Port Hardy's a little like Bandon, touristy stuff, fishing charters, etc., nice place to visit for awhile but time to move on. I'd decided to check out Winter Harbour, population 22 way out on the western tip of the island. You can either fly in or take the unpaved "road" that leads to Holberg and from there it's the haul road to Winter Harbour.
Setting out early the first genuine point of interest was the "Jesus Soul Tree" located a few miles west of Port Hardy. It's been there for years and people keep piling old shoes & boots on it, some brave souls have climbed to the top to nail logging boots onto it. Damnedest thing I've seen on this trip so far.
I saw several black bears on the way to Holberg, a couple of them even posed for pics. There was also an interesting public safety sign involving a very large tree and a smashed car. You get the picture. In Holberg I gassed up at the local gas lady's place - sign says closed but just knock and she'll come out. After that I had lunch at the Ibis Pub where I met a number of locals who advised me on the haul road and which route was best to take. A lady at the timber company office gave me a map and more advice about the best road to take, not the one the guys in the pub recommended. I decided to go with the guys and take my chances with the logging rigs.
The timber company maintains the haul road and though they allow public use of it they advise against it as the logging rigs are huge and take up the entire road. They weren't lying... The first one I met up with was the biggest rig I'd seen up close and personal. I moved the bike over till the hack was riding in the bushes and he just barely squeezed by. When I looked straight up I could see his top logs over my head, about 12 ft up. Very cozy. The drivers and tenders were all friendly though and gave me lots of thumbs ups for the rig.
The haul road raised hell with the bike & sidecar, I lost several nuts & bolts and the mounting bracket I'd made for the digital meter display went south. Electric tape provided a temporary fix for that, the hardware will have to wait till I can find the local True Value.
Arriving in Winter Harbour I located the one and only municipal park, right on the water and complete with free firewood and no admission. I was the only one there so I had my pick of the sites, mosquitoes and crows no extra charge. There were several sea otters eating shell fish just off shore and several Bald Eagles flying around. I heard the fishing was good and several float planes came and went while I was there. No other bikers, probably for a good reason. The haul road...
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