65 days of Canada - 22000+km's

zzz150

Adventurer
OK, I am finally putting together a completed expedition thread. If you are browsing this forum daydreaming about doing something like you are about to see, make it happen! I had wanted to do a cross Canada trip for the past 10yrs but just didn't have the balls to leave my so called career behind and spend any of the money I'd been working so hard to save.. I ended up going so many places I had no idea I would ever go, it was nothing less than awesome. I would do it all over again if I could. But next time I have this kind of time I have a couple of other ideas.

I had no schedule for the trip, took things pretty easy and slept in most of the time since the long summer days just kept getting longer as I made may way North for the 1st half of the trip.

Here is a link to my in progress thread that I was posting while travelling;
http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/threads/129343-Northern-Ontario-to-Inuvik-solo-ride-on-now!

I used a basic Canon point and shoot camera until it stopped working somewhere before the end of my time in Yukon, from there it was all iPhone pics. I'm not a photographer or a picture fanatic while out and about.. Wish I had taken more pics and had a dash-cam to record some of the driving, but too late now.

You will see that my rig was a pretty basic setup, 2014 Ford F150, 4x4, regular cab, short bed, 2.5 inch lift, 33 inch tires, basic skid plates, pretty much brand new, but well tested before this trip. For equipment I didn't really bring anything with me that would be any different than going on a week long camping trip.

As for needing extra fuel while travelling around Northern Canada it certainly wasn't as bad as I expected after reading a bunch of stuff online before heading out. For the Nahanni I needed it, for the North Canol I needed it. Otherwise just topping up when passing available fuel was all that I needed. My truck had a range of 650+km's on the hwy, but significantly less off the pavement as expected.

One thing I wish I had brought with me was a rifle. I would have felt more comfortable hiking in a few areas. When in remote Northern areas and along coastal BC there was a lot of bear evidence and a few encounters.

Some days I spent 3-4 hours touring around back roads and trails exploring areas for places to camp, I put a lot of mild off road mileage on my truck doing this and it almost always paid off with a great spot. Over the whole trip I spent 2 nights in hotels, in both cases afterwards I felt like it was a waste of money and not the point of the trip, so that was it for that. I spent 2 nights in my tent and 6 nights in isolated open cabins that I found along the way, both of which had guest books. One night under the stars when I passed out in my chair.. The rest of the nights were spent in the truck, which was really comfortable.

If you have questions post them up.
 

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zzz150

Adventurer
Leaving from Northern Ontario, it was pouring rain until an hour before I stopped for the 1st night, as in really heavy rain, the heaviest rain I would see for a long time. I thought my cap was sealed up well enough that things wouldn't get soaked, but they weren't and my new mobile home was wet.. I travelled along Lk Superior, did some hiking and camping along the shoreline, was a great start.
 

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zzz150

Adventurer
Lk Superior is beautiful, the old structures are part of the Jackfish Bay ghost town.
 

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zzz150

Adventurer
there were a few new scratches gained on my new ford with about 12000km's on it on day one, then on day three i found a tight road to head down while looking to find the un-named lake on my gps that was nearby, these scratches were just the beginning of paint abuse.
 

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zzz150

Adventurer
Into Manitoba and up along Lk Winnipeg to Long Point, found 2 access points to the lake, there were some locals at one. Ended up camping at a great lookout above the lake.
 

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zzz150

Adventurer
Into and through Saskatchewan the next day. I didn't expect all the gravel highways going into things but enjoyed them more than plain old highways.
 

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zzz150

Adventurer
Stayed at the Jackfish campground my 1st night in Alberta, nobody there and the bear sign was correct, lots of noise around where I was setup once it got dark out. The next day the guy that takes care of the place stopped in and let me know that there is a bear that hangs out at the end I was camped at regularly.. By this point I'd probably seen 6-8 bears along the trip, and there would be many more. Next was on the Smoky river, not too far off the highway.
 

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zzz150

Adventurer
Into BC, I had the need to immediately get off the highway and explore an old logging cut. Found a great place to camp on the Muskwa river later that day.
 

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zzz150

Adventurer
More BC.
 

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zzz150

Adventurer
More BC. The Liard Hot Springs are a must if you are passing them, I spent the night there. I think it was only $5 for a day pass to the springs per person and they are really nice. The setting is not completely natural but mostly, by far the best hot springs I've visited. Collecting some firewood, I did this daily along the trip and always had a small stock of it in the truck by time I found my camp for the night.
 

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zzz150

Adventurer
Same place again, ended up camping here later in the trip, it's about 30-40mins away from the hot springs..
 

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zzz150

Adventurer
Into Yukon. This was the highest total $ gas fill-up of the trip.. by a couple $.. this was the 1st time I filled up my two 20L gas cans getting ready to hit the Nahanni Range Rd. One of the few tourist sites I took in during my trip, it was right there and was pretty cool to wander around in.
 

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