A trip to Hudson Bay has been bobbing around the bottom of my bucket for years trying to get itself onto the actual bucket list. The trip could be accomplished easily enough. I would drive two hours north to Winnipeg then ride a train for 48 hours across a thousand miles of stunted spruce landscape to the port of Churchill. I'd bring a crazy long book on tape and six lunches.
I don’t care about seeing the polar bears near Churchill. I just want to be able to say I’ve been to the Bay. You have to fly back to Winnipeg. No one who has ridden the train both ways has ever been the same again.
Hudson Bay raised its head recently when Kim talked in her post (March 25) about her husband’s proposed trip to the Bay several years ago. Kim drilled down as she is wont to do and I am drilling even further. According to one of the links in Kim's post, there’s a train from Cochrane, Ontario up to Moosonee, on the Moose River just a short boat ride from the Bay. The train ride is only five hours each way, but the town of Cochrane is 13 hours by car from Wannaska.
And once you get to Moosonee, then what? Beware of any place that touts itself as the gateway to somewhere else. It's a warning there's not much to do there, though you will find supplies and lodging on your way forward. Moosonee calls itself the gateway to the Arctic. There's a KFC in town, a last taste of civilization before the wilderness.
In order to drive all the way directly to the shore of Hudson Bay, you'd have to go further east and north to Waskaganish in Quebec, which is 23 hours from Wannaska. It's a longer drive, yes, but you'd have your car to get around town. No KFC, but there is Tim Hortons.
There are three more towns further north on the Bay that you can drive to. Since you've come this far you might as well check them out: Eastmain (Mark's Pizza), Nouveau Comptoir (Maquatua Inn), and Fort George (Maanitaaukimw Inn--free breakfast).
There is one more road further north to a place called Long Point (no services), but enough is enough. Kim says she's up for this trip. I know Teresa would want to join the fun. And Rasta would surely want to kick back and enjoy the scenery while sipping his kombucha. And what about the kids? This simple road trip is already skidding out of control.
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| On the road to Waskaganish |
I thought Wannaska sounded good. Quebec always beckons. Now Moosonee, Waskaganish,
ReplyDeleteNouveau Comptoir, Maquatua, and Maanitaaukim - can’t wait to hear more and I want pictures of the moose, elk and beavers!
Ginny
I took the Train both ways
ReplyDeleteyou know you got me itchin to go
ReplyDeleteI am in. Of course we'll bring the kids. They can take their turn writing the almanac. When we first moved up to Wannaskaland, I thought this was "the end of the Earth." (With dramatic air quotes for emphasis.) Then we went to Pinawa, Manitoba and I thought, "THIS must be the end of the Earth!" THEN I went to Lac du Bonnet, and last spring *finally* made it to the shores of Lake Winnipeg. And you know what I've discovered? The end of the Earth is worth it. Another end of the Earth stop on my end-of-the-Earth bucket list is Finisterre in Spain. I could keep going! Quick! Find a grant! LOL! :) Happy travels, Chairman, on your upcoming river adventures in the middle of nowhere. (Now THAT'S a place I'd like to go to....)
ReplyDeleteI assume the HBC will meet a couple of times on this proposed trip. The farthest north I have been is Blind River Ontario, on the North Channel of Lake Huron. I was in Blind River with a mineral-survey crew that flew a large single-engine aircraft that had to make a forced landing on the Lake after "blowing a jug [cylinder] "and we had to reach her by snowmobile and then make her flightworthy. Not so far north as your proposed polar bear destination, but an adventure just the same.
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of polar bears, have a good look if you come across one - they are going the way of many species thanks to global warming.