My last cereal bar and Starbucks instant coffee form the early breakfast before we break camp for the last time on this trip.
It is starting to rain and doesn't look as if it would stop any time soon. The tarp kept the riding gear dry, but my hands are so damp after storing the tent and tarp, I can't get them into my rain gloves and finally give up and just keep my GS gloves on. Good rain gloves are certainly a part of equipment that I need to add, there are many that keep you dry, just getting into them is almost impossible once your hands are wet.
The rain stays with us until Montreal where we stop at Tim Hortons for coffee and sandwiches.
It's time to say goodbye and hopefully not too long until we meet again. We will certainly try to catch up somewhere this season and I am sure it'll involve a campfire and BMW motorcycles.
That's how most of the day looked like....
Crossing the St. Laurent
Leaving Montreal behind, the noise, traffic and smell gets to an acceptable level again. After a quick and heated exchange about driving habits with a guy almost running me off the road in the middle of a construction zone, I am approaching the border crossing into Vermont.
A charming CBP officer greets me and after confirming that the helmet camera is off, she welcomes me home.
Vermont, the state that I was raving about on Day 1 is showing it's ugly side today, pouring rain and drivers that show no or little concern for others on the road - did they introduce a bounty on motorcycles while I was gone?
I am swearing my way through rainy Vermont at 62 F, but shortly after crossing into New Hampshire with in few miles it dries up and the temp rises to 85F.
Kickstand down after 3461,6 miles or 5539 km; good to be home in one piece with lots of great memories.
I later unload and dry the camping gear and sort through some of the equipment, a good time to reflect what was absolutely essential, not needed or really useless.
Next day I fired up the compressor, blew out the air-filter, locks, breaks and switches - the nasty dust found it's way into all nooks and crannies. The skid plate looks like sand blasted and the lower center stand is bare metal. That'll have to wait for another day, I am taking the Harley out for a spin...
That concludes the James Bay and Trans Taiga Road 2017 - I hope you enjoyed following another tour and let's see what the next journey brings.
We get up early, pack up the bikes again, fill the tanks and off we go to Mont Tremblant State Park. It should be smooth sailing all the way and we decide to hit the road and get breakfast somewhere along the way.
We picked up quite some mosquitos yesterday on the trip to Matagami - revenge is sweet !!
This is the most boring ride of the entire trip, what looked to be a road with some "twisties" is a well paved stretch of asphalt, but hey, we have to do around 450 miles today, so no complaining.
To make things worse the rain starts and stays with us for most of the day. We stop a couple of times for coffee, ice cream and other treats that were not available where we came from.
After the last miles in heavy rain, we finally pull into one of the gates to the State Park and luckily the rain stopped long enough to put up the tents.
Just in case we put a tarp over the picnic table to keep our gear dry.
It's George's turn to get firewood at a service center close by the camp site. It's getting dark and starts to drizzle again when he returns - no firewood!
I am checking out the vicinity, hatched ready, but most of the deadwood around was soaked or too much exercise to cut at this point of the day. In addition they reminded us several times about "not feeding the wildlife and not cutting any trees"....
"Sad Puppy Look" all over again; quick talk to our friendly neighbors after which US-$5 and a bundle of firewood is exchanged.
Probably the last freeze-dried dinner for a while; I don't think I will become a fan of it, but it's light weight, stores small and all you need is hot water and 10 to 15 min patience.
Tomorrow somewhere in Montreal we will split and head home in different directions. Sitting by the camp fire we reflect over a beer or two on the trip we are about to complete. Last years Trans Labrador Trip (see earlier blog) was already a great experience, but the remoteness and distance covered up in Quebec raised the bar for any future excursions.
Ontario or Manitoba would be the next logical destination, but I yet have to find an interesting motorcycle destination.
The BDR team (Backcountry Discovery Routes) has some Eastern US section in their plan, or shipping the bikes to the West could be an alternative. Since planning the trip is half the fun, let's not rush to a decision.
Please use the comment function for any ideas or suggestions that you have.
Slept alright, getting used to the cold and not at all to
the mosquitos, every part of skin exposed is covered with bite marks despite
the 100% DEET and the All Natural Repellent we alternate between.
Three Coffees and a visit to the outhouse that looked like an aircraft restroom after a transcontinental flight.
The friendly fisherman sold me another six pack of beer in the morning; you have to manage supply out here and we knew for sure the gas station at km 381 on the James Bay Road didn't sell any alcohol.
201km left to get back onto asphalt and leaving about 1600km (1000 miles) of dirt
road on this trip behind us. We force ourselves to take a break at about every 60km, staying
concentrated is important, my front wheel washed out slightly four times
yesterday with one close call and foot down which doesn’t do much at 30 mph. Head up, looking
ahead, staying loose and easy on the handlebars, hug the bike with ankles and
knees to the tank and a prayer here and there will get you through the soft
gravel parts.
Not sure where to go from here – Matagami is probably too
far to reach today and we might end up camping along the James Bay Road.
After that I plan to get close to the US border and within reach for the home stretch on Saturday.
Time to start thinking about next year’s trip – Alaska is
out of reach given the time available, the Eastern Canada area is somewhat
explored, so ideas please…
While contemplating the above, I pack up the bike, say good bye to the friendly fisherman and start up the boxer engine again. Back to the dirt!
Like "horses smelling the barn" we speed up, eager to get back to the asphalt road. A truck passes us with over 60 mph. Knowing that you shouldn't stop in the dust right after, as you might be run over by the following vehicle, both of us merged to the far right of the road and hit the breaks - visibility zero!
