Day 7, Friday, Aug 22, campsite east of Labrador City, 238 miles today, 1850 total..
If there ever was such a thing as getting into the stride of these road/camping trips, today was the day we reached that stride. While I hated to leave that magnificent campsite, the day was absolutely beautiful and for the first time I listened to some music on my iPad. The roads were terrible, not only because of their condition (thousands of what we call potholes, but this is what happens to dirt and gravel roads over time) but because of the hills, twists and turns that sneak up on you. One hill near one of the Manic dams had to be at least a 12 percent climb, which is steep. I had to take it in 2nd gear the whole way. This stretch of the road to Labrador is mostly in Quebec and the only signs of life along the way are the various hydroelectric project for Quebec and mining operations. Since I last drove this road in 2002, they have demolished one whole mountain for the iron ore, a bizarre sight to behold, especially since it looks like they are now planting grass where the mountain once stood.
The road is empty of traffic except to the hydroelectric and mining operatios vehicles, the numerous construction trucks rehabilitating stretch after stetch of road, and the trucks, lots of them. And I discovered an interesting way the truckers heading your way tell you they need more room to pass, in order to stay off the shoulders, which sometimes give way. What they do is is about 300 feet before you, they get in your lane, giving you barely enough room to make it, and then they play chicken until you move over. It did not take me but one second to figure out what they were trying to tell me, and from then on I make sure they have plenty of room to pass.
I stocked up on a few items in Labrador city and then set out to find the camp site I stayed in (coming in the opposite direction) in 2002. My recollection was that it was about 30 or more miles from Labrador City, and that it was the only place on the road to Churchill Falls suitable for pitching a tent off the road. But I had to find it by 5pm, which is when I really want to get off the road as I do not like driving these roads in the dark and I want to complete the two-hour routine from arriving at a site to heading in the tent for the night by dark, about 8pm up here at the 52nd parallel. (Washington is on the 38th, the Arctic Circle the 66th.) Well, I find it alright and I was right about how far it was from Labrador City, but I also discovered why the cutoff to that great site was there in the first place. It had been turned into sand and gravel pit, the source for all the sand and gravel they use on the roads. Knowing that in 2002 I could not find any suitable site to camp for another 192 miles, I began to wonder if we were going to have to sleep in the car that night, something I only had to do once before when my vehicle's electrical system failed in Newfoundland in 2002. Just as I started up the road again toward Churchill Falls, 130 miles away, not 300 feet away, I found a sign for a camp, which I immediately headed towards down a long dirt road. The camp was like an oasis, situated on a beautiful lake, on which we camped, literally two feet away. The dgs were in heaven, as this is the only place on the entire trip that dogs were not prohibited from the beach, a restriction I ignored at those other places anyway.
The only problem with this campsite was that there were RVs there. The problem was that since the camp's rules are all but nonexistent, one of the RVs near me turned on his generator at 9pm, about the time I like to retire. Knowing before the trip that I had to get a decent night's sleep every night in order to drive safely the next day, and knowing that I have a difficult time sleeping with a generator drumming 50 feet away, I asked my doctor for a supply of ambien, and I slept like a log - or dog - last night. I left the rain fly off the tent to enjoy the view of the stars while the ambien was kicking inWheEe far as tomorrownis concerned, When I last traveled the TransLabrador Highway in 2002 (in the opposite direction)' I recall not being able to find but one suitable place to pull over and camp for the night, off the highway with a nice view. The reason for this is that the highway is built up at least 6 feet from the terrain, sometimes much more, to prevent the highway from buckling after the ground thaws in the spring. Thus, even if there were cutoffs before, yiu cannot access them and you cannot just park your vehicle on the side of the road. The place I found in 2002 was absolutely superb, isolated, and overlooking a magnificent lake. At night the only sound was that of a lone loon, whose plaintive cry kept us up half the night, but enjoying it.I also figured out that it was almost 50 miles south the the place where Leonidas Hubbard of Lure of the Labrador Wild fame died 99 years before. It was one of the most pleasant evenings I spent anywhere, I recall. That was my goal for the night. But when I told that camp owner about this, he said to not count on it as they are blocking off many of the old cutoffs by building up the road. But I am determined to find that spot, even if the parking lot has been turned into a Wallmart. We'll see.
Ed
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