Date:         Sat, 19 May 2001 11:57:45 -0300
Reply-To:     Larry Innes <linnes@innu.ca>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Larry Innes <linnes@innu.ca>
Subject:      trip report - Victoria BC to Labrador
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Hey, all -

Thought I'd take a minute or three to relate a 10-day trip cross
continent, should anyone be planning such an adventure in the future.
I do this trip as a seasonal migration--as my family and I shift from
coast to coast between work and school--but it would make a fine
vacation, if one took a bit more time to smell the roses along the
way. One thing for sure, this is the kind of trip that really makes
one appreciate a Westy.

The crew: included myself, my spouse, our 1 y/o daughter, our 16 y/o
nephew and my husky dog.

The vehicle: "Blu", your basic 87 Westy, with new heads installed and
the auto transmission rebuilt just before heading out on the road. At
160K km, and with both the heads and the tranny starting to leak, I
figured it was better to shell out at the outset than somewhere
mid-trip, which w/ my luck would be 500 miles from anywhere. Glad
that I did, because mechanically, everything seemed to perform
perfectly on the trip. Blu was also saddled with two mtn bikes and a
jogging stroller on the Paulchen rack.

I've owned Blu for a year now, and spent a lot of time doing work
that the PO should have done...additions include a Sony deck and CD
changer, Infinity speakers in place of stock, BFG All Terrain tires,
PIAA driving lights on the front bumper, KYB shocks all round, brakes
replaced, new fuel lines in the engine compartment, yadda, yadda.
Still lots to do this summer, like replacing the rest of the rotten
fuel hoses above the tank, do some preventative maintenence on the
body (nothing like some salt air to get those seams showing!) and
maybe, just maybe, upgrade to the H4 lights, chrome hubs in place of
those plastic POS, and install an Optima battery under the driver's
seat...

Day 1: Victoria - Chilliwack, BC: 126 km

Not a particularly adventurous start, but we didn't manage to pack up
and roll out until 4 pm or so. We breezed through what passes for
rush hour traffic between the our home and the ferry terminal at
Schwartz Bay, and managed (somehow) to catch a 5 pm ferry to
Vancouver.

For those of you not familiar w/ BC Ferries, this is an auspicious
event! A general tip for ferry travel is to arrive 40 minutes or so
before the sailing, and to make sure that you've got nothing on the
luggage rack: Blu, my Westy, stands 6'8 exactly, and anything which
might put me over this height would result in a hefty 'oversize'
vehicle charge...my solution is to keep whatever I plan to put up
there (on this trip, a hibachi and a couple of bike tires) in the
van, and then tie them down once on the ferry.

We rolled off in Tswassessen, near Vancouver, and headed up the
Fraser River valley through Delta and Surrey, catching the
Trans-Canada Highway (TCH) near Langford. It was getting raining
heavily and getting late by the time we rolled into a roadside RV
park just off the highway for the night.

Day 2: Chilliwack to Winlaw, BC: 577 km

After Chilliwack and breakfast at the White Spot, we headed NE on the
TCH to Hope, where we turned W onto Highway 3, also known as the
Crowsnest Trail. This route would take us through the Cascades, the
Okanagan Valley, into the Kootenaies, and finally, over the Crowsnest
Pass into Alberta.

After the gradual climb up the Fraser, the steep climb through
Manning Provincial Park to 1300 m was a bit of a workout for the van,
but the first of many. We spent a lot of time with the auto trans in
2nd on 8-12% grades to summits and passes in the 1200 - 1400 m range,
and then we'd drop back down to a few hundred meters in the valleys
on the other side. Great scenery...esp. the Okanagan, which is high,
dry and spectacular..quite a change from the rain forests on the
coast. We were there just as the pruning and planting was happening,
but on our return trip, we will be stopping in a the local
fruitstands and vinyards for some excellent organically-grown local
produce.

We spend the night with friends in Winlaw, a small village in the
Slocan valley, near Nelson.  Interesting histories in this part of
the country, including the Aboriginal occupancy along the upper
Columbia river, early booms and busts by prospectors and ranchers,
and in the early 20th century, the arrival of Russian Doukoubours--a
pacifist, communitarian Anabaptist sect-- who set up some rather
large and successful cooperative farms before running afoul of local
sentiments. In one of the more shameful episodes of Canadian history,
the children of the Doukourbours were taken from their parents in the
mid-50's and interred in residential schools, in an unsuccessful
attempt to 'Canadianize' them.