The last kilometer is indicated by "ARRET 1000" - "500" - "200": and the familiar trash containers come in sight marking the completion of the Trans Taiga.
I am about 100ft away from the container when a Black Bear jumps out of one and dashes off into the woods. Wow, I can't believe that just happened, when I see another one right behind the last container I am passing.
I stop on the other side of the Trans Taiga about 60ft away from the container, frantically waving when George arrives and is about to stop right in front of "Al's lunch box".
We stay silent at the bikes for a minute or two when our furry trash compactor sticks his head out and walks back to where I disturbed him.
You can tell he is not comfortable getting back into the container with us near by and decides to trot West over the main Road.
We get back to business and increase the tire pressure on the bikes, still in awe of what we've just seen.
A pickup truck from Hydro Quebec comes down the Trans Taiga, the driver rolls his window down asking "If we had a good trip?": next question "you do know there is a Black Bear behind you, do you?" We turn around and see Al crossing the road South of us about 100ft away, shortly after he completes the full circle over the Trans Taiga to the East. That trash must have a very, very tempting smell....
Al at his "lunch box"
Hoping to see some more of him we waited a while, but nothing and we finally decided to get on our way South; but not before paying tribute to the Trans Taiga and the traditional welcoming of the asphalt, that we will never take for granted.
We had lunch after filling our tanks at the only gas station on the James Bay Road, had a little chat with a family that came up all the way from Washington DC for a vacation. We told them about our bear sighting and to stop at "Al's Lunch Box", for sure the kids will enjoy the show.
The miles flew by on the paved road and we had to force ourselves to stick to the frequent stop rule to remain concentrated and alert.
We took a break where the Rupert River meets the James Bay Road, even more impressive than where we camped the first time on Day 3, which seemed a long, long time ago.
Our progress to the South brought Matagami, the town where the James Bay Road starts, into reach and the idea of a bed and hotel room was tempting.
With dusk setting in we reached the Matagami Hotel, secured a room and straight to dinner before the restaurant closes. There is a bar with music aside the restaurant and quiet a crowd in there, but by the time we parked the bikes, unload the gear, shower the place has died down and I still have to get used being the eldest person in place like this.
We call it a day and discuss where we should be heading tomorrow. We zoom in on Mont Tremblant State Park Northwest of Montreal.
With the abundance of driftwood around us we quickly lit up a camp fire for breakfast and enjoyed a slow start with lots of coffee.
We did celebrate reaching the end of the Trans Taiga Road yesterday knowing that we would have to go all the way back, but we were optimistic and felt that our riding skills on gravel had significantly improved and were determined to proof this on the over 660km of dirt road ahead.
This campsite was the highlight of the trip, slept really well, silence, protection against wind, all the water you need around us, it really couldn't get better than this.
Filtering water for the trip ahead
We were expecting road conditions similar to
yesterday, but the grader crews were leveling the hard packed parts creating hazards on the other side. Stretches of the road that we considered easy yesterday, became challenging over night - if anyone tells you about road conditions on the Trans Taiga, don't listen, they change daily up here.
About 70 miles before Mirage outfitter my gas gauge showed 10 miles range – time to use the 2.5 gal canister I am carrying.
We stopped for fuel and a quick lunch at Mirage where meat pie is still being prepared for dinner later, so for us it's lasagna and fries. Another bottle of wine for the camp tonight since the beer supply will only arrive Thursday and we are almost on our way.
The super friendly staff told us that two riders coming our way called for rooms at Mirage and we are looking
forward to meeting them on the road.
Two guysfrom
Montreal on BMW GS 1150 make their way along the
Trans Taiga. They tell us “this is no fun, the bike wobbles all the time”, well, what can we say, their tires seem not to be a fit for the surface they are on and they seem overly cautious. We try to cheer them up, telling them the outfitter is near and the road won't get any worse.
From "driving.ca"
The six loneliest roads in North America for daring drivers
Located in the wilds of northern Quebec, off James Bay Road, this stretch of unpaved gravel is the definition of “extremely remote” and should not be driven by the faint of heart.
There are hardly any service stops along the harsh, stony route. In fact, at its northeastern most extreme, the road sets the mark for being the farthest point in North America from any town (745 km from Radisson, Que.).
We are getting back on our way, apart from some nasty curves with lose gravel resulting in heightened adrenalin levels, we progress really well. It's warm and we kick up a lot of dust forcing us to ride half a mile apart and still, we are covered with the fine sand top to bottom. My pannier locks are starting to jam and I don't want to think about the air filter of the bikes, other that the BMW's run like a breeze - German Engineering :-)
Pontois River in sight - it's warm, we are exhausted and all we carry, apart from water, is a bottle of red wine. We are craving for a can of nice cold beer - and here comes the "sad puppy look" again.
A couple that spent their vacation fishing the river has set up camp close to us and after explaining the emergency of serious de-hydration on my part, I buy a six pack from them. They even store 4 of the cans in their cooler for us to pick up later. About 25 seconds after I regret it - should have bought eight...
Of course there is no firewood and I have to roam the area on the bike to collect some branches. After dinner and the transition to red wine the hatchet is put to use again and some dead wood is cut up to keep the fire going - yes George, the tree was dead!!
It's time to get into the sleeping bag, thinking about the final 201 km of gravel ahead to complete the Trans Taiga.
