Tuesday 7/21/2009
Days on the road: 23
Day mileage: 317
JF total mileage: 5441
Gale total mileage: 3449
States/Provinces: Quebec
We left Baie-Comeau on route 138 toward Natashquan. We stopped at a lighthouse, ate lunch at a roadside park in Port Jacques Cartier, rode through Sept-Iles, and stopped at Longue-Pointe-de-Mignan to camp along the St. Lawrence within sight of the Mignan islands. Great camping spot that I’d highly recommend: http://www.campingquebec.com/cdcq/fiche_camping.asp?no_cdcq=851
I left the campground slightly ahead of Jean-Francois and expected to have him catch up, but ended up making the ride to Natashquan by myself. It was a little scary because I was borderline on having enough fuel and I was hesitant to get off the road to go to a town because I didn’t want Jean-Francois to miss me and start to worry. There were signs warning there was no fuel until Natashquan.
The road varied between running along the water and heading a little inland to go through pine trees and the was very little traffic in this part of the world. There were beautiful views of the St. Lawrence along the way.
I was at 220 miles on my 4 gallon tank when I pulled into a gas station with great relief right outside Natashquan. We set up camp at the municipal campground on a large site with no one around us.
I rode behind Jean-Francois to do the 18 kilometers to the very end of Route 138. It was a strange sensation — like coming to the end of the world. The road just stopped at the Natashquan River. You could look across the broad ride and see where it had been cleared to extend the road, but it looked like the end of civilization. Jean-Francois said the current premier of Quebec had made a campaign promise to finish the road for the people living out there.
We walked the beach and got great sunset pictures back in Natashquan and then met two BMW riders on the way back to our campsite who were camping nearby — Michel and Jean. They had a fire going to keep the black flies away so we stayed and talked with them — really nice people. Michel was on an R1200 and Jean was on a F650 so it was fun for me to talk to another F650 rider. The fire was very effective at keeping the black flies away.
Having grown up with black flies, Jean-Francois started educating me on the use of bug spray to keep them off. Since the only exposed areas were from the neck up and our hands, they at least had little target area. If you put DEET only on your face and neck, then the black flies go up into your hairline to bite you there. You have to apply the DEET up the back off your neck and into your hair. You also have to spray your hair (or spray it on your hands and wipe it on your hair) or they will bite you on the top of your head. The best thing to do is wear a hat and even spray that with DEET.
I was now fully committed to doing whatever I had to to prevent more bites, but I have to tell you I don’t like the oily DEET on my face and hair. It rubbed off my neck onto my shirt and was a dirt attractant so my collars were brown after riding all day. My shirts looked so bad I thought they were ruined, but I used Dawn Disolver when I got home and it all came out.
Did I mention there were mosquitoes too? Important thing is we were able to get into the tent without allowing any of them in with us…
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