Day 3: Winlaw, BC to Cardston, Alberta: 565 km

After a great breakfast in Winlaw and a few more visits with friends
in Nelson, we crossed the north end of Kootenay Lake by ferry and
drove down the eastern shore. A fine drive along narrow roads through
small artisan communities, with spectacular views of the lake and the
Kokanee glacier fields. We then passed through Cranbrook and Fernie,
and by late afternoon, we had worked our way through to the Rockies.
The stretch from Cranbrook to Coleman is one of my favourite drives
in the world, and a 'must do' for anyone who gets a thrill in the
mountains. It's not a 'technical driving' road, just a nice drive
with great vistas.

After passing through the Rockies and into Alberta, we drove through
the rubble of the Frank Slide, where a mountain has literally buried
the former coal mining town of Frank. Awe-inspiring, and a great
corrective to those who may place their faith in the predictions of
experts when it comes to messing with the basic laws of nature.
Gravity and entropy will usually win in the long run.

We spent the night with my family in Cardston, a small community at
the doorstep of Waterton-Glacier National Park. The Park is perhaps
the best-kept secret when it comes to the mountain parks in either
Canada or the States, so I won't tell you anything about it here.
You'll have to go see for yourselves.

Day 4: Cardston to Swift Current, Saskatchewan: 898 km

We left Cardston in the mid-afternoon, and headed east across the
prairies through Lethbridge, Taber and Medicine Hat and into
Saskatchewan. I grew up in this part of the world, and although it's
been nearly two decades since I'd lived there, and although I've been
back many times since, I'm always amazed by the changes. The old
family farms and ranches that I remembered are being replaced by
feedlots and corporate farming operations, the old grain elevators
are coming down, replaced by concrete and steel 'super-elevators'. I
guess that nothing is constant, but I find all of these changes
disheartening. I'm also more alert to the dependency in this very dry
part of the world on irrigation, and to the salinization of the soils
that is occurring as a result. This year seems especially grim, as
the reservoirs are the lowest they've been in decades.

Day 5: Swift Current to Winnipeg, Manitoba: 535 km

Yawn. There are so many cliches about driving across the prairies
that I won't repeat them. In previous years, the monotony of the
landscape has been broken by an incredible variety of migratory bird
species, but this year, the land is drier than I've ever seen it.
Most of the sloughs and marshes are barely there, so the waterfowl
and shorebirds seem have moved on to greener pastures.

We were challenged on this stretch by 40-60km hour crosswinds from
the SE, which meant that I kept my steering wheel turned about 15
degrees off centre for the whole trip and grimmaced everytime a big
rig blew by, and I'd rather not talk about the overpasses or bridges
that we had to traverse. But having the Tragically Hip turned up loud
for most of the drive made it all worthwhile (esp. having '100th
Meridian' strategically queued up for the moment when we actually
crossed that imaginary line!)

We rolled into Winnipeg and spent a fine evening being entertained by
friends. After a breakfast that couldn't be beat, we patronized a
local charity carwash to get the bugs off the grill, and headed out.

Day 6: Winnipeg to Batchewana Falls, Ontario: 805 km

The prairies end about an hour E of Winnipeg, and the Canadian Shield
begins. I love this country...windswept pines clinging to granite
over lakes, the Group of Seven and all that. But, this image is in
danger of becoming a thing of the past. The reality is that under
Premier Harris, "forest management" in Ontario is pulling out all the
stops. They apparently don't even bother with the beauty strip
anymore...clearcuts right down to roadside...and this on the
Trans-Canada/Hw. 17, the 'main drag' through NW Ontario. ! Short-term
thinking at its best, and a typically Canadian tragedy in the making.

But, I still get a thrill when we catch our first glimpse of
Superior...now, that's a lake!  Right at sunset, in fact, which makes
it all the better. We were hoping to camp at the Batchewana Prov.
Park, near the falls (the "Niagara of the North") but we learn to our
dismay that the provincial parks won't open until the 15th, so we end
up in a commercial campground nearby, which isn't bad, but we are
still disappointed.

