2014 trans labrador BIG LAND trip

Hello all. I am in the early phases of planning a TLH trip.

Here are some of the updated details

Sunday 22nd June 2014 leave Quebec city no later than 13:00. Heading south to Millinocket Maine, Arrive at aprox 18:00. Have supper at the Pelletier family restaurant bar and grill and have a Golden road beer. (400 km).
Monday 23 June, free day
Tuesday 24 June Leave Milllinocket NLT 10:00. Head to Halifax (652 km) See if I can meet up with some old friends.
Wednesday 25 June, free day in Halifax.
Thursday 26 June, Leave Halifax and head to port aux basques (note, North Sidney ferry crossing leaves at 16:30) (580 km)
Friday 27 June, Explore Newfoundland
Saturday 28 June, Explore Newfoundland,
Sunday 29 cross over to Blanc Sablon, Head up to Marry's harbour then go to Cartwright (252 km)
Monday 30 June Cartwright to Goose Bay (393 km)
Canada day 2014, Spend the day in Goose Bay
Wednesday 02 July, Goose bay to labrador city (528 km)
Thursday 03 July, Labrador city to Manic 5 (370 km)
Friday 04 July, Manic 5 to Baie Comeau (218 km)
Saturday 05 July drive home (438 km)

Anybody else planning on doing the TLH this summer?

Will likely be zipping across it around the time you are...maybe cya there


Ps....u think you have Cartwright mixed up with Port Hope...

Your 'explore Newfoundland' day gives you one day. Its a full day to ride the distance from Port aux Basques up the west side of Newfoundland to the ferry to Blanc Sablon.

Do yourself a favour and schedule more time for Newfoundland; I didn't, and I regret it. It's far bigger than one might expect, not just another state or province and deserves a lot more time. Other than that, all the days allow plenty of time for the occasional side-trip.

Happy riding. What are you riding?

Nick

Night crossing on the ferry and arrive fresh. I assume you are landing at Port Au Basque. Spend more time in Newfoundland. You will have seen little.
Mary's Hr (not St Marrys hr) to Goose is a days ride. A day in Goose is better spent on the island portion of your trip. Goose to Lab city is paved (quick) and hotel rooms are scarce and expensive in both towns due to mega projects.
Please take this as constructive advice. Why such a defined and rigid schedule??? Isn't this supposed to be a vacation??? If you are enjoying an area ...stay. If it sucks...move on.

I think you could make it from Lab City to Bay Comeau in one day without issues. There isn't much to do at Manic 5. Your going to have a short day from Halifax to North Sydney. The new ferry is going to be running from Maine to Yarmouth next year, might be worth a look see.

Yep^ been there done that, and also OP you are OVER PLANNING things, rides never go as planned.......and that is sometimes good thing.

Yep, I agree with Murph. There's some super nice places in Western NFL. It would be a shame to blast through. I've got some tracks that are big-bike friendly that will take you off the pavement for parts of it. PM me if you'd like them.

I usually never plan my trips and end up where I end up. This is just a rough idea and is not rigid by any means.

Thks for the idea about allowing more time on the ROCK. I will switch some things around for sure.

I like the idea of crossing the ferry at night.

I plan on staying out of hotels at all costs on this trip. I am quite used to sleeping in the bush

Thanks for the ideas guys.. keep em coming

I am riding a Trumph Tigert 800 XC

Inmate Littlelionmonster did a RR on the Trans-Lab last year on a Tiger 800XC that may be of some benefit to you. Give you a little idea of the distances as well as a few of the sights.
Camping here in the bush is legal and accepted as norm here. Beaches and headlands are my personal favorite. Canuman stayed in a fellas house last year in Big Brook that was left unlocked. Nobody minds.

Yep. Folks up that way are very friendly. I'd say don't miss the Hughes Brook Road -- you'll have no problem with it on the Tiger. It's pretty easy to find just to the north of Corner Brook.

You might also want to do the Red Indian Lake road. Lots more interesting than the Trans-Canada, although I wouldn't recommend it on a weekday. Again, when we did it it August, you could run most of it at 45 - 55 mph with few worries.

You could stop at the hostel at Norris Point. It's pretty cheap - I think the dormitory (which was empty when we were there) was $20/night. This includes showers, WiFi, washing machine, a nice kitchen, and a great view off the deck -- where there's a BBQ. Give yourself some time to take in Gros Morne. It's stunning.

