Ride on, Highway Cat !!: PORT RENFREW LOOP: Trail and Trestles

DAY 2, Fri. 07 21 2017
Goldsream P.P. to Lakeview Campground, Lake Cowichan
Time: 5.5 hrs., Dist., 80km.(inc. running around), Avg. spd. 14k/hr. (super slow)

Started the day in anger mode. Took forever to get going, then I realized that I left my sunglasses back at the Goldstream Falls last night. I ripped over there and, of coarse they were not to be seen. As I left the campground, I checked at the entrance booth. Someone turned them in! Yay! Anger turns to Joy thanks to a cool camper!
    I went to the Goldstream Trail to see if it connected to the Cowichan Valley Trail at some point. It didn't, rail was still present so I headed up Hwy 1. Malahat. Lots of slow traffic caused be some major road work. I love passing irritated motorists. Ha ha. After about 16km or so, I pulled off the #1 @ Shawnigan Lk. Road West. A nice quiet country road despite having a minimal shoulder. I road along the west side of the lake passing nice homes that were situated far apart and overlooked the lake. Nice cottage feel. I turned off at was once a day use area with a huge beautiful green slope and beach. It was gated off, probably a victim of Stephen Harper's Gov. cuts a couple years ago. I did my pee break and headed out and onto the "Cowichan Valley Trail" https://www.cvrd.bc.ca/DocumentCenter/View/81763
It was a good thing that I stopped when I did because there is no way that I would've seen the trail access sign if I was riding by on the road. I was really looking forward to this urban trail as I am on highways 95% of the time on these bike trips.
    The trail was very manicured with nice landscaping and a rock dust base up until the "Kinsol Trestle" which is where all the tourists were congregating.
As I rolled along, there were more trestles to cross and the trail gradually deteriorated until it was an overgrown singletrack. Shirley wasn't impressed with the off road feel, and I was feeling the same. I slowed my pace to under 10 km/hr as the rocks and divots were driving us insane. There was not much to see as it was heavily treed, however, certainly heard something. There was a loud crashing and fast thumping noises near me. It sounded like I startled a large animal beyond a wall of thick brush. Scared the living crap out of us! I stepped on the gas, then stopped and pulled out my bear spray and kept it at the ready.
After about 3 hours of this crappy ride, I finally exited onto the pavement in a Cowichan Lk. neighborhood then onward to my campsite.
    Was pleasantly surprised to find my secluded site overlooking the camp. It was a walk/bike in area accessed by a trail. Perfect!