Trans-Labrador Highway, July 4, 2012
The plan for this year's trip was to again cross the country all the way to St. Johns. This time, however, I wanted to take the Trans-Labrador Highway from Quebec into Labrador, and then cross over from there to Newfoundland. This would require a tire change somewhere in Eastern Canada, as I was planning to go on the TLH with fresh tires after last year's experience on the Dempster. The timing was such that would have to make speed across the prairies to hit the East before the Canada Day long weekend. For the return trip I didn't have anything too specific in mind, except that I planned on visiting the Badlands National Park in South Dakota.
My little handheld GPS unit died on the second day, so I don't have GPS logs and elevation profiles for this trip.
I get off for an early start in fair weather, although rain was forecast for along today's route. By now I have traveled almost every highway in BC except, strangely, the section of the Trans-Canada Highway between Revelstoke and the Alberta border. Therefore, the plan was to stay on the Trans-Canada, rather than using the many smaller highways like I usually do.
The weather started getting weird once I hit the mountains in Hope - lots of fog in fairly low-lying areas, and that in late June. A bit of rain going over the Coquihalla, and then lots of rain starting in Kamloops. In Salmon Arm, warning signs indicate that the Trans-Canada is closed down ahead. I move ahead anyways, figuring that it would be a short-lived closure. Then, just past Sicamous, the end of the line - construction crew turned everybody around; the highway is closed for multiple days due to washout. More bad news: all the other mountain passes from BC into Alberta are closed as well, except for the Crowsnest Highway down South along the border. Backtracking in pouring rain to Sicamous, trying to take the road down to Vernon. This one is washed out as well. Backtrack to Salmon Arm. The road to Vernon and onward to Kelowna is open, but extremely busy with all the traffic diverted onto it. But at least the weather is improving along the way. By the time I reach Kelowna, it is nice and sunny.
To dodge the traffic, I go on Highway 33 straight down to Rock Creek rather than passing through Osoyoos. It works - now we are having fun! The afternoon more than makes up for the earlier trouble, and I feel like keeping going until the lighting conditions get too difficult in the mountains to continue. I arrive in Creston 12 hours after departure.
Watching TV that night, I learn that dozens of homes had to be evacuated that day around Sicamous, some people are still cut off and nobody can get to them.
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Another early start, heading up to the Crowsnest Pass in perfect weather. There isn't a lot of traffic this early, so I am on a roll. The only downer is that my trusty GPS dies about an hour into the trip, but it has served me well for easily 80,000 km of motorcycle touring, so I guess I can't complain too much. I will try to replace it in the East - I won't be needing a GPS to navigate the prairies!
After the mountains, getting used to Prairie riding takes an hour or two, but then I settle into the tranquility of it. I decide to merge onto the Trans-Canada in Medicine Hat - there is traffic, but it isn't overwhelming on a 4 lane divided highway.
Towards mid-afternoon it is getting quite hot - 30+ degrees, and thunder clouds are starting to form. It stays dry for the day, but by the time I get to Moose Jaw, I am pretty tired from the fast riding, the constant cross-wind out on the prairies, and the heat. I decide to call it a day.
A bit of a later start this morning. Over breakfast I learn of a tornado warning for the area between Moose Jaw and Regina, with tornado hunters converging on the region. What is it with the weather on this trip? Time to get out of here...
It has rained over night, but is dry as I set off. I can see a massive storm cloud due East, though, and it looks as if I am heading straight for it. As I approach, I can see there is heavy rain and lightning coming from the cloud. Just as I consider stopping and waiting out the storm, the road magically turns northward near Regina, and I avoid the storm by a few 100 meters. Nice.
The rest of the day is nice, uneventful riding to Winnipeg and then around it on the ring highway. Half an hour further East, the prairies end abruptly. One blink of the eye and I miss the transition (again); grassland replaced by birch trees and later pines.
I check into the Pine Tree Campground, not far from the Ontario border. Perfect weather for camping and I get a nice spot along a little river. Brilliant!
CBC - this campground has Internet - reports that there was in fact a twister that afternoon around Regina. Also, the BC mountain passes are still closed. But that was two time zones and what seems like an eternity ago.
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Mosquitoes are taking a bite out of me the next morning as I pull don the tent. After a coffee at the gas station around the corner I move on and enter Ontario. The road changes to a 2-lane pattern with very little opportunity to pass, and the traffic is starting to bother me. I turn off the Trans-Canada just past Kenora and head down to Sioux Falls, and Fort Frances. The riding conditions are brilliant along this route, just getting through Fort Frances is a bit tedious.
