Hey everyone, welcome back to another instant classic GoHikeABike blog. Viewership is booming, I had like 6 views last week!

The blog from last week can be found here: The Best Way to Tour Vancouver Island – Week 11. Between surfing and chasing waterfalls, we tried to not only give ourselves the best start on Vancouver Island as possible, but make it memorable for our friend Eric, who was out visiting us.

And that story wasn’t finished last week! After our Christie Falls adventure, we set out yet again for another famous Vancouver Island waterfall.

Ammonite Falls Adventure

Ammonite Falls is located close to Nanaimo in Benson Falls Regional Park. This park is incredible for gravel cycling, mountain biking, and hiking, living in the shadow of Mount Benson just up on the North side. Becca planned out a hike on All-Trails, and off the three of us went to explore the area!

The hike itself was like following a game trail. Switchbacks down this steep side of a hill where it seemed like not too many footprints had gone before. Which seemed off, as many different websites (and influencers) portray Ammonite Falls as a popular tourist destination! Being alone on this little trail winding downhill didn’t make too much sense.

To add to all of this, Eric had on some pretty smooth-tread running shoes, so the sandy declines were pretty treacherous for him compared to Becca and I in our trail runners.

When we finally did arrive at the bottom of the downhill, we came to an amazing yet secluded waterfall that we assumed was Ammonite Falls! We proceeded to spend most of the day exploring the area, swimming, cliff jumping, and walking up the riverbed to find what we could. Always the explorers! We didn’t think anything of the fact that we had this apparently popular tourist destination to ourselves for multiple hours on a Saturday!

Well you may have guessed it. This wasn’t the real Ammonite Falls. We had found some hidden waterfall thanks to a random map on All-Trails, and we were the only ones duped into thinking this was the real thing.

Am I ever glad that we got duped though! It turned into a great afternoon and a real adventure!

The Real Ammonite Falls

And when I say the day turned into a real adventure, I’m comparing that to heading to the real Ammonite Falls afterwards. On our return to the car, we starting noticing the hike signs with directional arrows pointing to the “real” attraction. Well, we can’t leave the area without seeing it (FOMO)! That’s how I convinced Becca and Eric, anyway.

We start the hike over to the true falls, and yup, this thing is an absolute tourist destination, or trap as I’d call it. Wide paths, think gravel highway. Instead of a sketchy game trail down the hill, it was replaced by about 200 newly built and beautiful wood stairs.

And when we did arrive at the true Ammonite Waterfall, there was already 2 groups down at the falls, along with another group following us close behind. But I will say, the falls were pretty incredible, even for mid-summer.

These falls had a much higher vertical drop, making them the main attraction of the park. But, the water pooling at the bottom of the falls was not deep enough for a good swim, nor cliff jumping. And truthfully, I was a way bigger fan of our secluded and harder to get to waterfall!

Eric’s Goodbye Party

The night of the 23rd was Eric’s last night in Nanaimo. We figured we’d better do it up right.

The three of us trooped out to Asteras, a Greek Tavern that’s rated as one of the best restaurants in Nanaimo. Fresh seafood is apparently easy when your city is on the ocean, and Asteras cooks it up right. Funnily enough, it is also rated as the #1 romantic restaurant in Nanaimo, but why would that slow us down? Just Becca and I, and Eric!

And if you’re in the area and want to give it a try, I really really recommend the Ekmek. I’m here writing this blog months later STILL dreaming about that tasty dessert.

The morning of the 24th, the three of us drove downtown Nanaimo to kill an hour before dropping Eric at the airport. Luckily, we were rewarded with becoming spectators of the “International Bath-Tub Race” that takes place annually in the Nanaimo harbour. Absolutely hilarious to see these modified bath-tub boats ripping across the unusually hefty waves of the Georgia Strait!

Afterwards, Eric got on his plane without a hitch, and Becca and I returned to the Airbnb for some meal prep and relaxing to finish out another awesome weekend.

Biking to Parksville

With Eric out the door, our sights set back on biking. We had neglected cycling since Texada Island and I felt the sad eyes staring at me from my bike in the corner. We both knew it was time to go riding.

Becca and I devised a route to head to Parksville for the day from Nanaimo. Most of this route was pavement, and at one point we actually ended up on the side of a 4-lane highway! While this would be frowned upon in Ontario, this is apparently legal and encouraged on the island. Still felt pretty dangerous with transports whizzing 3-5 feet beside you, but we played it as safe as possible, staying as far to the right as the shoulder allowed.

We arrived in Parksville via Nanoose Bay, and headed straight for the beach. As I’ve stated in previously blogs, the beach in Parksville is awesome, and it was Becca’s first time visiting the area, making it a must stop. We also hit up a café in Parksville, where it seemed like all the friendly locals were on a mission to strike up a conversation with the two out of town cyclists.

We cruised back to Nanaimo along the same route, where we also spotted a local craft brewery called the Rusted Rake hidden away in Nanoose Bay. Being an early afternoon on a Monday, the brewery was closed. But this might be foreshadowing to a stop sometime in the future? Probably. You know me and craft beers!

We ended up doing 65km on the day with about 750m of climbing! A great re-introduction to all things pedaling.

Keep the Bikes Rolling!

The next day, my push for getting out on the bike continued. I knew we had another friend coming out for the following extended weekend, so the precious week should be consumed by all things cycling.

For the ride on the 26th, I did my first failed attempt of biking around Mt. Benson. I won’t lie, it was a tough one to swallow. There were good and smart reasons for bailing, but it never won’t sting.

