a few pictures from a James bay road trip

[DetR6oit]

Started out the trip on August 7th heading out from here int eh Detroit area after work and made it just into the upper peninsula of michigan that night. Woke up saturday morning at the campgound in St. Ignace and was lucky enough to get all the camping gear packed up before the rain started. There would be plenty of rain on and off all the way till about halfway up the James bay road and almost two full days of being wet. This limited my stops to get pictures so this isn't much of a fluid report but figured I had some cool pics to share.

After crossing into Canada at Sault Ste. Marie I headed north up the trans canada along lake superior



A sign on highway 101 while heading east. Got to see my first bear of the trip shortly after this. Was cruising and all of a sudden I notice a bear on its hind legs in the ditch just a few feet away as I passed, by the time I got turned around he was diving into the heavy brush though. I would end up luckier next time though.





Warning sign just after the start of the James Bay road. Oh and FYI, a KTM 990 filled up to the top in Matagami and with one extra gallon of gas gets you there but you have to ride the last km or two leaning the bike over to its left to get the last little bit of fuel to the pump.


typical rupert river bridge picture



whats left of the Eastmain river since the majority has been diverted


While crossing the eastmain river there were two bikes parked along side the road. I stopped and met Tex and Jerry from PA, and it turned out they had just had a small accident when distracted by the scenic valley, and their bikes made contact but luckily the damage was limited to mostly cosmetic stuff.



I tagged along with Tex and Jerry who turned out to be great guys and we all stayed at the campground in Radison, and the next morning we took the tour of the hydro power complex and the giant spillway. Seeing the giant rotors in the dam spinning at 100+ rpm was quite impressive and loud, but no pictures allowed inside.



That afternoon I split off with Tex and Jerry to head to Chissasibi since I was on a little more of a rushed schedule than they were and I wanted to camp on James bay that night. Got there just in time to watch a beautiful sunset.



Sky was amazingly clear and gave an impressive view. I got to fall asleep staring out at this scene though the screen door on my tent, though there were often 30+ mosquitoes obscuring the view and trying to get inside. I kind of wish now I would have tried to take a better picture and actually got the tripod out.




Never saw any caribou but did see one moose this trip, back in ontario

[zadok]

Great trip. Must be nice to see bears etc (from a distance!)

[GB]

Nice ride!! And you camped? Must have been pretty cold! Thanks for the pics capturing the rugged beauty of the James Bay area..

[rdwalker]

Good ride!

I am thinking about going up there once season restarts next year.

Questions: is it paved all the way into Chisasibi, up to the water's edge? In other words, would a pavement-bound tourer make it to "touch the water", or is an off-road or, at least, gravel-capable capable bike needed? I do not mean getting onto the actual shore rocks like you did, but reaching the Bay within walking distance.

Also, it sounds like your "rushed" schedule is similar to what I usually have to do. How did your itinerary work out, how many days from Sault Ste. Marie?

How is camping situation at the Bay? Was there a campground or could you just plop down anywhere?

Finally, how did you deal with the bugs? On my last trip in that area, I was being surrounded by the flies every moment I stopped. It appears that camping is the way to do on a St. James Bay ride, but I just HATE bugs...


Thanks.

[Thorne]

Great RR.........thks

[DetR6oit]

Originally Posted by Gadget Boy

Nice ride!! And you camped? Must have been pretty cold! Thanks for the pics capturing the rugged beauty of the James Bay area..

This was back in August so it wasn't bad, it got down to maybe low 50s at the worst. While riding in the rain for hours it gets a little cold, especially close to dark or after, but if you are stopped its not too bad. After the first few days when the rain cleared up it was really nice.

You shouldn't really ever be too cold camping (at least while actually sleeping) unless you get your clothes or gear wet, don't have a good sleeping bag, or it isn't rated for how cold it is. Sleeping bags are worth spending the money on especially. I have a 20 degree rated down Mountain hardware bag and I have done winter camping with it in Alaska where temps got to the high teens and I slept completely comfortable multiple nights. Just don't believe the ratings on cheap brands of sleeping bags and keep everything dry.

[DetR6oit]

Originally Posted by rdwalker

Good ride!

I am thinking about going up there once season restarts next year.

Questions: is it paved all the way into Chisasibi, up to the water's edge? In other words, would a pavement-bound tourer make it to "touch the water", or is an off-road or, at least, gravel-capable capable bike needed? I do not mean getting onto the actual shore rocks like you did, but reaching the Bay within walking distance.

Also, it sounds like your "rushed" schedule is similar to what I usually have to do. How did your itinerary work out, how many days from Sault Ste. Marie?

How is camping situation at the Bay? Was there a campground or could you just plop down anywhere?

Finally, how did you deal with the bugs? On my last trip in that area, I was being surrounded by the flies every moment I stopped. It appears that camping is the way to do on a St. James Bay ride, but I just HATE bugs...


Thanks.

The road to the bay isn't paved for the last few miles (maybe 3 miles or so), but it looks like its decently taken care of since they were grading parts of it when I went through. Its not too bad, I would be comfortable riding a sportbike to the bay if I had too but obviously would be taking more time to do it. You can ride all the way up to the bay pretty easily and there are open areas for parking since the locals all keep some small boats on the shore so they all drive to the spot and park their cars there. Its a pretty well traveled spot.


As for my schedule from Sault Ste marie it was this on Saturday (St. Ignace, MI to near Amos, QC)
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&sour...,19.753418&z=6


Sunday was Amos to Radison
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&sour...,19.753418&z=6

Monday was an easy day just doing the hydro tour to see the dam and spillway, which you can only see by taking the tour since its not anywhere near public areas. We even took the French tour since there wasn't another English one for a few days just to see it all. Then that afternoon I rode to Chisasibi and camped on the bay that night.

Tuesday was Chisasibi to Rouyn-Noranda
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&sour...,39.506836&z=5


Wednesday was from Rouyn-Noranda all the way back to Detroit, through Toronto.




Camping is no problem anywhere along the James bay road at all really and its just about the only option unless you are in the main towns at either end. There are quite a few official camping areas all along the whole road, and a true campground in radison with showers and everything. Ploping down anywhere doesn't seem like a problem at all pretty much anywhere along the road if you had too. At the bay there is one spot in particular that looks like its used a lot but two women from southern quebec were also camping out there at the time and already occupied that area, so I kind of made another spot work.

Bugs weren't too bad. Only thing around when I went were mosquitoes, but as long as you didn't sit in one placed too long it was all right. Near the bay the breeze kept it from being that bad too, but I did have a lot trying to get into the tent on the screen. No major problems really. But I bet black fly season is different.