Soon after, I am back in the middle of nowhere, heading towards Thunder Bay. This is the life! I am so carried away by the ride that I don't stop even once for the full 350 km distance. I do however stop at the Terry Fox memorial in Thunder Bay, and enjoy the view out over Lake Superior.
Having changed time zones once more, it is already getting fairly late by the time I arrive in Nipigon. However, most of the traffic continues East on Highway 11 further North, while I turn onto the 17 which roughly follows the northern shore of Lake Superior. After the prairies it feels great to have a few turns in the road again, and I am thoroughly enjoying it! I could have stopped anywhere to camp, but I just feel like blasting on and finally make it to Wawa around 8 pm. The regular rooms in the Wawa Motor Inn are all booked (and as usual I don't have a reservation), but these guys have a heart for bikers and give me one of the massive cabins for the same price. Four beds in two bedrooms, a huge living room area, and a fire place. What a great way to end an awesome day!
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I am off to an extremely late start today - all the long days and the changes in time zone are taking their toll. I decide to push on to get as close as possible to Ottawa today, so I can get new tires there tomorrow. There is no way I can make it all the way to Montreal today, and waiting another day gets me into the Canada Day weekend. As much as I like Montreal, I don't want to risk being stuck there the whole long weekend - I want to celebrate Canada Day the way it was intended to be celebrated: on a bike, in the middle of nowhere...
The day starts out very nice going into Sault Ste. Marie. After that, however, the traffic gets fairly dense for the rest of the day, and it is starting to be a bit of a drag. It is also getting quite hot - into the mid-30s.
The Ontario Provincial Police turns out to be pretty sneaky. Their standard patrol cars are common black SUVs and small trucks like most people drive them, and the lettering is in dark gray - there is no way to see that it is a cop car unless you are really close. Luckily all the speed traps were set going the other way. At one point, as I was stuck on a 2-lane section behind a U-Haul truck, one of these patrol cars pulled out of a police station right behind me and kept following me for 10 minutes. Just as I was considering to pull out and have a break somewhere, I get lucky again - the U-Haul truck briefly crosses the double yellow line. The sirens come on, and I get rid of both the truck and the cop car just like that. Open road!
Overall, the traffic did stay quite dense all the way to Deep River, however. Around 8 pm I check into a cheap motel, have dinner at a Chinese Place (actually quite good), and call it a day. I am within striking distance of Ottawa and intend to show up at the BMW dealership there around the time they open.
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Starting off early, I arrive at the BMW dealership (Good Times) around 9:30. They are happy to squeeze in my tire change right away: 1-2 hours is what they predict. They have the Heidenau K60 in stock, which is the same tire I have on my bike right now. These have served me really well - they are at 15,000 km now, and if I wasn't planning to go onto gravel soon, I wouldn't have to change them for another 2000-3000 km at least. I am happy and walk off to a close-by Starbucks to get breakfast and read some email.
An hour and a half later I get the call to pick up the bike, and I head back. I spend a bit more time at Good Times looking for a GPS units, but don't see anything I want, so I just set off again.
By now it is steaming hot, and I get stuck in lunch traffic, so it takes me a while to get out of the city. From there the road up to Montreal is a pretty decent ride, but once in Montreal end up in the most agonizing gridlock I've ever been in - the whole length of the island is stop-and-go, at temperatures that are now hovering around 36 degrees. The long weekend has officially begun! The boxer on my bike hass trouble coping with the heat in stop-and-go traffic, and I have to pull off the highway two or three times to keep it from overheating. Finally, I follow Sherbrooke Ave. on a whim and find a smaller highway to get me off the island. Over three hours to traverse Montreal!
Finally, I make it up to Quebec City, but without my GPS or a detailed map of the city, I get hopelessly lost. By now I am too tired to backtrack and settle for a motel in the outskirts, where I can get some sleep and check the Internet for the route out of town the next day. As I pull the last luggage off the bike, a thunderstorm hits the city.
A short day heading up to Baie Comeau. There is some weekend traffic coming out of the city, but then it thins out pretty quickly. I have a long chat with some Quebec bikers on Goldwings at a gas stop in Baie St. Paul. One of them has been on the Trans-Labrador recently, and tells me a bit about conditions. Apparently they are starting to pave larger sections near the endpoints.
The weather holds up on the way to Saint Simeon, but just as I get into town, the first drops of a thunderstorm fall, and I have just enough time to stop and put on my rain gear before it really hits. Visibility is actually a bit of an issue, and there are a few inches of water on the highway in some places. But it only lasts a few minutes, and then I am at the ferry terminal for the ride over to Tadoussac. It is nice and sunny on the other side of the river.
