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).

Day 10 - Gros Morne National Park

Today I would be touring Gros Morne National Park and would then continue north to the town of St. Barbe, which was where the ferry to Labrador would be leaving the following morning.

I had planned to participate in a guided hike this morning in the “Tablelands” section of the park. This section of the park features exposed rock from the earth's mantle, which is apparently not commonly found. Unfortunately, I under-estimated how much time it would take me to travel from my campground to the hiking trail where the guided walk was taking place. I arrived just as they were heading out, so I quickly parked the car, grabbed my camera, and ran to catch up.

It was interesting to hear a park guide describe what we were seeing, from a geological perspective. Unfortunately, bad weather starting moving in, and since I hadn't had time to grab my rain gear, or my pack to keep my camera dry, I “bailed” on the hike and got back to the car before the rain starting come down heavily.

I then started heading North along the coast, stopping at several of the view points along the way. With the weather being a bit uncooperative, I was trying to “stay ahead” of it as best I could. One of the more interesting stops was at a point called “Greenpoint”. This is apparently a section of the coastline that was once the sea bed floor, but due to some geological force, probably plate tectonics, it was forced upwards and then “toppled over” so that you can now see all the layers of the sea bed floor over time as a cross-section. It was really cool to see all of the different layers and types of rock. This would definitely have been a great opportunity for a guided hike to hear a geological explanation of it all.

From there, I continued North arriving at Western Brook Pond, one of the most well known areas of the park. It's an inland fjord, surrounded by a glacial valley. Unfortunately, at this point, the weather had “caught up” with me, and the views weren't very good.

I continued my drive North, stopping at several other viewpoints along the way. Eventually, it was time to simply stay on the road to St. Barbe.

I arrived in St. Barbe at around 8:00 local time and searched for a place to park for my first night of “car camping”. I found a spot right alongside the ferry terminal and parked there. I then made the arrangements to convert the car into my “camp” for the night. I made myself a simple dinner and then went to sleep. I had to wake up early the next morning for the ferry ride to Labrador, and the start of the real “adventure” portion of this journey.

Day 9 - St. John's, Newfoundland to Gros Morne National Park, Newfoundland

Today's plan featured a very long drive from St. John's, Newfoundland, which is located on the Eastern edge of Newfoundland to Gros Morne National Park, which is located on the Western edge. The drive was going to be about 435 miles. I woke up early, packed up my gear, ate some breakfast and then hit the road.

About halfway into the drive, it started raining. It wasn't particularly heavy, but it was enough to be annoying. Fortunately, when I reached my destination, the rain had become more like scattered showers, and shortly after I arrived, it stopped altogether. Unfortunately, even though it wasn't raining, it was still very cloudy, so the views of the landscape weren't great.

The scenery in Gros Morne National Park is absolutely stunning. It was really a bummer that there weren't clear skies and sunshine. Nevertheless, I made the best of things. It was already pretty late in the day, so I decided to go the park's visitors center to get some information for tomorrow. I spoke with someone there, and they gave me a few ideas for some hikes that I'll take tomorrow. After I left the visitors center, I went into one of the small villages located right on the water called Rocky Harbor. There was a small hotel there that had a pub, so I went in for a beer. There was no one else there, so I finished my beer pretty quickly and left.

The weather had improved enough that I decided to backtrack through the park so that I could get some pictures from the some of the viewpoints that I had bypassed on my way in, due to the bad weather. After that, I found my campground and did the usual!

Tomorrow, I'm going to do a couple of hikes in the park, and then I head further North to the town of St. Barbe, which is where I'll be catching a ferry to take me to Labrador ... That's when the adventure REALLY begins, as I drive the Trans Labrador Highway through Labrador and into Quebec.

I don't expect to have any cellular or internet access after today, so I'll be posting the rest of the trip when I get back!

Day 8 - St. John's, Newfoundland

Not unexpectedly, I didn't really get much sleep on the ship. We arrived at the dock and by the time I was able to drive off the ship, it was around mid-morning. As I left the port, there was a visitor's information center on the road, so I decided to stop and get some ideas for what to do for the day.

The woman who I spoke with was very helpful, and gave me a few ideas which included a visit to Cape Spear, which is the Easternmost point in North America, excluding Greenland. At one time, there was a fort here that was built to defend against attacks from Europe. There's some more history to it, but what really mattered was that there was a nice lighthouse here, and the coastal views were beautiful.

After that, I went to Signal Hill, which was also used at one time as a fort to defend St. John's Harbor. Once again, the views were incredible and there's a cool little castle built at the top of it. Signal Hill was also the place where the first transatlantic wireless radio communication was received by Guglielmo Marconi. More history!

My last stop for the day was at Quidi Vidi Brewery, a local brewery named for the very small neighborhood in which it's located. It occupies a building right on the water of a small cove with docks, fishing boats, a small fish market and some other small stores. It was a really nice setting and the beer was VERY good. I didn't have their flagship beer, which is called Iceberg Lager, and is supposedly brewed with water melted from captured icebergs that float by Newfoundland. Instead, I went for the 1892 (not sure what it was named for), which was an amber beer and more in line with my preferences. After finishing my beer, it was time to find my way to Pippy Park, a provincial park located right in the city of St. John's, which would be my campground for the night.

As usual, it was dinner ... a shower ... some reading ... and then off to bed.

