We continued north to the Broadback River at Km 232. We met a couple
of guys there whose truck wouldn't start. Bad place for a breakdown!
We drove them to an emergency phone and back, then continued on our
way. Of course we stopped at the Rupert River (Km 257). A forest
fire earlier this summer has burned the forest all along the north
shore of the river. We hiked along the trail, exploring and
experiencing the powerful rapids. That night we camped at Willow
Lake (Km 375). That night the Northern Lights came out in full force
- spectacular display of curtains and streamers. Towards dawn some
thunderstorms came in from the west. I watched them closely, as we
were in our tent in an exposed area. But the storms seemed to part
and go around us, so I went back to sleep.
We continued north the next day, stopping here and there to
sightsee. Drove out to Chisasibi to see the James Bay. For some
reason this seems like a powerful place. We went back to Radisson
for the night, checking into a motel due to the large numbers of
black flies.
The next day we went on a tour of the dam and hydro-electric
facilities - English-speaking tours are available on request. Then
we headed back south, Camped at Mirabelli Lake. Nice view
overlooking the lake, and we watched the full moon rise over it.
Continued south the next day, stopping at the Rupert and
Broadback Rivers. We tried driving to Waskaganish just to see what
was there, but we turned around when the road got too rough -- could
only crawl along. We decided it wasn't worth it and turned back.
When we got to Matagami, we decided to try going along bush roads
R1005 & R1000 to Lebel-sur-Quevillon. Rough roads, and some tricky
navigation, but we made it ok.
We finished our trip by driving down through Quebec and crossing
into Ontario over the Ottawa River near Ottawa. |