Travels of Geo Nova: June 2015

The Trans Labrador Highway

Duck Tape, chewing gum and baling wire sums it all up. It has been a grueling trip, but I should start the story at the ferry crossing. We were disappointed that we did not see any whales on the crossing to Labrador. The ferry landed in Quebec but within a few kilometers we were in Labrador. The province of Newfoundland/Labrador provide Sat phones to anyone traveling the TLH so our first stop was the Northern Lights Hotel to pick ours up. We then headed to our first stop 65 km to the town of Red Bay. We were the first 3 RV’s at the 4-site RV Park for the season. The RV Park was just a parking area beside the gas station convenience store. When we backed in, if we didn’t have brakes we would have ended up several hundred feet down the hill into the bay. Red Bay is a National Historic Site. There was a great museum about the Basques whalers from the 1500’s. Again the Canadian park system did a great job. Research was done and a Basque sunken ship was found in the bay. The Basque’s had written records in Europe from the 1500’s supporting the evidence of men landing and getting whale oil in Red Bay. There was a lot of history here. Through archeological excavations Parks Canada was able to tell the story of these rugged men. The Basque’s were thought to be the original whalers and they taught the rest of the world how to harvest whale oil. Just think this occurred long before the Mayflower expedition to Massachusetts.

We had rain and fog but were lucky on the second day when we went for a hike, the fog cleared and we got to see several huge icebergs. One, we were told that a boat went out and around it, was 4.3 kilometers around! It was aground out beyond the harbor. HUGE! What you see above the water is only 1/10 of the ice; the rest is below the surface.

Here is where we said goodbye to the paved roads and it was on to the TLH. We had mist and fog for several days, which was a good thing because it kept the dust down, but not the rocks. Somewhere along the road a rock knocked off a valve for our water tank. The Gunthers had chewing gum and we had duck tape so we patched it with both. Because of the rain it only lasted 36 hours but once the weather improved we could dry the tank off and repair it again. We tried 2 kinds of epoxy but they didn’t work so we went back to the gum and duck tape. It has lasted the whole TLH and into Quebec! We now have a pack of gum in our repair kit along with the duck tape.

The 510 is called the Coastal Highway. It worked its way 80km over the mountains inland then out to Lodge Bay and Mary’s Harbor. Here we saw more icebergs before the road headed inland again heading north and west. The quality of the road varied from decent gravel road to pothole extravaganza, needles to say the progress was slow.

It is difficult to describe the vast wilderness of Labrador. There were many raging streams countless lakes and more than an abundant numbers of mountains. We were lucky enough to have seen a large male Black Bear cross the road in front of us; then run off into the woods. I now know that I could never out run a bear. The roadway was through total wilderness with no development for over 250 miles. That means no services of any kind, just wilderness! At the end of the day we all pulled into a large relatively level spot on the side of the road and dry camped for the night. On our first night we were lucky enough to have seen a flock of Bohemian Waxwings fly through. A new bird for both of us. They were likely heading home to the tundra of Alaska for breeding season.

On our second day on the road Skip’s truck started to have problems. His first was his dipstick. He went to check his oil and the whole metal housing came out so it was put back with baling wire. Another day he was loosing power going up the very long and steep hills in the road. He thought it was his fuel filter. We had about 200 km to go to get to a town so a few times he had to stop and tighten the hose clamps on the fuel filter because he thought he was sucking air through a broken clamp. When those broke we used cable ties.

Our excitement on the second day was discovering what was spilled or loose in the trailer whenever we stopped for Skip. We had a bottle of soy sauce loose it’s top and was hanging out of the cupboard. Thankfully it was over the sink so most of the mess was in there. Later when I opened the fridge to get lunch I discovered the pickle jar had lost it’s lid and was somewhere loose in the fridge. It was always a mystery as to what we would find next. No matter how well we felt we stowed things the bouncing would jostle something around.

At about the half way point there was construction everywhere on the road and off the road. The power company is building new power lines across Labrador to the west coast then laying a cable across to Newfoundland. We were always passing or being passed by construction vehicles. After one really bumpy area a truck passed us. About a mile down the road they were pulled over talking to another truck. The man flagged us down to stop. He came over to us and said “ hey man I think you lost a piece of your trailer” it turned out to be the middle support rod for our awning. He handed the mud-covered part to us through the window. David had lubricated everything before we left and all the bouncing made it come apart. Thankfully the truck was behind us and saw it fly off. We stopped and put it back on with duck tape this time to hold it in place.

