Dammit. Ontario and Quebec had been so pretty that I hoped people were wrong when they told me about the middle of Canada being crappy. Oh well. I camped for the night in a field, making sure to hang my food WELL away from the bike and tent. I still had most of that sausage, and it smelled very strongly (of deliciousness!)
The next day started out beautiful. It was sunny, and even though it was very windy, the wind was perfectly at my back. It was ideal. I stopped at a rest area, and even took the effort to make some noodles.
The weather didn't hold, though. The skies ahead started darkening, and there wasn't any alternate route I could take to avoid them.
After stopping to put the rain gear on, I headed east on Rt 60. It wasn't nearly as pretty as I hoped it would be, really was just kinda straight, flat and boring going through endless forest. On the upside, I finally started seeing these signs:
Ah, desolation and remoteness. That was what I came to Canada for.
I passed through one short shower, and hoped that was all the clouds were going to give. Sadly, it wasn't. I kept going west, then north, getting to Flin-Flon, where I made this video. I know I'd posted it earlier in mostly-real time, but for continuity, here it is again.
The next day was better. Not great, it was still cloudy and cool, but at least the wind wasn't too bad, and there was no rain. The roads were still dull, with some minor exceptions.
About two hundred miles west of Flin Flon, I had a decision to make. Do I stay on the nice, safe, paved roads, or was I feeling adventurous? Should I take the unpaved road that would take me through much more remote areas, and at add at least a few hundered miles to my trip?
Well, I've not taken the safe roads at any other point in this trip, why would I start now?
Soon after, the road rewarded my choice of remoteness with one of the stranger things I've ever ridden by.
Spuh?
I wouldn't be a boy if I didn't stick stuff into random holes, would I?
The road varied from "Okay" to "blah". Rarely did it ever get scary, but some parts were kinda washboarded. (And I'm not sure if it was the rough road that caused it, but at one point I suddenly had to take the worst poo ever. You know the kind that basically explodes out of you in a spray the second you get your pants down. Yeah, you totally wanted to know that, didn't you. Thank god I had TP!)
At one point, a sign directed me down what could be generously called a "road", promising sightseeing.
This was at the end of that road
As neat as that sounded, I wasn't quite up for a one-mile hike. It was hot, and I was very low on water, only half a liter left. And, I'm a wimp. But we know that. So, I headed back to the main road and kept going west.
Ha.
Save for a small section along route 2 that was paved, I spent the rest of the day on gravel. I was so remote that I probably could have just pitched my tent on the side of the road and not been bothered, but just to make sure, I headed down a sand path a mile or so, making sure it wasn't someone's driveway.
Deciding it was probably just an old logging road or something, I felt confident in not being pestered, and camped for the night about 100 miles east of Beauval.
Well, I think that's it for this round of updates, people. The library I'm in is closing in 15 minutes, and I should probably try and actually get somwhere today.
It's still 650 miles to the Northwest Territories from where I am now, and I'm not sure if/when I'll be in another town. So if you don't hear from me for a couple weeks, it doesn't mean I got eaten by a bear. Just that I'm in the middle of nowhere.
Peas out.
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