James Bay and Trans Taiga Road 2017 - Day 6

Coffee and cereal bar for breakfast, breaking up camp, getting the bikes ready - we are getting good at this!

Next stop will be the "Mirage Outfitter" http://www.mirageaventure.com. This is the last fuel and services available on the Trans-Taiga Road. To go to the very end - Caniapiscau -  and back is 616 km. I carried a 2.5 gallon fuel canister for this stretch of the adventure, even with low gas mileage, I should have enough safety margin to reach supply. 

We stopped at two beautiful "belvederes" overlooking the impressive infrastructure Hydro Quebec put in place. Thank you Hydro Quebec for building these roads, producing clean energy and making this part of Canada accessible to us.

Belvedere - Trans Taiga Road - Day 6

A security guard stopped and she asked, if everything was alright, wishing us well, but warning us about the road ahead going from 32 ft to 24 ft width and the trucks and vans on it.

We met a few trucks and pick ups on the way to "Mirage Outfitter", but overall the graders working on the road surface had done an outstanding job allowing us to travel at 50 to 60 mph.

From the Mirage website:

It's 358 km up the Transtaïga Road, in the beautiful Nordic region of Eeyou Istchee Baie-James, that worldwide outdoors enthusiasts meet all year round to get away and live unforgettable adventures.

We were greeted by very friendly staff fueling up the bikes and preparing food for us since breakfast was gone.

Cheeseburger and fries! What else can you ask for ?  Since we would have to camp out in Caniapiscau we needed some additional supply - they ran out of beer!!! Imagine traveling there for an unforgettable vacation and "NO BEER"! We improvised and filled my insulated Hydro Flask with a Californian Cabernet Sauvignon - should be well aerated by the time we get to our destination.

Taking the road conditions on the Trans Taiga for granted is one big mistake one can make. The next miles after Mirage were bad, soft gravel, hard to read lines and front end wobbles were taking their toll on moral.

Well, the road continued to improve for the remainder and we became much more comfortable with the conditions as well. Almost like an reward for our persistence a bold eagle circled right above us. Gliding with full wingspan through a deep blue sky it was like National Geographic live.

We arrived at Brisay and enjoyed another Belevedere before taking on the final part of our journey to Caniapiscau; the end of the Trans Taiga Road.

Finally we arrived at the Caniapiscau dam where impressive walls accumulate the water needed to generate the power.

Objective met, but where to camp? There are no campsites after the outfitter and left and right of the road an old gravel pit was the best we have seen. 

A few miles West we followed a sign to a boat ramp - jackpot!  A calm spot right at the reservoir, protected by the dam on one side, with some sandy spots to pitch a tent, but best of all - driftwood!

The driftwood was piled up 3 ft high and 80 ft wide and a little breeze kept the mosquitos at bay -what more to ask for? 

Drift wood, humongous fire, perfect sleep right by the water, no wind , no mosquitos, no cold – the only place in Quebec.

Only the best and carefully hand-selected wood was used for the "mother of all campfires" on this trip. We were joking that if Greg and Scott were with us the campfire would have been noticed from the International Space Station.

Of course the lid of my Hydro Flask cracked from the rattling and shaking on the way here, thank god only a little red wine dripped into the panniers. A piece if advice - when taking the panniers off the motorcycle to clean some red wine out of it - close and secure the lid or you might cut of the tip of your finger. How do I know? Just saying....

Dinner was Chicken with Dumplings from the dry freeze bag – not having to clean dishes is getting the product one star rating, other then that …. I mean, seriously look at the picture on the bag; do you see anyone actually eating the stuff? Weight, no dishes to clean and fool proof preparation are the good things I can say about this product. Taste and texture - not so great. If anyone has a good alternative, please let me know.

Of course in a place like this, one (!) bottle of wine didn't last and after finishing the remainder of a small Jack Daniels bottle, we had to revert to the flask in my First Aid Kit that I carry strictly for medicinal purposes, but this was kind of an emergency, given "half of my finger" was resting in the aluminum panniers a good foot kick away from my bike.

We couldn't really tell if it was brandy, armagnac, calvados or a blend of it, but I am happy to report that neither of us incurred any food or water borne illnesses for the rest of the trip.

 It was time to retire for the night, knowing that there would be a campfire for breakfast!

Odometer reading

Today:                       299.6 miles 

Total:                        1860.7 miles

Life is good!

Thomas