Our time on the dirt/gravel road is almost over. The pavement begins again in Happy Valley-Goose Bay. Maybe that is why it is called Happy Valley. When we finally arrived in Happy Valley-Goose Bay we pulled into the only campground to find a note on the office door stating they were not open and no longer taking anything but seasonal rentals. Skip was desperate, it was 3pm on a Friday afternoon and he needed to get to a garage to get his truck looked at. So we got the trailers parked in the park and he left with the truck. When the owner showed up we explained the issues and they let us stay at no charge.

This is where Nancy will be flying back to the states. There is an old NATO Base here so hence the great airport. Labrador has a population of about 27,000 people with a landmass stretching 600 by about 1,000 miles. There are about 10,000 people here. This was not a tourist town. It had the feel of an old frontier town. The second day we were here 3 people came and set a tent up in the woods across the street. We were told that local people just do this to get out of their crowded homes. There were several tents along the road with chimney pipes coming out of them. It was in the low 40’s. This is also where you can take a ferry to towns east and north of here inhabited by indigenous people. The only other way you can get there is by small planes. When we went down to the ferry dock to check things out we saw a sailboat at the pier. We were told the people just got out of the ice they had been stuck in all winter. Not our kind of sailing.

Skip came back with a fuel filter but found out he couldn’t replace it himself so on Saturday morning he found a garage that replaced it. He thought that would fix the problem.

We said our goodbyes to Nancy on Sunday morning when she flew home. After she left we took a ride to the town of Sheshatshin. This is where North West River is. It was an outpost for the trappers that came here in the 1920’s with the Hudson Bay Company. Here we were able to drive to a lookout to see 360 degrees around. East was to Happy Valley-Goose Bay; looking north up Lake Melville we could see the ferry way off in the distance making it’s weekly run in. The rugged mountains were still covered in snow. All around you were lakes, rivers and mountains. They would make everything in Maine seem like hills, streams and ponds.

Once back to camp it was time to hitch up and move on. This time it was on a paved road or so we thought. We had heard that the western section from here to Quebec had been paved. We found out along the way there were still short sections not done so we bumped along. The goal is to get to the town of Churchill Falls. This is a small company town, population 350, for the hydropower company. They put out so much power that some of the east coast of the USA uses the electricity when they turn on a light switch.

Monday morning we were at the town office at 8 am to book a tour. To our disappointment we found out they hadn’t hired a tour director yet for this season but the town manager said to meet him at 9 and he would show us a movie. The movie talked about the history and the building of the plant in 1960’s up to today. After the movie he spent an hour talking to us and explaining all of the displays and pictures in the room. The only thing we didn’t get to do was go underground into the plant. We spent the day traveling around to see some of the dykes and spillways. It was incredible to think they took this huge waterfall and diverted the water underground to the 6 turbines to generate the power. The underground plant covers 3 football fields and is over 14 stories high. It produces over 5,000 megawatts of power.

We left that afternoon to head to a campground just east of Labrador City. This campground was right on a lake. They don’t have the environmental laws we have or choose to ignore them. Our sites were gravel filled right on the edge of the water. You could tell they filled in the area to make it bigger. The owner of the campground told us he goes down the road to the gravel pit after it closes for the day or weekend and borrows some gravel. I guess you just do what you want here. The lake was warmer than the Maine ocean but still very cold. Loons were 10 feet from our trailer.

One thing we learned once the rain stopped is that the sun sets at about ten. It seems however that dusk continues through the night; it doesn’t get pitch dark like it does in Maine. The other thing I started using is the room darkening shades in the bedroom because it gets light again at about 3:30 in the morning.

Well it is on to Wabush to return the SAT phones. David and I took all three so the others wouldn’t have to go into this town. When we arrived at the Wabush hotel the receptionist was happy when she saw one phone but when she saw all three she was thrilled because she didn’t have any to hand out to people going east.

We were to join up with the other trailers in Labrador City just a few km down the road. Between the two cities we could see that Wabush was a mining town because of the companies here and hills being mined. In Labrador City Skip went to the Ford dealer to talk to them about the issues he was having with his truck. They couldn’t do anything for him right away so he decided he would push on. David and I found the dump station; this is where you can empty your holding tanks. All of the cities seem to have them for public use, so we let the others know where it was. We wish it was the same in the US.

We were now ready to leave Labrador and head to Quebec. The first town in Quebec, Fermont, is just 20km away. We are still north of the 52^nd parallel! It has an information center so David and I went ahead to get maps for everyone. Once we met up with everyone we were on the road again. We are now heading west and south to a town 250 miles away called Baie Comeau.