Day 7: Batchewana Falls to Montreal River, Ontario: 461 km

We've taken the 'south' branch of Hw. 17, which will take us along
north shore of Superior  to Sault St. Marie and on to Sudbury. This
stretch of highway remains one of my favorite drives in
Canada...great views of the lake, lots of elevation, and much of it
remains protected within provincial and national parks. A lunch stop
(hell, any excuse for a stop) at Old Woman Bay is mandatory! One of
the most awesome vistas on the planet!

Ol' Blu doesn't much like the climbs (7-10% grades) but does just
fine in 2nd. After BC, this stuff is a breeze. We take our time, with
frequent stops and 'boil ups' on the stove, just cause we are tired
of making the big miles everyday.  We are again frustrated by the
fact that the gov't campgrounds haven't opened for the season, so we
end up at a commercial campground at the mouth of the Montreal River
in the late afternoon. "Sunset Resort"...despite the tacky name, a
great spot...and a better choice, IMHO, than the gov't campgrounds.
We park on a ridge just above the estuary, pop the top and spend the
rest of the day flying our kites and cooking on the hibachi...nice
place for some 'vacation' in the middle of the drive.

Day 8: Montreal River to Renfrew County, Ottawa Valley, Ontario: 809 km

We rolled out early, and headed south to Sault St. Marie for
breakfast. From the Sault, Hw. 17 through Sudbury. Sudbury in the
spring is still a revelation. Years of nickel mining, smelting and
refining virtually turned the region into a moonscape. From the
mid-70's, the construction of a 'Mile High' stack, new scrubbing
technology, and extensive ecological remediation work has mitigated
the effects somewhat...there are now little copses of birch and aspen
on what used to be blackened rock. In the spring, however, before the
leaf-out, you can see how much work is left to do...it will be
generations before this land heals.

We grab some stuff for a road lunch, and head towards North Bay, and
from there, to Mattawa and into the Ottawa River Valley. This is a
great part of the country...an old and well-settled mix of French and
English farms and woodlots on both sides of the River. The river
forms the boundary between Quebec and Ontario, but the valley seems
to have a culture of its own. We drive until nearly dark, and spend
the night at a log home with friends near Renfrew.


Day 9: Renfrew County, Ontario to Malbaie, Quebec: 639 km

We are getting close to the end of the trip...so after another
breakfast that couldn't be beat, we roll out on Hw. 17, which becomes
the 417 as we approach Ottawa. Ottawa traffic is a revelation...we
pass through during the morning rush hour (bad planning, I know) and
choke in the smog, but this is just a warm-up for Montreal. Montreal
drivers are legendary, and I've learned to curse in French with the
best of them! The construction isn't too bad this year, so it isn't
as traumatic as it usually is, and we are soon pushing Blu to 4500
rmp to keep up with traffic flow on the Autoroute between Montreal
and Quebec City. A few chuckles along the way as we pass graffitti on
the overpasses "NO WAY FTAA" (in English, no less!).

The upper St. Lawrence river valley is wonderful country, and I
regret that we couldn't take our time, but we are intent on making
time. We end up in the evening rush hour through Quebec City, and
then, like a breath of fresh air, we are on Hw. 138, driving past the
'chutes' and through the tourist town of St. Anne d' Beaupre. We
provision with great local cheese, bread and other delicacies, and
take a relaxing evening drive up into the Laurentians to Baie St.
Paul/Malbaie. We spend the night at a campground (closed, but the
owner lets us stay there for $10) in Baie St. Paul. Baie St. Paul and
Malbaie are wonderful destinations...art colleges, museums, local
cheeses, festivals, great cafes, but we are beat, so we end up
calling it a night.

Day 10: Malbaie to Manicougan Reservoir, Quebec: 601 km

A beautiful morning in la belle province...we take our breakfast at a
cafe, and then back on the road. We feel like we are on 'home turf'
now as we take the ferry across the Sagueney at Tadoussac...we can
start to smell the salt air of the Gulf. We pass through small
fishing towns, still quietly awaiting the summer tourist season, eat
lunch on the beach at low tide, look for whales (but don't see any)
and drive on. This is a part of the world where you need to spend a
season, not a day...

