Cartwright

Another travelling nightmare, we woke to pouring rain again and I mean pouring rain. Smartly, I put most things away last night before going to bed but I still have to do the usual water, power, and sewer connections. With everything stowed we were off by 0755. Today will be quite the adventure since 230 of the 252 miles we travel are on gravel roads. You’re never sure what the road conditions are like because you ask 10 people and you get 10 totally different answers. Answers like “it is as smooth as pavement” or “take some spare tires” or “just drive it and you will see”. That was my favorite.

So far so good there were pot holes but the rain kept the dust down. I washed the rig yesterday you would never know it today.

Okay gravel roads

As we continued along we met workers that were grading the road to improve conditions. I often wonder why they don’t just pave it. Well I think the answer is simple, there’s not enough vehicle traffic to warrant paving. We passed 10 vehicles in 200 km going the opposite way. Half of those were transport trucks. When they pass, you have to almost stop because of rocks, not stones being thrown toward your windshield.

The road is also narrow...I hope no one is coming the other 
way or a moose decides not to take a walk on the wild side

Most of time we were able to travel between 45 – 70 km/h. Sometimes a little more and sometime a little less. Wildlife such as moose, caribou, bear, and wolves are a big factor, you never know when they will pop out. Point in case we were entering a road grading zone when I spot a black bear on the road. This particular bear was real strange. He or she was playing with an orange construction cone in the middle of the road. He/she then dragged it into the bush. I was able to stop but had to back the rig up 200 ft to get a shot of this silly bear. By the time I took the picture, black bear 1, orange cone 0. I'm sure the grading crew are still looking for it.

Crazy bear

It was a long drive (252 miles) with absolutely no diesel/gas stations along the way. This is the maximum I can go on a tank of diesel, on a really good day pulling the rig. Thank goodness I had a gerry can full of diesel or I would have been stuck on the road (with the bears). The rain had finally stopped and the sun was out. The temperature read 68 degrees about 20 km from Cartwright. The black flies were so bad I could hardly stand pouring the diesel into my tank. Meanwhile Susan was standing guard watching for black bears. It must have looked like a comedy show. 

We finally made it to Cartwright and our 2 night parking spot was the local dock. Yes more dry camping. Susan and I picked a spot. Unfortunately there was nothing to block the howling wind. Did I mention that it is now 38 degrees, rainy, and cold.

Our spot...totally exposed to the elements

Water all around us

The soul purpose of coming to Cartwright was to take a 2 -3 hr boating & hiking excursion to Cape Porcupine & Wonderstrand. It is thought that the Norse stopped here a 1000 years ago before heading on to Newfoundland. However, after much discussion with the captain of the boat and realizing the weather was going to get worse everything was cancelled for tomorrow. Susan had already started the generator and turned on the furnace to try and get warm. I went for a walk to see if I can find some ducks. Remember I love the cold.

Local fishing fleet...consists of 2 boats

These ones have seen better days

On the left is the fish processing plant

Realizing that we would not be staying for 2 nights and I am in desperate need of diesel, I went looking for a gas station. I only had to go to the end of the marina. So I filled up Precious and the gerry can ($200 later) and went home for soup.

The one and only gas/diesel station for a
long, long way

Now the dilemma doesn't stop there. Oh yes it gets better. I want a nice hot shower to get warm, flip the switch for the propane hot water tank and nothing. The generator is running so I try electric, nothing. Look at the fuse box and a blown fuse, easy fix or that's what I thought. Try to change the fuse and we have sparks flying all over the place and another blown fuse. Looks like no hot shower tonight. I'm tired and it's late so I'm just going to go to bed. No social tonight.