After a good night sleep at Long Lake we pack our stuff and head back to Labrador City for breakfast and to see if we can get a new light strip to our bike cover. We stop at Canadian Tire, but they don't have any, so we get some spare connectors and wires to see if we can do a temporary repair. After that its back to the TLH and we cross the border into the province of Quebec. It is again very hazy this morning, and the sights haven't changed much. Shortly after Fermont, QC we hit Mont-Wright, QC and the mining operations of ArcelorMittal, Canada. It is such a sad sight to see the landscape turned inside out. Here the road turns from tarmac to gravel, and that shall last for about 70 miles. Shortly before Gagnon, QC we get a proper road back, just to turn to gravel again to Ralais-Gabriel, QC. We almost missed it as it is only a restaurant/coffee place, a gas tank, and a couple of cabins. We fill up and continue to the hydro-electric plant Manic-5 with its impressive Daniel-Johnson dam wall. But as we approach we already see that the lake level is very low, and that is confirmed at the plant as all turbines are at standstill because of low level. Even the visitor center is closed. This is a bummer as I was looking forward to visit this place, especially its powerhouse and the Francis Type turbines. So just some outside pictures have to do. We fill up at the Manic Motel de l'Energie, and head further Siuth on Rt-389 toward Baie-Comeau, QC. We drive through a very mountainous area, constantly going up and down, but we also see a lot of forest recovering from the fires last year and the years before. And as we continue South, the haze reduces and we start to see some patches of blue sky. We are early enough in town and try our luck again at another Canadian Tire for a new tailgate light strip and find what we were looking for. We take both they have, add some velcro tape to it, and leave mission accomplished. We call it the day here in Baie-Comeau, I think we have made enough miles for one day. As a matter of fact we made 1062 miles from arriving in Blanc-Sablon, QC and making the loop to Baie-Comeau, QC via the TLH and Rt-389. And I can attest that as the TLH is now in very good condition for motorcyclists, there are challenging sections in the Quebec portion with almost 140 miles of gravel road. Glad we were on four wheels.
"More energy is encapsulated in every drop of good spring water than an average-sized Power Station is presently able to produce." - Victor Schauberger, Austrian forest scientist, 1885-1958
No comments:
Post a Comment