We take some time at the Canadian Tire in Baie Comeau to make sure we
have the essentials for the Trans-Labrador Highway (extra tire plugs,
gas can, etc) and make some calls so that friends and family in
Labrador know we are 'on the road' (should we break down, it would be
really hard to contact anyone!). After we provision up, we turn north
onto Rt. 389 towards Manic 5 in the late afternoon.

There is a steep climb from the coast...we gain more than 1000m in
less than 50K. 214 km later, on a narrow, steep and winding road, we
arrive at Manic 5. Manic 5 is a major hydroelectric installation, and
the site of the Daniel-Johnston dam, which impounds the upper
Manicougan river. It looms over us, a huge shadow of concrete
buttresses. It's always reminded me of the Cheshire Cat's smile. On a
map, you will see a "lake" in NE Quebec that looks like a donut--with
a large island in the middle. This is the Manic reservoir. There are
4 more dams below Manic 5 before the Manicougan river finally meets
the sea. We passed several of them as we approached.

The vast majority of this power generated from this river is sold to
the US, representing tremendous profit for Hydro-Quebec (HQ), the
Quebec government-owned utility. To many Quebecois, this dam
represents the harnessing of the North for development, but to the
Innu people that I've been living and working with for the past
decade, it represents the end of away of life. The Innu were nomadic
hunters until the 60's, and have only recently been settled into 11
communities in Labrador and Quebec. For generations, families of Innu
had travelled between the North Shore and the Labrador plateau, and
the rivers were their highways. Now, few of them run free, and the
roads that were required to build the dams have opened the door for
massive timber harvesting operations in Innu hunting territory.

This trip, we were spared the logging trucks, as the woods are still
too wet to allow the heavy harvesting machines to operate effectively
on the thin, sandy boreal soils. During peak operations, I've met
more than 40 fully loaded oncoming log trucks in the 3 hours it takes
to drive from Baie Comeau to Manic 5, and been passed by as many
going back empty. Logging here is a 24h/day operation...you can see
the lights from the harvesters just beyond the beauty strips when you
drive it at night.

Quebec forestry practice is probably not that different from practice
elsewhere, but it is presently occuring on a scale that dwarfs
anything I've seen elsewhere. Continuous clearcutting, with cut
blocks measured in the 100's of sq. km. The Innu and the Cree have
long opposed this kind of "development", which is clearly
unsustainable...these climate-limited, slow-growing forests will take
at least 100 years to regenerate...if the damage that is occuring to
the soils and watercourses as a result of the heavy machinery allows
regeneration at all.

We fuel up, climb the steep grade to the top of the dam, and drive
across the spillway bridge. The pavement ends here, folks...for the
next 200 km or so, it is rough, rough gravel. We drive for about 3
hours, and then camp on the shore of the reservoir. A wonderful
spot...the surface of the reservoir is still icebound, and we can
still see recent snowmobile tracks. We spend the night under a
spectacular Northern lights display...it's starting to feel like home.

Day 11: Manicougan Reservoir, Quebec to "41", Labrador: 935 km

We break camp at sunrise...we've got a long way to go.  We top up
with 0.95 c/l gas (that's nearly $4.00 CDN gallon, folks...$ at the
Relais Gabriel, a truck-stop/rest-stop of sorts some 104 km beyond
Manic 5, and in 60 km or so, we are back on pavement! Now, this is
about as incongruous as finding a manicurist in a logging camp, but
welcome to all who pass here. I can hear the stereo again, instead of
the rocks bouncing off my wheelwells, and I no longer have to stop
when passed by an oncoming semi (there were only 2 of 'em since Manic
5, thank you Lord!) to wait for the dust to clear so I could see the
road again. Someone's contractor brother must have had some great
connections to land this one! (Hey, Pierre, why don't we pave 100 km
of nowhere!?) Actually, the history of this is tied to the hydro
developments...Hydro Quebec once had a sizable townsite/workcamp
called Gagnon here...you drive through it: boulevards, medians,
driveways, storm sewer grates, but nothing beside
remains...everything else was decommissioned. Still, it remains quite
popular with the wilderness RV set...every summer, there are at least
2 doz. RV's parked here.