A bit up the road, I pass a car after a lengthy no-pass zone, and suddenly I have a cop car behind me with sirens on and light flashing. As it turns out, however, he isn't interested in me, and just speeds past. 15 minutes later, I see why - I pass a large accident scene involving tow pickup trucks and a large scooter. Lots of ambulances and cops; I hope the rider of the scooter is going to be OK.
I arrive in Baie Comeau mid-afternoon, go shopping for groceries and emergency food for the next few days on the TLH, and check into a motel a bit outside, close to the stating point of the highway.
Time to do some planning for the next few days. Most importantly, I am studying the forecast for the TLH. It looks as though there may be a rather wet stretch on the Quebec side tomorrow afternoon, but it should dry up after that. My options are to either try for Labrador City tomorrow, or just idle up to the Manic Cinq dam on Lake Manicouagan, stay there for an additional night, and then bet on improved weather the following day. I decide to check the forecast again in the morning and make my decision then.
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The forecast this morning confirmed bad weather along the highway around Labrador City for this afternoon, so I decide to go with the short option. I stay in the motel for a few more hours, just browsing on the Internet and then head out just before noon. The road up to Manic Cinq is still paved but not necessarily in very good condition. I stop along the way at another dam, Manic 2, for some photos, and a few more times along the way.
This being Canada Day, there is quite a bit of weekend traffic on the road, mostly coming the opposite way including a number of bikes, and a whole fleet of Ford Mustangs. Some of the bikes look like they may have come down all the way from Labrador, but most probably just went up to the dam for a day trip.
I get to Manic Cinq in mid-afternoon, check into the motel, and head to the cafe/restaurant for a late lunch. There are probably a dozen or so bikes parked outside but they all appear local - too clean and not enough luggage to indicate a long trip. Since nobody seems too eager to speak English, I just finish my meal and head back to the room. The rain starts later that evening.
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I has rained most of the night, and the whole parking lot of the motel is a mud pit. However, the rain is now just a minor drizzle, and the sky looks lighter further North. I saddle up and move out by 7:30, the weather and road conditions improving significantly after a few km. I am glad I waited the extra day!
I am having fun on the gravel road - nobody in sight this early in the morning, except for the occasional pickup with construction workers. I try for a short stop just past Relais Gabriel, but decide to push on after being ambushed by droves of mosquitoes.
Just past Relais Gabriel, the first big construction site over a stretch of 40 km. It takes my attention away from the scenery, and focuses it on navigating deeper loose gravel sections and dodging road graders and big trucks. Once past the construction I notice that the landscape has changed and transformed into tundra. It is gray and partially foggy, but dry.
Many more sections of construction follow; around Gagnon there are some shiny new sections of asphalt (as well as some sections of old, cruddy asphalt), then the gravel starts again. It seems as if they are working hard on paving the whole highway. Pity!
The last 70-80 km to Fermont are probably the roughest part of the road - lots of potholes, somewhat slick from leftover rainwater. I see some pickups with trailers having a bad time on this section, but on the bike I am enjoying myself. You just have to go fast enough to float over the bumps...
Fermont itself is a bit of a disappointment. I knew it would be a mining town, but didn't think it would be this drab - the whole town is essentially a single, enormously long building. Maybe it is the grey weather, but it all seems quite depressing, and nothing is holding me here.
A few km down the road, I cross into Labrador, and have a long lunch break in Labrador City (at Tims, what else). After driving around in the city a bit I check into the Wabush Hotel a.k.a. Sir Wilfred Grenfell Hotel. This is one of the places one can borrow a satellite phone for the rest of the TLH, which I plan to do the next day. The hotel is a good place to meet people - mostly construction workers and work crews - over a buffet-style dinner that offers everything from burgers to Chinese food.
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Starting bright and early again today. It rained most of last evening, but is dry again now. The first 120 km going out of Wabush are newly paved road - not at all what I expected to find here. After that, gravel again, and this time there is more loose material on the road and attention is required. I get held up for 30 minutes in a small construction site where huge mining trucks move around gigantic boulders to reinforce the shoulder of the road. It also looks as if they are preparing to pave this section, too. This is also the first dry section of the road for today, and I swallow tons of dust going between two of these monsters for a stretch of 5 km.
At the gas station in Churchill Falls I meet 3 bikers from Quebec who tell me that their buddy crashed on the road ahead yesterday. He broke his shoulder and he and his bike had to be transported out. The rest of them are continuing the trip East today, just ahead of me. Of course once that topic comes up all kinds of people chime in. The gas station attendant keeps going on about the bike who was killed by an oncoming truck a week earlier near Goose Bay (I had read about it on CBC). Whatever.