The Red Indian Lake Road is OK but it has some fresh large gravel, like 2 inch and bigger. Awful easy to cut your tires. This is for maybe 20 miles or so. From there you could go to Buckens and than back to Deer Lake. This would add a day to the trip though, out of your way and nothing exotic to see there except the Gaff Top Sails on the old rail bed. It rains a lot in NFLD and tenting in the rain isn't much fun. Dress warm, bring extra clothes for NFLD, it is 10 degrees colder there than the mainland. We were spending $100/night for Bed and Breakfast in NFLD, two sharing room. Did the Western Brook Pond boat tour for the first time last year. It can take up a half day easily but pretty cool. You have to walk in and it is about 2 miles each way. It costs $60 cash no debit machine, not a bad idea to book ahead.

When we did the trip the west coast of Newfoundland was one of the highlights, it's stunning. So is the southeast coast of Labrador, checkout Point Amour lighthouse, Red Bay, etc. The actual gravel TLH is kinda boring scenery wise.

Goose area is nice, checkout Northwest River, and Muskrat Falls (if they are still there)

The nicest riding in my opinion is Route 389 from Fermont to Baie Comeau.

You'll meet some great locals and a lot of fellow travellers, that was probably the best part of the trip for me.

We are headed back next year for a run up 389 to Lab City.

Check out here for a first hand look

https://vimeo.com/biglandadvfilms

"Your going to have a short day from Halifax to North Sydney"

Rubberlegs, feel free to PM me and I can suggest a nice route from Halifax to the ferry. I might be able to offer up my services as tour guide if interested.

FYI - I'm heading to Lab in August.



Canadian FJR

Listen to the man. He knows shit.

Ensure that you have enough coin for your tip too - Hotels/Motels in Labrador aren't the ComfortInn and the prices will shock and astound you. So will the price of fuel.

There are some great routes from Halifax to the boat. I usually try a different one each time I do it but the obvious side trip if this is a one shot ride would be the Cabot Trail. Put you at the boat for suppertime.
Did some runs up the Musquodoboit Valley on a couple different routes that were low traffic and enjoyable.

Not a lot of bad roads in the maritimes.

Manic Cinq was a $1.72/L for ordinaire
$1.59/L in Port Hope

Hotels, don't expect to see anything less than $100, for what is basically a B&B.

It's all worth it though.

^^ This, TLab is mostly about riding the road while Newfoundland is mostly about meeting people, not to say the folks on the Lab side are not friendly cause they are, but Newfoundlanders are in a class of their own when it comes to overt friendliness and hospitality.

We went counter clockwise on our TLab trip. "We" originally started out as just my wife and I but as we travelled we linked in with some other folks. Seven of us landed at the ferry in Blanc Sablon late in the day and met another rider and his wife from ND. Our plan was to camp on the ND side after the crossing but our new friend was having none of that. Seven of us ended up as their house, they put us up, fed us a big breakfast and took us all out for a couple hours cruising icebergs.

Have a great trip!
PS if you are debating tire options the K60s work well for a lot of people in the group. I burned up a set of TKCs and never regretted having a little extra traction on the dirt. Didn't need it but a little extra traction on the highly variable terrain of the TLab was nice.

Tons of things to se on the rock but I'm very happy I took the time to up to L'Anse Aux Medows. Arrived just as the tourist office was closing and I got to wander all around the Viking Settlement alone. Very cool picturing how the Vikings must have felt landing here and building a settlement.

Maybe see you along the way on our "early retireathon".

A lot of good points of view posted by many and I do appreciate them. I should mention that this vacation will be more bout riding and a lot less about sight seeing.

I am not much of a social creature. One of the main reasons I prefer to ride on the empty roads of the north is because there is far less traffic and far fewer people.

I have met a lot of people that come from THE ROCK originally and I must say it does sound nice. I may take a trip up to Gander due to the fact that my military ID grants me access to any CND base an I may spend the night in transient quarters.

Still in the process of deciding on which tent is best for such a trip.. I do like the idea of the REDVERS tent+bike garage. But, I am also used to busting out a hooch between trees and dozing off.

To me, the hooch does has advantages. It's dirt cheap (AKA FREE), fast to set up and tear down, light, and it works. The disadvantage is bug, critter and rain protection. The hooch would allow me to (FREE camp) in the woods anywhere.

The REDVERS is expensive, big and heavy. Rain, critter and bug protection appear to be great and the vestibule could serve as a make shift kitchen or garage on rainy days. The ability to (FREE camp) would be greatly reduced.

Side NOTE- Why is it that hotels and campgrounds are so expensive in Canada. It's not like I am pulling in with a 45' long trailer. Why would I have to pay $25.00 a night for a spot to set up a tent...

I am also playing with the idea of taking along spare tires. Leaning towards the NO on this one, I will take tubes and repair kits which should cover me for everything except a sidewall slash.

And lastly, I am considering fuel container options. I am thinking of installing wolfman side racks and Alpo panniers. I would then mount a rotopax fuel cell either on top of the panniers of maybe inside of the left luggage rack.