sauceman

I just arrived from a long weekend in James Bay (Northern Quebec).

I was out fishing, visiting the LG2 hydroelectric dam and exploring the region until the roads wouldn't take me further. That was supposed to take me beyond 54°. I actually didn't make it that far up, but went a long way still in 53rd°.

Driving up there is 1400km of tarmac roads north of Montreal. Anywhere beyond this is dirt roads. You can still travel on for another 700kmon those roads They are pretty nice and wide, though the loose gravel lets you feel like you've got some Colin McRae in you pretty easily. That was a blast!

Some of you folks will try to hunt me down for this, but I travelled about 600km on those dirt roads with the TSX. It was prepped for dirt. My conclusions after that expedition is that the TSX is solid as hell. No damage sustained (despite 110kph + ) save for some gravel trapped inside my sideskirts, no newfound rattles or anything of that sort. After the car was cleaned, there were no noticeable marks of the trip, at least nothing worst than what would occur during a winter drive.

TSX prepped for dirt roads:



One of the places we stopped to camp was at the Rupert River. I've already posted pics of that river in my fuel test thread. The roar of the water was incredible. Still, it craddled us to sleep:



When you say up north, you say northern lights. And we were treated to massive aurorae. We could even see them at dawn. That was a first even for me (I grew up north):



A few more:





Another goal on our "to do" list was the Robert Bourassa Dam (LG2) That was just impressive in size. I usually complain I can't zoom enough to get nice shots. Well now I was complaining I didn't have a wide angle to be able to fit the scene in one shot.

Here is the "stairway of giants", a 1.2km stairway carved out of granit to let the floodwater evacuate. To give you a perspective of the size, a 6' man is painted on the rock wall at the bottom for comparison.



Once the water locks open, they can let out more cubic metres/second of debit than the St-Lawrence river holds in the region of Montreal. Still, the way the stairway is engineered, it would take that water 75 minutes to travel down the staircase.

And finally, a view of the La Grande river, from the top of the dam (equivalent height: 53 storey building, 2 miles across, 1/2 mile wide at the base.)



And how was fishing, dom will ask. Well, we caught some trout and a pike, but overall, because of the hot weather we've had this summer, the water is too hot, and fishing is far less than great. So we didn't put much effort into it. I'll be back again in the years to come. But the trout was a delicacy.

TSX.Fury

DAMN! that look amazing man...

Dan Martin

Great pics and nice story. Thanks!

That staircase is amazing! I've never seen anything like that before. At first I thought it was pretty small, but then I realized that those were trees off to the side and not grass!

The Aurora Borealis is hard to capture with a camera so kudos for that one.

Dan Martin

Did you put your snow tires on? I see the steelies but what tires did you use?

sauceman

Yup, I had the snows on (Michelin Pilot Alpins). They're too worn out for another season, but still very apt in rain and possibly mud. If I were to hit some potholes or other harsh bumps, I rathered a lot more to bend the steelies than the OEMs.

Turns out the dirt roads were generally even smoother than the asphalt roads.

CJams

nice pics! So what kind of gas mileage did you get on your trip? lol

sauceman

I had the settings at f2.8, open lens for 16 secs (max for my camera ), ISO 80 and overexposition at +2.0.

I had some noise on the picture at dawn, but NeatImage did an outstanding job of cleanup on that one.

curls

I would LOVE to see those dams and stuff in person... even with that 6' painting as a reference point, I'm sure the pics don't even begin to show the truly massive size of that "staircase of giants"... of of the river basin...

Awesome pics man.

~Eric

Dan Martin

Attaboy! That's pretty well exactly what I would have done in your situation.

NDLunchbox

I always wanted to canoe the Rupert. I used to go camping up there when I was a kid... ended up spending 5 weeks in the Mistassini region instead. Nice pics, I can see I missed out on some nice rapids!

jlukja

All I can say is WOW. Nice writeup Sauceman, and great pics. I especially like the staircase pic and the pic of Rupert River. Ahh, to be out in the wilderness, the Great White North.

jlukja, who just glanced out the window of his office and saw bumper-to-bumper traffic on the 110/101 Four Level interchange.