The road ahead continues like just like the road before, minus the construction: pretty good hard road with clear tracks but the occasional pile of loose, coarse gravel. You definitely have to pay attention, but I don't feel remotely in trouble at any time. It is actually quite nice - the weather is getting much better, lots of blue sky now, and open road. What's not to like?
About 100 km from Goose Bay, the pavement starts again. I am not sure why they are so keen on paving this awesome road - except for construction vehicles I have seen hardly any traffic on it at all. Of course after hitting all this fresh pavement I get carried away, go way over the limit for some time, and almost pass a police car. I realize just in time that it is a cop car and instead follow them at some distance for a bout 10 km or so. Finally he pulls out and stops at the intersection with a small side road, I assume to let me pass. Except, this side road is the one that leads to Muskrat Falls, which is where I am planning to go. So instead of passing them on the highway, I turn into the same side road and pass them at walking speed while they glare at me... Awkward...
The dirt road leads to an overlook over a wider part of the river, and then branches off in various directions. Unfortunately, there is no signage at all as to where the actual falls are, so I eventually give up on finding them, and instead have a little lunch break at the overlook. The cops show up a few minutes later to check what nefarious things I might be up to, but they leave quickly, and it is simply too weird to ask them for directions at this point.
Happy Valley/Goose Bay isn't far off, and after a cup at Tims, and chatting with a few more bikers who are heading the other way. The usual conversation - where are you from, where are you going, what is the road like. As pleasant as these conversations are, I still find it hard to gauge from them how challenging a road will really be - so much of it depends on individual skill levels and the subjective conditions at the time. For example, the biker that died last week crashed very close to Goose Bay, which means he must have been on pavement already - a fact that everybody neglected to mention. I am still wondering why they would want to pave a highway with this low a traffic volume. Maybe they want to turn this into a tourist destination like the Alaska Highway, but so far at least I haven't seen a lot of uptake on that. I check into the Labrador Inn for the night.
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Pretty serene riding in the morning towards Port Hope Simpson. The road is thoroughly dried out now, and I am leaving a nice dust plume behind as I am blasting along. It is mostly very fast, hard gravel with the occasional ripple or loose gravel patch.
Getting closer to PHS, the traffic in the opposite direction is picking up. I stop briefly to rest, but after having two pickups and one biker (from Germany) stop to offer help within just 5 minutes, I decide to move on. I briefly meet a few more bikers going the same way at the gas station in PHS. They set of shortly after I arrive, but I pass them a little while later.
The road from PHS to Red Bay is very scenic and I stop to take some nice panorama shots. I spend a while exploring Red Bay - the hull of a capsized ship is rusting in the bay, and the fog is pulling in as I arrive. The road from here on is asphalt, winding along the incredible coastline. These are the best twisties since I left the rockies! I arrive in L'anse au Claire, just across from the Quebec border around 5:30. It will just be a few km to the ferry tomorrow morning, and I walk around town enjoying the warm weather and ocean view.
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An early start to catch the first ferry across to Newfoundland. I don't have a reservation, and decide to show up well ahead of the departure, but the office is closed until 90 minutes before and even then the lines are long, since even people with reservations need to check in at the office. After I finally have my ticket, I have some nice chats with local travelers at the ferry terminal, and get good tips for what to see on the other side over the next few days.
The ferry ride itself is pretty uneventful, the sailing is smooth and on time. Some porpoises can be seen in the distance, but they are too far off to really see what is going on.
Arriving in Newfoundland, I take the road North to L'anse aux Meadows, the oldest Viking settlements in North America. The ride up the coast is brilliant - twisty road along the coast line and then cutting across some high plains.
I spend several hours in L'anse aux Meadows, mostly outside the actual reproduction village. The true village is visible only as a few dents in the landscape, but a copy has been rebuilt about 100m off the original site, and they have staff re-enacting aspects of Viking life. Instead I mostly walk around the vast park lands and up the shore line. One can see an iceberg in the distance, but it is quite far off.
After the visit to L'anse aux Meadows and a bit more joy-riding in the area, I make my way to Pistole Bay Provincial Park, and check in at the campground there. It is not too busy and I quickly find a nice spot and head for a swim in the nearby lake.
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It is a bout 8 am by the time I have packed up my camping gear and head out towards St. Anthony for breakfast. I am searching for the boat terminal that takes people out for whale watching and a trip to the ice berg that is in the area (a different one from the one seen from L'anse aux Meadows the previous day). Unfortunately, I miss the right turn the first time, and arrive about 5 minutes too late at the pier - the next trip won't be until the afternoon. Following a tip from a local follow the road to the end - Fox Point Light Station - where one can get a good view of the iceberg from land.
