By 1942, Lake Logging built truck roads to reach the timber inaccessible by the railroad. They employed trucks to bring the harvested timber from the mountaintops to the railroad, or re-load as it was called, where it was loaded onto skeleton cars, ready for it's journey to the Lake.

In the early forties Lake Logging expanded its timber holdings so as to have enough logs to supply the large sawmill it planned to build at the Bay. Previously, it only had a small mill at Lake Cowichan, near the loading works.

The largest tract of timber the company acquired was in the Meade Creek watershed on the north side of the lake. This was quite a good-sized operation for many years, finally finishing up in 1965.

During the peak years up to 200 men were employed.. There was a cookhouse and six large bunkhouses, as well as a shop and other maintenance acilities. The camp was located about three miles from the village. About half of the crew lived in camp, with the rest traveling by bus from the Lake and Duncan.

Another block of timber was then purchased south of the village. This was a railway operation known as the Ocean Timber Co., started by a Japanese concern. It was later taken over by the Canadian government when Japan entered the war after Pear Harbor. The name was then changed to Hill Logging Co. (very appropriate) with the steam yarders and railroad remaining in operation until about 1947. The railroad was then taken up and the remaining timber taken out by contractors. Here again, board and lodging facilities were provided for employees.

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