Al, the Advanced Elements kayak is great. I store it in the rubbermaid container you can see in the picture in the trailer. I haven't fished in it yet...somehow the idea of a sharp hook, my fishing skills, and an inflatable boat just doesn't seem right. I bought it intending to do that, though, so once I work up the courage I'll give it a shot...
Mad Norsky, the gps didn't dawn on me until part way through the trip and I thought how cool I can track my trip with it. I have a handheld that I bought to use with topo maps but don't really use it much. I can't figure out the whole breadcrumb thing.(didn't work out real well for Hanzel and Gretel as I recall, either) I took gps readings of all our campsites after that. Maybe I'll post them with pics.
Pete D, that was last years trip, except we took the short ferry from Saint Barbe, NF to Blanc Sablon, Qc and then drove up the south coast of Labrador to Cartwright. This road has only been there for a couple of years now, and the south coast of Labrador is a wonderful, isolated, place. In some of those fishing towns, I could hardly understand the accent, even though it was english.
Silversand, Tadoussac is one of my Quebec landmarks. I spent the whole ferry ride there across the fiord trying to figure out where to pay. (it's free, but its all in French and I can be kind of slow) I would like to drive out past Baie Comeau,(civilization again after the Trans Labrador and Qc Rte 389 roads!) and have wondered if they will take the TC on the ferry that runs along that coast once the road runs out. I'd like to go back to Labrador that way if possible.
* This post was
edited 09/06/07 10:25am by rhode trip *
2002 Dodge 3500 CTD/DRW/
2000 Northern Lite 10-2000cd
We left Rhode Island about 2 o'clock on Monday the 13th and drove up to Grafton State Park in Vermont for the first night. The next day we hiked out to Owl's Head from Big Deer
about 10 to 12 miles round trip. We just chilled there for another night and then headed out on Wednesday.
We went up across Lake Champlain into New York and then crossed the border
We went through Montreal
and continued north up to the La Verendrye wildlife preserve, where there is a campground at Lac de Laveille.
The next day we headed north again in a bit of rain.
La Verendrye is a very large "reserve faunique" managed by SEPAQ, which we were soon to discover is french for "show me the money" (just kidding, it stands for Societe des etablissements de plein air du Quebec)
We continued on Rte117 up to the town of Amos, and then headed north on route 109 towards Matagami, the start of the James Bay Road.
It's along here that I started to realize we could have a language problem
That's right, the signs are in French and Cree.
Matagami is the start of the James Bay Road
We refueled in town and then headed out:
Just a couple of miles along there is a checkpoint where you register to proceed. They were very nice and helpful and gave us some guides. As we came out, 3 more truck campers from Quebec pulled up. I've never seen that many TCs all in one place before! Pretty exciting for a guy from Rhode Island! We didn't see them again after that, though.
We camped a few miles further along at the Lake Matagami campground, which gave us a chance to fill up on potable water and dump our tanks.
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edited 09/06/07 05:19pm by rhode trip *
Advanced Element Convertible Kayaks rule! I have had mine for a year now. I have both the tandem and sole spray decks and the "back bone". If you do not have the Backbone, order it right away. It is a bow to stern brace that stiffens the boat so that you think that you are in a hard kayak. It's great to leave the deck off when it's hot. I also made a floor out of close cell foam from Walmart - cheap. We have paddled ours from Lake Powell to Nova Scotia. The whole thing fits in the back seat of my Super Cap along with the EU2000.
Your trip is on my list along with the road ( and ferry) to Goose Bay via New Foundland, the Dempster in the Yukon and the Haul Road in Alaska.
2006 F-350 S/C 6.0 DRW 4x4 3.73, Airlift,Energy Suspension bump stops. 2005 Lance Max 981,Polar Cub a/c, both awnings, EU2000, Yakima box. http://truckntravels.blogspot.com/
Get in shape America - walk, run, paddle or ride a bike!
Stagecoach, The James Bay road is paved all the way to Radisson, and so is the road to Chisasibi. There are a lot of frost heaves though, so this road is kind of rough. By the time we got to the Rupert River
(stay tuned)the yakima "king cobra" bike rack had won the piece of junk award. I needed to tighten down on all its screws and fasteners at every stop, and it still ended up like this:
The bolts have ripped right out of the aluminum extrusion. Fortunately, I had an electric drill and spare fasteners so I was able to fix it. This was still on pavement. The other bike rack broke in the same place before Chisasibi. I ended up duct taping the knob every time I put the bikes on to try to keep it from vibrating loose.
The gravel roads are pretty good. Beyond Brisay, the Trans-Taiga is considered 4x4 only, but it was really not bad. This is because its got bigger stones on the road, but I never used 4 wheel drive on it. You might want the extra clearance. There was a few kilometers that were fairly steep and they were rougher from erosion.
There is a regular campground at Radisson where there were a couple of Class c and Class A rv's.
We never saw anything other than 1 other tc on the gravel roads.
What they do require is a callous disregard for your rig. The washboards are constant. Every evening I would check for loose screws and tighten as necessary. The dust is as fine as talc, and gets into every compartment, I don't care how well sealed it is. The first camp chore is cleanup and dusting.
Here is a shot of my rear jack:
and this trailer was painted when I left:
Wsdepa, you're right about the AE. I did buy the backbone, and its well worth it. I've only had it a couple of months, but we have used it quite a bit. It rocks!
* This post was
edited 09/06/07 11:18pm by an administrator/moderator *
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