I then decide to head back South, as I am anyways planning on taking boat cruise when I get to Avalon on the other side of Newfoundland, to see puffins and whales. The weather is not as nice today as it was yesterday - it is pretty grey on the plateau, and once can tell that this must be a pretty miserable place in the winter. There aren't any clouds on the coast, but it is quite foggy, for most of the way down. It is clearing up around noon, but then getting pretty grey again just before Gros Morne National Park. I was hoping there might be a dirt road or ATV trail up into the mountains (there is plenty of these in Newfoundland), so I would be able to make a short detour up. Unfortunately, the rangers tell me that the only way up is hiking. What is worse, the forecast for the next few days is pretty miserable, and I really don't feel like staying an extra day just to hike up a mountain in the rain and fog. I decide to stay in Rocky Harbor for the night, with the faint hope that the forecast for the next day may be wrong, but if it is going to rain, I will head on towards St. John's and Avalon.
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The weather is grey and miserable today, and the bed is warm and comfortable, so I have quite a late start today. I start out in light drizzle, but the rain intensifies as I head towards Deer Lake and on to Badger.
Yesterday I started feeling a slight bumpiness in the rear wheel between 70 and 80 km/h. I checked out the wheel and spokes over night but couldn't find any problem. Today, the bumps are becoming more pronounced and start spreading over other speeds. Still no sign of any problem with the wheel, but I decide to get it checked out in St. John's - maybe get the wheel re-balanced after all the gravel. I plan to get an oil change in St John's anyways.
Between Badger and Gander, the rain gets really heavy and I am drenched to the bones. By the time I reach Gander I can pour water out of my gloves. At the Tims there, people start laughing at the water that flows out of my jacket sleeves and all over the floor. Surprisingly the weather hardly affects my mood at all - at least it is still quite warm, so what if I am a bit wet.
As I set off again from Gander, the bump in the rear wheel gets worse and worse. It is now noticeable at all speeds. Just before Glovertown, the trip is over for the day - the bike is starting to loose traction on the rear wheel and I am starting to fishtail slightly on a fairly dry stretch of road, and the bike is starting to make a grinding noise that is very, very wrong. I pull over at some kind of trail head and start calling for tow trucks. Trying to stay positive - at least I am parked right next to a Bell cellphone tower, so the reception is excellent, including 3G Internet to search for towing contractors in the area.
Since it is Saturday afternoon, it is actually quite hard to find a service that is willing to tow my bike into St. John's today. I finally find a small independent contractor who is willing to pick me up with a U-Haul trailer. I have to wait about 90 minutes for him to show up, and in the meantime several heavy showers roll through the area. OK, this is starting to affect my mood now.
When the tow truck shows up it is a matter of a few minutes to put the bike on the trailer and set off. After standing for 2 hours, the we can see a puddle of liquid leaking from somewhere on the rear end of the swing arm. Definitely not good, and I am a few months past warranty...
It is about 7 pm by the time we get to Mount Pearl, a suburb of St John's, and drop off the bike in front of Avalon Motorsports, the local BMW dealership. Of course they are closed now and won't be open tomorrow (Sunday) either. The two truck driver drops me off at a hotel in the harbor area of St. John's, and is on his way back home. I leave an email with Avalon Motorsports, to describe my situation and explain why they have a bike parked in front of their building, but dont' expect to hear back until Monday.
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At around 9:30 I get a call from Keith, the owner of Avalon Motorsports. Since the weather is still bad, he got to the shop in the morning to do some paperwork, saw the bike and the email, and now offers to come to my hotel to pick up the key for the bike so he can move it inside for the night. Good stuff!
When Keith gets here an hour later, he has already had a brief look at the bike, and determined that it is most likely a problem with the final drive. He has also checked out the VIN and determined that yes, the warranty ended 2 months ago. I mentally prepare to spend some of tomorrow on the phone to talk to BMW Canada and ask them for accommodation. Keith and I talk a bit about time lines - they will look at the bike for real tomorrow morning, and then order whatever parts may be necessary, which should be arriving within a day or two, depending on weather (since the parts have to be flown in from the mainland).
Not being able to do anything else, I spend the rest of the day doing tourist stuff downtown.
I have to move to a different hotel today since the one I staid in for the previous two nights is booked for a convention. Instead I am moving a bit to the outskirts, half the way to Mount Pearl. After the move, around noon, I call up Keith to find out what they have found out by taking apart the bike.