Adrena

Beautiful pics!!!

I was trying to convince my husband to go up North for a look, but he didn't seem that interested. Maybe your pics will help....

Thank you!!

PS - One more dodo and I get my car!!!! (P/U is tomorrow at 1 pm)

sauceman

Cool! I'm slowly starting to learn my stuff here. (actually, the limits of my Kodak )

sauceman

Wow. The Rupert starts from Lake Mistassini and ends up in James Bay. I guess some would ride it down, but that would be a pretty gutsy thing to try and ride it down. There were 10 foot rolls just in that picture. I crossed that same river about 200km to the east, actually much closer to Lake Mistassini, and though I couldn't see the river since it was pitch black, the loudness of the roar told me it was probably even rougher than where I camped. I actually caught vertigo on the bridge looking into the dark, listening at the roar.

jlukja, man, that region has nothing to do with the city, but it's so enjoyable, it's addicting.

Adrena, do you live pretty far from up there? At any rate, if you're the least into the adventure/exporation thing, it's a fun place to go.

BEWARE the mosquitoes! They actually bend down to bite you up there!

Tsx536

Wow...I really like those pics. Wish I could have seen it first hand! Looks like a very relaxing place!

After seeing such beautiful pics, it was disappointing to look up and realize that I was still in my cubicle.

jlukja

I was just trying to contrast where I am right now (concrete canyons, traffic etc.) with the natural scenery where you were. It reminded me of my vacation in Alaska. ahh the memories.

JPL530i

great pix, sauce. my fav is the second one.

Adrena

I live in Ottawa. I heard the mossies have fur coats and are the size of flies... LOL

JTso

iTrader: (2)

Nice scenery shots. Time of a road trip, but I'd probably take my 4x4.

mg7726

great pics dude.

i'm actually in DC, i just did 67 miles of skyline drive at shenandoah nat'l park. (and a 5.6 mile hike - damn i am outta shape..). i will post some pics of my car when i get back home.

sauceman

I have GOT to go there! Fortunately, I have an uncle who lives in Beaver Creek in Yukon, about 5 miles from Alaska border, so I might drive the T up there someday.

Thanks guys for the compliments! I'm really getting more and more a kick out of trying to take better snapshots. The wife and I are planning to take a numeric photography course at University of Montreal this fall. Nothing too fancy, but it would surely help us learn to make the best of what we have, and probably let us know exactly what we want to shop for next, though I already have an idea on this...

Adrena, from Ottawa, it isn't any longer than from my place (St-Hyacinthe) to get there, if not shorter. Again, if you guys like doing some outdoor activities, you will definitely enjoy yourselves. There are plenty of camping sites, the facilities are very well maintained, amazingly clean, and all free. You can visit all Hydro-Quebec facilities open for public for absolutely 0$. For fishing and hunting, except for reserved lands for natives (unlikely you'd end up there anyway), you just need the regular licenses with the normal quotas. People usually go there expecting to fill up their quota, plus all the fish they'll be able to eat on the spot. Anything less is considered disappointing.

JTso

iTrader: (2)

Speaking of Alaska, I was just there last month. It is a very beautiful place to visit. The sky doesn't get dark until around 11:00pm.

Here are some pics...





oops!

sauceman

Yup, I'd have to do it on a cruise ship too. Thing is, with probably Hawaii lined up this winter, and most definately Freedom Of The Seas (158,000 tonnes, larger than Queen Mary 2) next year, Alaska cruise might wait. But it's for a good cause.

Adrena

Thanks Sauceman!! We were looking for new places to check out!!! Did you go on any websites to find information??

We just got the car last Wednesday, put 550km on it. We absolutely love it!!! I will post pictures once it's clean - we went on a road trip this past weekend.

sauceman

I didn't really check out any website. You'll need a good map, and there's a check-in point in Matagami where you have to check in and tell them when you come in and back out, so thatif ever something happens or you get lost in that vast territory they can launch a search or something. But they'll also give you all the infos you might need over there.

If ever you want to visit the dams, you must reserve at least 48 hours in advance: http://www.hydroquebec.com/learning/...baiejames.html