Hiking Rant

Okay - I've had issues with the Trans Canada Trail before - I and others who have gotten lost because of terrible, terrible signage.

Today I am even more miffed than usual. I decided to drive out to Timberlands and hike the Haslam Creek suspension bridge section and then backtrack and head south on the trail - a good several hours of hiking I figured. I got the directions to the trailhead from the website. Pretty simple: drive down Timberlands Road, turn left at the Rondalyn Resort and park across from the gravel pit and there you are at the trailhead.

What could go wrong?

Well, first I turned left. The road narrowed and a big sign proclaimed: Private Property - no trespassing.

Oops - I must have driven too far. I turned and drove back very slowly. I notice a TCT sign with a big map where I had turned left. Oh good! I got out of the car and studied the map. The map showed the entire region of Nanaimo and points north. At the bottom was a little bit of road that showed a gravel pit and a parking place.

Hmmm - I drove back up, past the no trespassing sign and found myself inside a gravel pit - not near one. Five roads branched off heading in various directions. I notice a TCT sign on a fencepost so this was good. But which road to take?

I took them all and drove around the gravel pit for a good 20 minutes searching in vain for another TCT sign or any kind of directional sign.

Alas - it was not to be.

Grrrrrr.

If anyone can help unravel this mystery, I'd love to hear from you.

Better still, if anyone with some common trail marking sense could fix the TCT signage, that would be truly appreciated.