Keith has good news for me - it is in fact the rear wheel drive, which would be quite costly to replace, but he has already talked to BMW Canada, and they agreed to replace it for free, including overnight shipping to St. John's. The weather has drastically improved, so shipping overnight should not be a problem. So I could actually have the bike back within 24 hours and not have to pay a thing (other than the oil change that I am also asking Keith to do). Brilliant!
With nothing else to do, I go for some shopping and a movie a t a nearby shopping mall.
Well, it worked out exactly as Keith promised - BMW shipped a whole new, pre-assembled rear section of the bike over night, Avalon Motorsports put it on the bike in the morning, and I have my bike back at noon. That's pretty awesome!
Keith wants me to come back the next day after I've put some distance on the bike to re-torque the joint, so I stay checked into the hotel, and explore the area for the afternoon. I end up heading to Bill Bay and Mobile. I find one of the smaller boats that offer bird and whale watching tours into the Witless Bay Ecological Reserve, and spend two hour out on the water seeing enormous numbers of humpback whales, puffins, and other sea birds. It took only about five minutes after departure before we saw the first puffin, and the islands that for the core of the Witless Bay reserve are teeming with various sea birds.
After the boat tour, I head back North toward St. John's, but with a detour to Cape Spear, where I spend some more time, and then Signal Hill, overlooking the harbor of St. John's.
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Re-torquing the joint took only a few minutes, and after chatting with Keith once more, thanking him for his outstanding service, and getting some more tips for what roads to travel in Avalon, I set off back to Bill Bay to follow the coastline to Placentia and the ferry, which I want to catch the next day.
After the forced break in St John's, I am really enjoying the ride along the water, the nice twisty road with almost no traffic, and just being out on the road again. The bike is handling like a charm, and even the weather is great, if a bit gusty along the water.
In Placentia I am meeting two local bikers and we get chatting over a cup of coffee. I ask them for a campground that is supposed to be in the area, but instead they suggest backtracking a bit down the coast, and camping on the water in Gooseberry Cove. They take the lead to guide me there, and I have to say it is a really wonderful spot. There are three sites, and the best one is already taken, but it is still a great place to spend the night. When I get there, the back is still busy with a few teens playing ultimate, but they take off pretty quickly. I try swimming, but I guess I am not hardcore enough for these water temperatures.
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Nice but very cool night camping along the water - I only brought my summer light summer sleeping bag, and had to put on extra layers in the middle of the night. I head back into town for a hot coffee and to plan the rest of the day - the ferry will only leave in the afternoon.
At the Tims in Placentia I meet a guy I had already talked to in Gander just before my bike broke a few days ago. Small world (or small island anyways).
After breakfast I am heading on a small road to Fox Harbor and Ship Harbor, two small towns up the coast. Nice riding, but there isn't an awful lot to do once I get there, so I head for the ferry terminal just after noon. I am the first bike there but by the time I am done changing into "civilian" clothes and checking my mail inside the terminal, there are probably about 30 bikes lined up. I am talking for a longer time to two guys who are on really extended trip.
The first is a guy from Alberta on a V-Strom, who also came across the TLH, but has already been on the road for 3 months and is now heading for Tierra del Fuego, whereas I have to start heading back to Vancouver. I can't describe how jealous I am...
Later I hang out with a guy on a 650 GS, who is originally from Denmark, but now also living in Alberta. He has about a year to ride around, and has already been to the FLorida Keys on this trip, is now heading to Alaska and later wants to visit Mexico. He has also been to Avalon Motorsports, and Keith gave him a heads-up that I would be on this ferry as well. We continued to chat for a good time on the ship, but then he retired to sleep while I headed outside to take some photos and later went to read a book while trying to ignore the "entertainment" in the lounge.
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The ferry arrives in Sydney early in the morning. The night in the TV room of the ferry was quiet and I managed to sleep a few hours. I meet all the other guys again on the vehicle deck, but the bikes are among the first off the ferry, so we are all busy getting ready, and after a few quick good-byes, we are all back on the road again, going our individual ways.
Instead of following the Trans-Canada, I am heading down Highway 104, which is almost deserted at this early hour. Along the way I realize I don't really have any plans for which route I should be taking on the way back to Vancouver. I know I want to end up at Badlands National Park eventually, and I have a vague notion of riding along the shore of the Bay of Fundy for a bit, but that is a decision I have to make really soon now. There is also the question of cutting through Maine Vermont, and possibly New York, or staying on the Canadian side, which more or less implies taking the Trans-Canada through New Brunswick and Quebec. In Port Hawkesbury I have a longer stop to mull over this choice. I am checking my email, which contains a message asking whether I could attend an important meeting back in Vancouver on the afternoon of the 20th - a week from today. That request finally tips the scale towards taking the fast route back, and I choose the Trans-Canada, with plans to continue through Southern Ontario into Michigan and around the North end of Lake Michigan.
