What an adventure! A reasonable ride through the backroads to Nanaimo lakes, then a short section in logging country before a super steep ride up towards Labour Day Lake. It was hot, we did a quick stream stop before the climb, but it was barely rideable, a very long day with a later start, and overgrown hike-a-bike. In the end we were pushing bikes and daylight. Just when we thought we made it, the road dead-ended! So we camped by a mosquito pond, and then woke up the next day and descended a bit, found our way back to the right route in the heat (by Knight Lake), and reached Labour Day Lake with some bushwhacking (well actually following along in car tracks). It was pretty overgrown there but a nice lunch stop, before a mostly downhill ride towards Port Alberni. One bear cub/mom sighting later, a slightly-too-hard blue singletrack section, and we were in town, grabbing supplies and heading to a friends.