Onward To Goose Bay, Labrador!

From Tadoussac, we drove farther east and north along the Saint Lawrence Seaway to Baie Comeau where we must have stayed a night, but by now I’ve completely forgotten. But it was at Baie Comeau that we departed from Highway 138 and picked up Highway 389 heading north. This road, for the most part, is dirt almost all the way to Goose Bay, Labrador. Now, it’s true there are some sections that are asphalt, but by and large, it’s dirt, dirt, wonderful (?) dirt. Picture it - crawling 682 miles through the Canadian wilderness at a max speed of 45 or so miles per hour. Aside from the constant dust, I really enjoyed it.
Traveling along this route, we planned to stop for lunch and refueling at Manic-Cinq, but just before we got there, we were hit by the most intense deluge of rain that I’ve ever encountered while driving. Had we been able to, we would have pulled off the road to wait it out, but there were only the two lanes of dirt and no shoulders at all. Fortunately, we made it through with no mishap, and the rain abated, but when we arrived at Manic-Cinq, they were still awash with a rapid muddy outwash. We sloshed through the water and mud to have lunch here, and by the time we went back on the road, the rain and excess water on the ground were both gone. That afternoon we completed the 320 kilometers (199 miles) to Relais-Gabriel, a truck stop and refueling station, and a restaurant, plus housing for the crews that perform road work in this remote area. The restaurant was pretty basic, but the staff were wonderful and the food good. If you can find Relais-Gabriel on your map of Quebec, you’ll see that it is set on the very edge of a massive ancient meteor crater, the center now risen up and the edges filled with water, describing an almost perfect circle maybe 70 kilometers (~45 miles) in diameter. Pretty impressive!
We boondocked for the night at the truck stop, and it was anything but idylic, but we were snug, warm and well-fed.

Next morning, back on the road, one of the first things we encountered was a truly narrow wooden bridge - and one-way traffic only.

Several hours and one hundred fifty-five miles later, we arrived at Labrador City, just across the border into Labrador. We went to the visitors center, where we talked with the staff, and viewed several mineral, metal and animal displays, then later we did some shopping, then boondocked for the night at the outter edge of a shopping center parking lot.
After a peaceful night, we left town about 8:30 AM for Churchill Falls, Labrador, 250 kilometers or 155 miles away, where we arrived in early afternoon. Churchill Falls is a corporate town, owned by the Nalcor Energy Corporation, and has a population of 650 people. The corporation operates the town, and provides a grocery store, school, theatre, library and recreational facilities. The people we met there were extremely friendly and helpful, one even offering to take Mike out fishing for pike. He came back bragging about the several large pike he was able to catch and release.
The next day, Mike and Judy stayed to get a personal tour of the underground generating plant, built into the granite bedrock. I, however, elected to skip the tour and leave early for Goose Bay. Once under way, I immediately encountered about 25 miles of very slow going through areas of road construction, but once past that, the gravel road was smooth and very well graded, and I could maintain a speed of about 45 MPH. Altogether, it took me about 5 hours to cover the 170 or so miles. Along the way, I passed many, many streams and lakes, of which just a few are shown below.

Currently we’re camped with full hookups at the Goose River Lodges and RV Park just north of Goose Bay. Mike and Judy are going to take a 5-day round trip on a supply ferry heading north to the town of Nain (and other towns inbetween). I will remain here, enjoying the peaceful environment, riding my bicycle, and exploring.
After that, we’ll be off on some dirt road running about 250 miles southeast to Port Hope Simpson. More later...

Hoping all are well,

- Bill -