Riding with Friends on Goat Island

Mowat Bay launch ramp.

Wayne and I've gone on lots of quad trips using our barge this past year, but until recently we haven't taken any friends along. That's about to change.

Usually, our two quads ride front to back with room to spare. To accommodate a third quad (a large Yamaha Grizzly), we turned our two smaller Kodiaks sideways and headed south to Mowat Bay to pick up our friends Dave and Marg.

Goat Island's Dunn Dock and barge ramp.

Dave grew up in Powell River, is a past president of the Powell River ATV Club, and serves on many committees in the community for forestry and outdoor recreation.

Dave and his wife Marg ride frequently, but going to Goat Island in the middle of Powell Lake is a rarity.

Wayne and I were glad we could share it them using our barge as the mode of transportation.

Forest harvester.

The last time Wayne and I went to Goat Island, there was active logging inland from the Dunn Dock. Large equipment was parked on the road, taking the weekend off.  The forest harvester was the same model Western Forest Products demonstrated last year on the Forestry Tour.

To make sure the roads would be open for us, Dave called Western Forest Products before we left.

Logs blocked our way on old logging roads.

It's been a while since Dave was on Goat, but he knew his way around.  We headed up Spire Main, and then turned onto logging spurs that hadn't been used in years. Lots of blow downs tried to block our way.

Dave got us to the right logging road to a beautiful overlook for Spire Lake. It was a lot larger than I expected, and a great picnic spot with a fantastic view.

Spire Lake on Goat Island.

Wayne used his GPS to pinpoint the two huge old growth trees we can see on the ridge of Goat Island from our cabin. We got close, but couldn't see through the large stand of second growth to find our two. Maybe future logging will lead us closer, but for now we'll have to be content with our view from below.

We all headed for the main Clover Dock to check things out before returning to the barge and heading home. It was a fun day of riding, picnicking, exploring, and being with good friends. Thanks for sharing it with us Dave and Marg. -- Margy