The pavement ends, and we are back on the gravel. But now it is
somewhat more interesting, as we are S-curving across uncontrolled
rail crossings. ARRET! signs are to be taken seriously here,
folks...nothing like a collision with an iron ore train to ruin one's
day, or more likely, losing an axle. These crossings are ROUGH! Great
country though...open lichen woodlands, chock-o-block with eskers,
morraines and other examples of glacial geography, run through with
lakes and streams. The open-lichen woodland is my favorite forest
type: imagine sparse, small black spruce trees (no more than 3 m
high) standing in foot-deep pale green shag carpet...has to be seen!

70k later, we get a flat. Damn gravel does a job even on the BFG
All-Terrains! No worries...a quick plug, some pumping, and we are
back on the road. We pass the immense Mont Wright iron ore operation,
a huge open pit on a scale that is hard to imagine...and arrive in
Fermont, a mining town at the Labrador Quebec border, shortly after
noon. We are back on the pavement now, for a few km anyway, as we
pass through Labrador City/Wabush...twin mining towns. We fill up,
and cross the border in Labrador. We grab our lunch (Mary Brown's!),
make some calls, and head out on the Trans-Labrador.

There is a sign as you leave Wabush which reads "Driver Alert"...and
it makes sense to read it if you've not taken this road before. 500
km of gravel, with only one town (Churchill Falls) at the 200 km
point. This road is not well travelled, friends, and you'd best go
prepared: spare tire, gas, tow ropes, and camping gear, because if
you break down, get stuck, hit a caribou, etc. you might be waiting a
while. For those of us who live there, this road is the only link to
the 'outside', except by air or by ferry, which runs the 40h trip
between Goose Bay and the Island of Newfoundland for 4 months of the
year, so we kind of get used to it.

But it does a job on your vehicle...during the summer, at least.
Sand,  gravel, dust...everything is covered in dust. It is an obvious
issue for the rocker panels, fenders and wheelwells, but I  also find
that small gravel also find its way into every crevice of the engine
block...I live in the fear that some of this will find a way to do
some serious damage. I just make it a point to do an engine cleaning
after every trip on "the road" using a crevice tool on the shop vac
to get the larger rocks, and the hose for the rest. I know that
synchro.org has drawings for some modifications (grates and grills,
etc) for difficult journeys, but I've not gone that distance yet. I
do use one of those HD air filters from Bus Depot, though.

Spring in Labrador is a fine, fine time. We enjoy a 20 degree C day,
and our stops at several Innu hunting camps set up along the road.
Innu tend to be out on the land extensively this time of
year...plenty of game (esp. geese) and NO FLIES! We visit with many
friends and family, and enjoy a few cups of tea and some goose stew
while lounging on fir boughs inside Innu tents.

Night catches up with us in Churchill Falls, a ticky-tacky company
town servicing the massive Churchill hydro development. The Churchill
Falls project is one of the greatest debacles in modern
history...intended to be the engine for Newfoundland's development of
the North, the project was completed under the terms of fixed-price
contract negotiated in 1969 which commits virtually all of project's
5000 MW to Hydro Quebec at 0.002 kw/h until 2061. H-Q reaps billions
of dollars of profits from the project, while Newfoundland pays most
of the costs of maintaining the facility, which includes the world's
largest underground powerhouse and a massive reservoir, which
incidentally flooded 5000 sq. km of Innu hunting territory...

We gas up (costs me $44.50!) and we are on the road again. Driving
under a clear, moonless night, we arrive at my brother-in-law's cabin
shortly after 10. Lots of family is there to meet us, and we catch
up, telling lies around the fire until we can't keep our eyes open.

The next morning we pull into Goose Bay, wash our van, and
unpack...next day, while enroute to the post office, my alternator
dies. Good timing!

Quite the ride: 6613 KM, $473 in fuel, no mechanical problems, one
plugged tire. We averaged 7 km/L (about 17 mpG)...not great, but
acceptable.

Still waiting for an alternator (and using a solar panel to keep the
battery charged in the meantime...),



-- * -- * -- * -- * -- * -- * -- * -- * -- * -- * -- * -- * -- * --
Larry Innes
PO BOX 2156 Stn B Goose Bay, Labrador A0P 1E0 Canada
87 Westfalia GL "Blu"
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