So on I go, towards Truro, and then on a small highway to Parrsboro, on the North shore of the Bay of Fundy. This turns out to be an excellent, scenic route. I rejoin the Trans-Canada in Amherst, and stay on it for the rest of the day. The riding is uneventful and fast, although with quite a bit of traffic until Woodstock (MB), where most of the trucks turn towards the I-95. After that, it is a nice extra hour riding into the sunset through the Northern end of the Appalachians. I am spending the night in an inexpensive but nice motel ("La Roma") just outside of Edmondston, within spitting distance of the Quebec border.
At the motel I am meeting two guys from Ontario on Triumphs. One of them, Tevor, is living part-time in Costa Rica, so spend a lot of time talking about biking in Central America. He gives me his email address if/when I make my way down there some time, but I actually loose the piece of paper later during this trip.
I am having a slightly later start today, but I immediately gain an hour on entering Quebec. The route along the St. Lawrence is a little boring, but at least it is fast and there isn't a lot of traffic going South - until Quebec City, then the road starts filling up.
I miss the turn that would let me bypass Montreal, and get sucked into the city again, where I have another chance to observe the locals at their favorite pastime - gridlock. Luckily my participation is not required this time around, and I manage to leave the city behind with only minor delays.
The leg towards Toronto is getting increasingly brutal - although the traffic is flowing smoothly, it is very dense and requires a lot of attention. The temperatures are up to 35 degrees with high humidity. I am regretting the decision not to cut through Maine, but decide to push on to get it over with. Traffic through Toronto is absolutely dreadful, and it is about 8 pm by the time I hit Kitchener. This seemed like a good destination for the day, since I studied at the University of Waterloo almost 20 years ago, so I am somewhat curious see what the town looks like now. Obviously I am too tired now to spend a lot of time exploring, but I recognize the Weber St./King St. area an it is nice to see how it has developed. Still I am pretty sure I am never again going to take this route on a bike tour...
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As I start out, the weather is very gray and damp, bit still incredibly warm. I catch a few showers on the road to London, but then the sky clears up a bit towards Sarnia.
Just past the border, I miss the turn towards Flint and end up heading South towards Detroit instead. It takes a detour along HW 59, which leads through lots of suburban regions, to end up on the I-75 North, towards the Lake Huron coast. I turn off the interstate and onto HW 23, which follows the shoreline. Shortly after, a massive thunderstorm hits, and with this one it takes about 15-20 minutes to ride out of it. Standing water on the road in a few places, and almost no visibility.
Once the storm clears out, however, the conditions are near perfect - the sun is coming out, and it is getting warm but not hot. The road along the lake shore is awesome to ride on. Across the awe-inspiring bridge in Mackinaw, and then following the North shore of Lake Michigan on HW 2. It is getting fairly late again at this point, but the riding is just too nice to stop now. There are lots of parked cars along the lake shore, and people enjoying the Sunday evening along the water.
I end up riding all the way to Escanaba, to stay at the Sunset Motel. There was a small motel a bit up the road, just across from the water, but I didn't see it in time and because of a construction site it seemed difficult to turn back. Anyways, the Sunset Motel is fairly basic, but the owners are a very nice young couple who just took over the place a week ago and are extremely helpful and welcoming. I am happy to support their business.
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Since I am gaining another hour today, I am having a slightly later start, but this means that it is already quite warm as I take off. Heading towards Appleton, the traffic is becoming more dense, and I decide to divert onto smaller highways instead, finally following US 10 to Wisconsin Rapids and then HW 80 down to the interstate. By noon, the temperature has crept up to 38 degrees, so I have to make regular stops to re-hydrate. Overall, however, good riding.
I stay on the interstate and get into prairie riding mood, making it all the way to Worthington. I had planned to camp there, but after hardly any construction all day, the very exit leading to the campground is closed, and I can't find my way to it form the next exit. Since it is hot and I am tired from yet another long day, I decide to go to a motel instead. The good news is that tomorrow will be a relatively short ride to Badlands National Park, and I am definitely going to camp there.
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A really late start today - I need the sleep. Riding through the prairies has its own charm. I am surprised, however, to see how many small towns there are along the interstate. I was expecting something more like Saskatchawan, but here there seems to be a town every 20-30 km.
