. In as much as these areas are free from human traffic, this is not the primary determining factor, FOOD resources is. If food sources are not as abundant than Sasquatch population is not either. How does one know if food sources aren't as good? I don't know this per say, but to say that if you can't find bear scat then there is not a large bear population, and if there is not a large bear population then the area may not be prime for research. Anywhere around Doobah Lake, I only found one single bear scat and it was so far back down an abandoned road \ rabbit trail. Somewhere the bear had berries but I never saw any berries in the areas I explored.
3) Old growth (former) - it looks majestic and mysterious. It's stealthy and comfortable. The forest floor is dense with moss and soft debris. It's conducive for encroachment. It has stumps that are fully 10' wide or more that sadly says "we did this". The canopies are still thick enough as to block the light from much vegetative growth; so large fern and lichen are the primary plants there. You may find running water through these areas. Having said this, in as much as it can be a traffic area and safe, comfortable place to rest or nap, there's nothing more of interest or function there. Unless you find an obvious active animal trail through an area to hide and leave a trail cam long term, there's no point being in these areas.
4) THIS AREA looks squatchy on a map and on the ground. I was referred here and around 7 PM once I did hear some far distant screams; apparently not at the exact same locations that didn't sound like elk etc. Maybe it was extreme forest chickens, hell if I know, it was just too far away to really get on the recorders. I was told someone once heard drumming near here that freaked them out, it could have been hippies in the Carmanah Walbran National Park. You never know. I camped at the intersection of the trails, but 200 meters more there is direct access right down to the lake. Personally I didn't prefer it and felt like it was a mosquito pit and bottleneck.
5) The road going South between Doobah and Sprise has been reclaimed by nature. Don't try to take your vehicle in there! In fact, don't even walk it alone. If you are more than one and have bear sprays and or guns, risk it to the end (of the road). If you ask the flying monkeys from the Wizard of OZ if they want to tag along, they say "That's OK , we're good
".6) Further North of here are many many great places to research. A few KM North of Doobah as you travel the Nitinat lake area on Rosander Main there plenty of off-roads, rivers, streams and clear cuts that are prime to camp and research. This is MUCH better than the East side of Nitinat Lake imho. The East side has been so heavily logged and looks nearly bald to me, there are hundreds of clear cuts between Nitinat and Bamfield. *Note* The road on the West of the Nitinat Lake Ecological Reserve is very rough, don't go that far South or to Doobah etc, it's not worth it.
7) All the way up to the far West side of lake Cowichan is really really great area, many clear cuts and fresh water sources, no homesteads. This is a better area than the Doobah Lake location IMHO. *Note* Stay off the South West side of Cowichan Lake this year until they've opened the roads again as they are currently cutting along the road and there are hard gates, soft gates and signage. There are phone numbers posted to call for access but there is no cell signal on the south side and they wouldn't open a gate for you anyway, they would tell you to go around. Those Hitachi tree whackers are some serious machines.
8) Cowichan Lake area in general looks great, except along the North side where the property is privately owned and no access.
9) Sutton Pass area - Don't go far back in to here. Besides unless you have a really robust 4wd that you don't care about, you can't get very far back in there anyways. Secondly, there is bear scat every 150', and one of the worlds most dense mosquito populations this time of year. If you can get half way down the road through, you can see a huge creek bed to investigate, but not much silt to leave tracks in. This area and the one North of here are areas to call blast through with a track record and history of sightings.
In closing I would like to thank a list of people that helped me prepare, decide on locations and gave me boots on the ground advice. Thx to Thomas Steenberg, Bill Reid, Bill Miller, Jason Sakrisson. Also the VI reseaqrchers: Alex Solunac, Lesley Butterfield, Stephen Gray, David Hill, Ty Croft, it was great to visit with you while on VI! And also Cindy Dosen who was very gracious to meet up with me in the spur of the moment and present her hair analysis evidence and donate specimen preserving supplies, chain of custody lists etc. A fellow named Adrian Dorst was very helpful \ informative and I drove all the way to Tofino to meet up with him. He's a very likable guy, it was a pleasure to meet him too.
If I forgot anyone I apologize.
.