The road is winding through the mountains where there is nothing but mining. The mountaintops are now flat; you can see where they dump the debris. We drive by a red lake and red rivers feeding it. I wanted to cry. Parts of the road are paved but worse than the gravel road. There are parts of the road that are still gravel. We can’t wait for it to end and be all paved.

The next area we drive through is all burned. A couple of years ago we could smell smoke at our camp from fires in Quebec. This must be the area that burned. It is vast; for miles and miles you can see where the mountains burned. The good news is things are starting to grow again. Once we pass this area it is beautiful wilderness, rolling mountains, lakes and rivers. There are several dams along the way. We wind down step grades, some 14%, and past one that is 44 stories high. It is the world’s highest multiple-arch dam. Hope it doesn’t’ spring a leak. We pass an area called Reservoir Manicouagan. A meteorite hit here 210 million years ago.

It is slow going because Skip is still having issues with the hills. We have to stop more often for him to tighten clamps. David and I are beginning to think it’s his fuel pump. We finally stop for the night on the side of the road and dry camp. It seem that Skip’s problem is only getting worse.

The next day gets even slower. We convince Skip he has to leave the truck and trailer. He and Andrew come with us. The next town is 120 km away. We stop at the first campground we come to, about 22 km from town. We get our trailer unhitched. David and Skip head to town. Luck was with them. The first gas station was an Irving. They did towing, had a repair shop and someone there spoke English! About 8pm David and Skip pulled in with Skip’s trailer, the truck is at the shop and will get a new fuel filter and hose tomorrow.

Thursday we check on the truck but it needs a fuel pump which they can get Friday. So we explore the town, marina and walk in a park. We find a brewpub downtown so we meet up with Fred and Maryanna at the pub to have appetizers and sample the beers. The next day Skip, Andrew, David and I drive to a town called Godbout east of Baie Comeau. Along the way we get some hiking in along a river. I asked David to go back and get a picture for me. When he returned to catch up with us he tried to run but tripped over a root. What a mess his arm and leg are from the gravel he fell in. Looks worse than it is. Thankfully he didn’t break anything. We hiked again in the town, checked out the ferry dock then had lunch at the beach and did some beach combing. The drive along this part of the St. Lawrence was beautiful. On the way back we stopped to hike up a cliff so we could look for whales, still none.

Skip’s truck is fixed!!!! We head back to the campground to get ready for the dive tomorrow to Tadoussac, which is on the west side of the Saguenay Fjord National Park. We find a campground just west. Unhook our trailer; Skip and Andrew come with us. Fred and Marianna stay because Fred has thrown his back out. The 4 of us explore the area. We drove to a small town up the west side of the fjord. The view is beautiful. We find out where to hike and take several short hikes before going to Tadoussac. Here we drive down to the ferry landing to check things out for tomorrow. We don’t want any surprises. The ferry is free, when we ask if they can take our trucks and trailers they respond, “Everything is possible here”. There is a hike here that takes us up the side of the mouth of the fjord. What a view. After we find another hike that takes us out on the rocks at the mouth and on the St. Lawrence River. We have dinner at small restaurant with outside seating. The young lady spoke some English and we had a great burger overlooking a bay and marina. It was here in Quebec that we really felt for the first time that we were in a foreign country. The rest of the Canadian provinces all speak English.

Once back at the campground we go to Fred’s trailer to say our goodbyes. It is here that in the morning Skip will leave at 5 am to make the 2 day trip to get home to Atlanta GA, we will leave around 7am to head to Maine and Fred will leave later for Quebec City then slowly make his way home to Atlanta.

The drive and crossing on the ferry was fun. Heading west to Quebec City wasn’t as pretty as the coast was heading east. Once we headed inland there were beautiful rolling hills with farms and mountains off in the distance. The drive through Quebec City was painless. Maybe being Sunday there wasn’t as much traffic.

At last a sign for Maine. We head for it. We thought we would stop for the night but after going through customs the GPS said we were 4 hours from home so pressed on. After entering Maine we saw 3 deer and 2 moose.

We arrived at the lake last night at 6pm Sunday. We took care of a few things. Barbequed some chicken opened a bottle of wine and enjoyed getting home.

It’s been a wonderful trip. We have had so many new experiences and met so many great people. Now it’s time to clean and repair the trailer for the next adventure.

Stay tuned!!