Tomorrow's plan called for a very long drive, pretty much across Newfoundland to Gros Morne National Park. It was expect to be about an 8-9 hour drive.

Day 7 - Cape Breton National Park to St. John's, Newfoundland

Today's plan was to drive from Cape Breton National Park to North Sidney, Nova Scotia. I would be taking an overnight ferry from North Sidney to Argentia, Newfoundland, which is near St. John's, Newfoundland. The drive was only about 90 minutes, so I had originally planned to spend some time walking around in Sidney, Nova Scotia.

When I woke up, it was such a beautiful morning, that I decided to drive the Cabot Trail again, this time in the reverse direction, so that I'd get to see it on a nice day. I hiked the Skyline Trail again as well, and then, after that, drove to North Sideny. I arrived in plenty of time for the ferry.

The ferry turned out to be a fascinating experience. It left at 5:45 pm local time, and was scheduled to arrive at 9:30 am the next morning. It was like a mini cruise ship. There were lots of cabins, and one deck was dedicated to restaurants, bars, game rooms, shops and a lounge. There was even a singer in the lounge. I hadn't booked a cabin for myself, so I had to find an “air seat”. There were a few options, but I ultimately settled on a “quiet” room of what were very similar to airline seats, only a bit bigger and slightly more comfortable. I found an empty seat and left some of my belongings on it to “reserve” it. Apparently, this was the standard approach to choosing your seat for the night.

After that I went back to the “main” deck to see about something to eat. None of the restaurant options really appealed to me, and I wasn't all that hungry anyway, so I decided to just get a couple of VERY over-priced beers and I ate a Clif bar that I had brought on board with me. I did some reading and then decided to call it a night.

Tomorrow morning, I would be waking up in Newfoundland!

Day 6 - Cape Breton National Park

I left the campground at around 7:00 for the approximately 4 hour drive to Cape Breton. Once again, it was a pretty boring drive, with nothing particularly interesting to see or do until I crossed over to Cape Breton. There is a narrow strait that separates Cape Breton from the rest of Nova Scotia. In the 1950's, a causeway was built across the strait connecting the them. Once you cross the strait, the scenery changes dramatically, with lots of forested mountains dominating the landscape.

There is a well known road, I guess it's well known by some, called the Cabot Trail that essentially circumnavigates Cape Breton Island. It's named after the explorer John Cabot who landed here, and I guess did some exploring in the region. There is a strong Scottish heritage here, as many of the town names have a Scottish ring to them. That got my to thinking, I wonder if Nova Scotia means “New Scotland”, or something like that ... I'll have to look that up when I get back from my trip.

I had a choice to follow the Cabot Trail in its entirety, or to take a coastal road for the first 50 or so miles. I chose to take the coastal route. It was a beautiful morning and I stopped a number of times to take some pictures of the seaside scenery. When you arrive at the national park entrance, the road starts to wind its way up and through the mountains. Unfortunately, some heavy clouds had moved in and the views were not what one would have hoped for.

I drove to one of the more popular trails in the park, the Skyline Trail. It starts with a walk through the woods and then it runs along the ridge of a seaside mountain. As I was walking along the trail, there was a group of people up ahead of me looking into the woods to the side of the trail. When I reached them, I discovered that they were looking at a moose that was grazing a short distance off the trail. After watching the moose for a few minutes and taking some pictures, I continued along the trail. Eventually, the trail leaves the woods and follows a wooden boardwalk down along the ridge of this mountain. As mentioned above, unfortunately due to the cloud cover, there wasn't much to see.

I finished walking the trail and then returned to my car. After that, I finished driving around the Cabot Trail until I reached my campground. As usual, I got set up, made dinner, did some reading and went to bed.

Day 5 - Halifax, Nova Scotia

Today I traveled from Prince Edward Island to the province of Nova Scotia. There really isn't a whole lot to say about the drive ... there was nothing particularly interesting or remarkable about it.

My original plan was to spend some time in the city of Halifax walking around and exploring. I had heard about a place called Peggy's Cove, a seaside village about 20-30 miles outside of the city. It was supposed to have some art galleries and that sort of thing ... it sounded like a “tourist trap”, but I figured why not ... I had plenty of time. When I arrived at Peggy's Cove, unfortunately, the whole area was shrouded in fog, so there wasn't a whole lot to see. The village was exactly what you'd expect from a small seaside fishing village, complete with lighthouse, small shops, and little houses scattered about the rocks. I spent a little time walking around, and then decided to head back to Halifax.

The only thing I knew about Halifax before I arrived was that there was an old citadel overlooking the bay. When I arrived, I found a place to park and started exploring. The first thing to note about Halifax is that it's VERY hilly. I walked around the citadel but I didn't bother to go in. Then I walked down the hill to the bay. There was a “harbor walk” along the bay with shops and vendors. There really isn't much else to say about the city, at least from what I saw of it. After a while, it was starting to get a little late, and I decided to head back to my car to drive to my campground for the night, which was about 30 minutes outside the city.

Unfortunately, traffic in Halifax is really brutal, and it took my close to an hour to get to the campground. When I arrived, it was time to do some laundry. After that, I followed the usual process of setting up my tent, eating dinner, and then I did some reading.

I planned to get on the road early tomorrow morning for the long drive to Cape Breton National Park.