Unexpected Road Trip - 5012 kms, solo!

Sometimes a situation arises in which the best solution to a complicated conundrum is one you've never imagined and don't think you really can do - but then you do think of it, and you take the plunge, and (to paraphrase one of Alan's favorite sayings): "everything turns out ok!"

And so it was with the conundrum of what to do with my 2000 Subaru Outback.Willem had been driving it in Ontario but for various reasons decided to forgo having a car this year. Ensuing question: repurposing. Also, it required some substantial maintenance (new clutch), posing the question of HOW to repurpose: keep? sell? junk? (as the unhelpful Canadian Tire mechanic suggested). No, said another small-shop fellow who knew cars better - it's still a good car, worth the expense. I agreed, after I had driven it even without the new clutch. Still a good car.

It turns out that while it is remotely possible for a NWT resident to sell an Alberta registered car in Ontario, in practice it's one of those "you can't get there from here" situations. Selling it in Alberta was not a much better option. After considering various impossibly complicated shared driving arrangements, we reached the decision that I - and I alone - would drive the car to NWT. So I cancelled my Thursday flight from Toronto to Yellowknife, and at the ungodly hour of 2:36 a.m. on Tuesday morning (couldn't sleep well) set off on my cross-Canada trek.

Day 1, 1188 kms (Aug 7): Guelph to Neyes Provincial Park, near Terrace Bay ON. Turns out I actually like driving alone, and camping alone, and stopping for Timmie's alone, and being stopped for speeding alone. A young OPP officer caught me doing over 120 in a 90 zone - he was right, I agreed immediately. "I was thinking of the picnic site up ahead and got carried away," I said. When he examined my papers (NWT driver's licence, Alberta registration and insurance, Ontario location) I told him the story. "What does your son study?" he asked. Turns out he went to Guelph, and was somewhat following the Mars expedition. "Well," he said, "it's your lucky day. No ticket this time. Slow down!" I fervently thanked him and said I would.

Neyes Park is beautiful - driftwood on the beach, the shores of mighty Lake Superior gorgeous as always. I took a picture at dawn the next day, on my way out.

Day 2, 980 kms (Aug 8): Neyes PP to Winnipeg. More northern Ontario, its Canadian Shield yielding to lake-bottom prairie as I neared Winnipeg. I'm always surprised to find farms west of Thunder Bay - the Rainy River District's most northern reach, I imagine. It's fun going to the Timmie's in Dryden, see how people there mingle and live. The delightfully helpful woman in the MB visitor's booth found me a perfectly located hotel in Winnipeg, even making the call to see if room was available. In Winnipeg I had dinner with my friend Margerit Roger, a lovely woman who was my student in the early 1980s. G**, I do love Winnipeg!

Day 3, 1373 kms (Aug 9): Winnipeg to Edmonton. The beautiful Yellowhead through Saskatchwan and into Alberta, three provinces in one day. Prosperous farms and communities, healthy crops, majestic skies and vistas. Some spectacular river crossings, especially the North Saskatchewan at The Battlefords. Whenever I make these drives I note communities I'd love to explore more - The Battlefords have long been on that list. Not this trip, however. The Alberta travel person was the least helpful of the four I used this trip (and AB charges $2 for a provincial map!). I don't recommend The Yellowhead through Edmonton at the best of times, and certainly not at rush hour at the end of a long day. I was glad to fall into bed at the Travelodge in Stony Plain.

Day 4, 1471 kms (Aug 10): Edmonton to Yellowknife. I had intended to do this leg in two days, but as usual I was on the road early, and with so little traffic and such good roads, the urge to go home was just too strong. If you've never seen the mighty Peace, its one to add it to your list. While I didn't stop for pictures this time, below is one from the trip Alan and I took there in July 2001:

It was interesting to do this trip a second time in such a short period. While then we had seen forest fires at some distance, this time there was evidence that the fires had breached the highway several times (this taken north of High Level):

Forest fires create strange clouds noticed and discussed even by locals. This one was taken looking west from the Mackenzie River ferry:

Finally, a note on Canadian wildlife. In northern Ontario, some bald eagles, a wolf beside the road, a black bear nosing around someone's property. In Alberta, a bobcat (road kill, unfortunately); "Moose Alley" warning signs between The Yellowhead and Valley View (but no moose, thankfully). In the Northwest Territories across the Mackenzie, a dozen or so sandhill cranes, a herd of about 20 wood bison. But also a large warning sign: "DO NOT APPROACH DEAD BISON ON HIGHWAY", and two mysterious "staging areas" off the road. I learned later that there has been a serious and tragic outbreak among the bison herds that had been doing so well in that area: to date 429 have died of the disease(see CBC news story on Bison deaths in NT). According to reports, anthrax is found naturally in soil in the region and when hot, dry weather follows a dry season, bison can inhale their spores and become infected.


And now I'm home, and glad to be here. And the car performed flawlessly!