Since I have time, I decide to take the detour to the Corn Palace in Mitchell. I am not sure what exactly I was expecting - maybe a building at least partially constructed of some kind of corn-related material, but it turns out to be just an old theater draped in tapestry made of corn, and turned into a giant gift store.
Moving along, I stop at two more tourist attractions, mainly because I need to cool down and re-hydrate - it is just as hot today as it was yesterday. The first is Al's oasis, a giant antiques store, just across from the Missouri. It's not like I want to buy anything, but it is actually quite fun to look around in the store and see all the old stuff from the pioneer era.
The second stop is 1880s town in Midland, an old ghost town, but they charge more entrance fee than I am willing to spend, so I just walk around on the outside. Boy is it ever hot!
I am arriving in Badlands National Park in mid afternoon. The landscape here is absolutely astounding and I snap a lot of photos. I am told by the park rangers that there may be a T-storm coming through later, so I delay putting up my tent until it gets dark. Until then I am spending time walking around the area, reading, and chatting with bikers from neighboring camp sites - they put all the bikes in the same area of the camp ground.
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The T-storms started in the distance just after sunset. Basically all around the park one could see massive lightning in the distance, but somehow it never made its way to the park - we stayed dry.
I am setting off early today to spend some more time exploring the Eastern part of the park. There is basically no other traffic on the road, yet, just a construction crew that is preparing to set up for the day. I see plenty of mountain sheep in the park, the largest wildlife since I left BC (not counting the whales, of course).
After the a few hours, I set off towards the Black Hills and Mount Rushmore. The twisty roads in the hills are brilliant riding, and I get my picture-perfect photos of Mount Rushmore without a cloud in the sky. But Mount Rushmore couldn't be more different from the Badlands National Park just a few miles away - whereas the latter is very quiet and serene, the former is completely overrun by tourists that are milked for each and every dollar. I don't stay long.
Instead of backtracking to Rapid City, I decide to follow HW 16 into Wyoming, rejoining the interstate in Moorcroft. Once back on the interstate, I am getting increasingly into the mindset of returning to Vancouver quickly. It is good to see some tall mountains again near Yellowstone, and I am looking forward to more twisty road and cooler temperatures - we are at over 40 degrees today.
A sign that I am getting back to civilization is that the gas stations are asking for a US ZIP code together with my credit card again. Of course I don't have a US card, so every time I fill up I have to go to the office. Time to get back to Canada...
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I force myself to an early start today to make some distance and hopefully hit the mountains before the temperatures crawl up too high again. This strategy works well for the first while - I ride 500 km before noon at temperatures around the mid-20s. But it is not just cool and fast, but I actually really enjoy the road again as well, now that there are at least smaller hills and mountains.
Around Spokane the traffic picks up again, and requires more attention. I stop at a view point overlooking the Columbia River. I've been around this area many times but never actually came to this point. It is a pretty impressive canyon, and I spend almost an hour here.
When I set off again, I have to start thinking about where to stay for the night. If I wanted to really push it, I could probably make it all the way back to Vancouver, but that would just be a bit too much. I can spend an extra night on the road and still make it to my meeting tomorrow. Other options are Yakima, or Seattle, but I don't really feel like staying in a city for the final night of this tour. Instead I head for the Snoqualmie Pass Inn, just 45 minutes from Seattle and 3 hours from Vancouver. I am looking forward to staying up on the pass.
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I am waiting out a heavy sower that rolled through the pass this morning. When I set off, it is dry, but with fairly heavy cloud cover that quickly turns into dense fog heading down the hill. As usual, it is the drivers of dull grey cars that feel like they do switch on their lights in these conditions - I am having to or three of the most hairy traffic situations of the whole trip before I finally get down the mountain.
Heading into Seattle, it is starting to rain heavily, and I am arriving just in time for the morning rush hour. The 405 bypass is completely shut down, and I decide to go all the way downtown and turn onto the I5 there. This is only marginally faster but at least I am moving rather than standing around in the pouring rain.
The weather clears up a bit around Everett, and I make it to Vancouver just after noon. I am heading straight to UBC for my afternoon meeting.
My only regret is that I had to rush the return trip so much. If I had been able to spend the weekend - an extra 2 days - that part would have been much more enjoyable. It was also a mistake to go around the US in the East. The big highways in Southern Quebec and Ontario are pretty dull and tedious for riding - I should have cut across the Appalachians on the US side instead.
Other than the obvious highlights of the trip (Newfoundland and Labrador, Badlands) I also really enjoyed the great lakes area in Michigan and Wisconsin. I should spend some more time there on a future trip.
As it turns out, the rain on the last day was the last precipitation that Seattle got for almost 3 months. Go figure.