As you can see on the map above, at about 25km into my ride I was near the “Start Point South Benson”. I had actually ripped this ride off of someone else’s Strava, and saw no concerns as to why I couldn’t do it too.

While I thought I was heading out on a pure gravel ride actually took me onto some crazy mountain bike trails near Westwood Lake. Steep climbs, berms, roots and drops, my bike and I were nowhere near prepared for where this route took us.

Not to mention, it was also about 38°C out in the city, and I was going through my two water bottles very quickly.

So when I got to my decision point around ‘South Benson Start Point’, I decided I wasn’t going to continue North to Doumont with no water and little food stock remaining. I had just spent way too much energy hiking-a-bike through Westwood Lake mountain bike trails, the remainder of this loop would have to wait for another day.

I tucked my tail between my legs and cruised home on pavement. Gravel and dirt beat me this day. First time in a while, but everyone gets humbled sometimes.

The ride was still a longer one, about 50km and 780m of climbing. But not as satisfying, nor the numbers I was actually hunting.

We finished the day with a swim in the ocean and Dairy Queen, the only way to properly cool off on the coast!

Westwood Lake Riding

Becca and I departed for my third ride in as many days with the plan to circle Westwood Lake. During my time spent in that area on the mountain bike trails the day before (aside from getting battered and bruised) I had also discovered a nice wide dirt path that ran around the entire perimeter of the lake!

I figured this trail was worthy of a ride itself, so Becca and I left the Airbnb on July 27th for a quick 30km ride to and around the lake. It was another scorcher, so the smaller ride did us both well and the dip in the ocean afterwards was just that much more enjoyable.

Now, when I said my bike was giving me ‘sad eyes’ earlier in the week from disuse, over the last three days they had quickly changed into ‘give me a rest and do some maintenance eyes’. Funny how that happens so quick.

Luckily (for my bike), Hannah was flying out on the 28th into Victoria, so my bike would again be put to rest for the next few days as we would begin some more island adventuring, by foot and by car more rather than by bike! You may remember Hannah from the Calgary and Banff blogs, so we were super excited that she was coming out to the island for an extended weekend visit!

Touring Victoria, British Columbia

Picking her up from the Victoria airport also meant visiting Victoria for the first time! We had definitely wanted to see the beautiful coastal city, and this provided the perfect excuse to drive the ~2 hours to the south end of the island from Nanaimo.

Picking Hannah up from the airport went off without a hitch, and we headed downtown to see the sights. The day was spent walking the waterfront, hitting up a water taxi for a tour of the harbour, seeing the parliament buildings and standing in line for fish tacos at the famous “Red Fish Blue Fish”. All in all, a perfect day. And we wouldn’t realize it yet, but the concept of standing in line for famous food trucks would become a pretty common theme in Hannah’s stay!

TOFINO, ROUND 2 (and counting)

Everyone that comes to the island needs to see Tofino, right? That’s a given?

Perfect, it’s decided. July 29th, Becca, Hannah and I departed bright and early out to Tofino. It was Hannah’s first time, so we did all the usual things – Long Beach, Cox Bay, Tacofino, the town of Tofino itself. Our big change from our outing with Eric was that we avoided surfing, instead replacing it with a hike at Cox Bay. While a rather short hike, the top of the hill showed absolutely incredible views of the surrounding coastline and islands off in the distance!

Our waiting in line for famous food trucks continued at Tacofino, as the line there probably averages 40 minutes no matter what time of day you go. But like I said before, WORTH IT. The fish tacos, the gringas, the burritos, just mmm. I even took a picture of my food this time, which is a pretty rare occurrence for me. And the jarritos pairs too well with the Mexican style food.

On this trip to Tofino, we also stopped in Ucluelet and Cathedral Grove on the way home. Ucluelet is another surf town similar to Tofino, yet consists of much rockier beaches. These rocks make the surfing much more intense, leaving Ucluelet to mostly the pro level surfers.

Cathedral Grove resides in Macmillan Provincial Park. It is a protected sanctuary, home to some of the largest douglas fir trees in the world! It’s also a very convenient stop on the way to Tofino as the highway goes straight through the provincial park. An action packed day that started at 7am and ended around 8pm by the time we got home that left us all exhausted and ready for bed!

The Nanaimo Whirlwind Tour

Saturday, July 30th. Bright and early, Hannah, Becca and I headed up Mt. Benson. I wish I could say it was to see the sunrise, but we definitely weren’t up THAT early. Still, this was the second time we had done it since reaching Nanaimo, and it was getting easier every time. Progress!

We followed up Benson with a swim in Westwood Lake. It’s an interesting concept, heading to the lake when the ocean is a 15 minute drive away. But not wanting to freeze in the cold ocean temperatures, sometimes the smaller lakes are the right call. Plus, the heat wave had moved on at this point, so the warmer water was even a larger plus.

We proceeded to do a brewery tour in the afternoon, combining Wolf Brewing and Whitesails Brewing before walking the harbour front and downtown core of Nanaimo.

Just another busy and eventful day all around. Becca and I were really starting to get to know our way around Nanaimo and the surrounding area in the short time we had been here!

Over the next few days, Hannah’s tour of the island continues! We check out Lake Cowichan, Robertson Falls, Arrowsmith Mountain and much more. Stay tuned for the next blog, and thanks for reading!

And here’s a bonus image for getting through it! Cheers folks!

-GoHikeABike