Day 11 - The Trans Labrador Highway Day 1

As it turned out, my car “camp” was actually fairly comfortable, and everything worked out very well. After I woke up, got dressed and ate breakfast, I headed over to the ferry office to get my ticket, and to use the bathroom!!!

After that, I waited to board the ferry. This was a MUCH smaller ship than the one I had taken from Nova Scotia to Newfoundland. After I drove aboard, I went up to the passenger area and spent most of the time reading. The crossing took about 2 hours.

For those who don't know anything about this road, it's made up of two highways, routes 500 and 510, and kind of runs from the western border of Labrador and Quebec all the way to the eastern coast of Labrador, and then follows the coast south and west where it ends at the border with Quebec. The two highways combined are about 715 miles from end to end. From what I have been able to find, it was completed in 2009, and at that time, much of it was a gravel road. Since then, sections are being paved each year so that it will eventually be completely paved. The road is notorious for generating flat tires, and there are virtually no services at all along the route, with the exception of a couple of very small towns, most of which are along the southern coast. It is a “fill your tank” at every opportunity kind of drive, as there may be close to 150 miles or more before you reach the next gas station. Also, there is no cellular phone service along the route, except in a couple of the largest towns. The government of Labrador has a satellite phone loaner program so that you can take a phone with you in case something happens along your way.

So, with that said, my plan for the day was to drive from the ferry terminal to a small town called Port Hope Simpson. It wasn't a very long drive, only about 135 miles. The reason I had planned such a short drive for the day was because the next section, from Port Hope Simpson to the towns of Happy Valley-Goose Bay, was about 250 miles, and this was expected to be a mostly gravel road, and I didn't want to be driving this road at night. It's also well known for moose and bears to be encountered along the way.

Before I started the drive, I went to a hotel in the town of L'anse-au-Clair to pick up a satellite phone. Of course, they didn't have any!!! Oh well ... let's hope for the best. I headed out from there, and my first stop was at a lighthouse at a place called Point Amour. It's apparently one of the tallest lighthouses in Canada. What was really cool, was that for the admission fee of $6 (CAD), you actually got to walk up to the top of the lighthouse. It was pretty cool, and we saw a pod of whales while we were up there.

From there, I continued to the town of Red Bay. This was a Basque whaling settlement back in the 1500's. It's a pretty little town, and there was a museum, but it wasn't really all that interesting. From there I continued on my way through the town of Mary's Harbor and then I arrived in Port Hope Simpson. It was pretty early, only 3:00, and because Labrador is so far north, it's stays light until about 9:00 - 10:00. The road had been paved all the way to this point, which was kind of a surprise to me. From what I had read, I wasn't expecting it to be paved this far from the ferry terminal.

It was decision time ... should I continue on to Happy Valley-Goose Bay, or call it a day? The way I had set up the trip, the final day would be taking me from a town called Baie Comeau to Lake Placid. This was a drive of about 515 miles, and was expected to take 10 hours or more, depending upon how long it would take to get through US Immigration and Customs. If I drove to Happy Valley-Goose bay today, I could split that last day into two parts, which would also give me more time to spend in Quebec City. Decision made ... continue the next 250 miles to Happy Valley-Goose Bay.

Much to my surprise, the road turned out to be paved much further ... I finally reached the construction zone where they were continuing the paving work towards Happy Valley-Goose Bay, but the good news was that the first 60 miles of the 250 were paved. It was now onto the gravel road. Unforuntately, for the next 80 miles or so, they were doing a lot of construction on the road ... widening it, and “shoring up” the sides, I assume in preparation for paving in the future. These 80 miles were brutal!!! It was like a moonscape. I was constantly worried about getting a flat tire, and you had to be on the lookout for huge potholes, not to mention moose and bears!!!

Once I finally cleared the construction zones, the road was MUCH better ... until it started raining!!! Gravel roads are VERY slippery in the rain! After a little while, I came out of the rain and the road was much better again. I had no idea how far I had to go until it would be paved again, but much to my surprise, and joy, I reached pavement again at about 190 miles into the 250 mile drive.

Driving the gravel road, was a harrowing experience. I can't imagine what it was like when the entire road was gravel. Given the progress they appeared to be making, my guess is that it will be completely paved, end to end, within the next two or three years, and this opportunity for adventure will be gone. I'm glad I got to experience it, but I'm also glad that my experience was fairly limited!!! (It's not completely over though ... when I drive from Labrador City to Baie Comeau, Quebec in two days, there's a section of that road that's supposed to be even worse than the Trans Labrador Highway!!!)

Once I arrive in Happy Valley-Goose Bay, I found a spot to park for the night at a visitors information center building. There was a fancy conversion van with Oregon license plates parked there as well, so I figured no one would bother me. I got the car set up, made myself some dinner, and went to sleep. Tomorrow, I drive about 325 miles to Labrador City (at least it's paved the whole way).