Hudson Bay..James Bay..?

[spider solo]

Wondering if anybody has paddled up around the James Bay area or know of anyone who has.
Seems I have read of groups making about a 3 week trip and visiting a village or two while up there.

Any info much appreciated...thanks, spdr

 

[WBB]

This site may provide some of the information you are looking for:

http://www.myccr.com/places.htm

 

[spider solo]

thanks...just last night I found a report from a fellow who in July of this year seemed to be paddling the area I'm thinking about.
Haven't had a chance to read the whole report yet but it was listed under the Quebec forums section of that website.

Also, though I know I won't be going as far as Churchill (Nunavut) on a Bay James trip I read that between 2,000-3,000 belugas gather near there so would also be interested in any info about that for a separate trip, in case anyone has been paddling up through there as well

 

[ALGonquin Bob]

I've been thinking about paddling around Moosonee for the past 2 seasons, but so far, the prospects of that long drive and train ride is winning out over the adventure aspect (trying for a long weekend, but need more time). I'll try again in '10. Let us know how your planning goes.

 

[MarshallM]

I haven't paddled either James Bay or Hudson Bay, although we were pretty close in the early 1980s on the lower Missinaibi River canoe trip.

In the canoe tripping community, the western shore of both James Bay and Hudson Bay is known to be a very dangerous place to paddle. Many canoeists have died there, and often their bodies were never found. It apparently generally very flat along the shore and the water is often shallow, forcing paddlers to go substantial distances off shore to get to deep water and then they are vulnerable to sudden storms, prevailing winds, tides and the like. Might be a bit safer in a kayak, though. Make sure you do your homework before paddling on the western shore of either bay.

Having said that, the eastern shore of both bays, on the Quebec side, generally has a reputation of being a much better place to paddle and also to camp (another not so trivial issue on the western side). A number of river canoe trips across the Ungava Peninsula can be accessed by paddling north up the coast and then traveling inland from Richmond Gulf, to name one possibility.

marshall

 

[spider solo]

.....In the canoe tripping community, the western shore of both James Bay and Hudson Bay is known to be a very dangerous place to paddle. Many canoeists have died there, and often their bodies were never found. It apparently generally very flat along the shore and the water is often shallow, forcing paddlers to go substantial distances off shore to get to deep water and then they are vulnerable to sudden storms, prevailing winds, tides and the like. Might be a bit safer in a kayak, though. Make sure you do your homework before paddling on the western shore of either bay.
marshall

I could well imagine many a life has been lost up there. On one of the web sites for solo canoeing there the fellow was planning a 60 mile open water crossing to Belcher Island in an open aluminum canoe...no spray deck.. no sail set up, inner tube for floatation.
Apparently extremely experinced, fortunately he opted not to do it
after all.
....There must be others who try things like that with more fatal results....

I see there is a Cree outfitter/guide place were you can custom some trips and get some much needed advice so I'll be checking that out as well.

Trying to look realistically at the following...
...my age..how many years it would take to learn my way around on my own...how old will I be then...how much $$ to go with others...what kind of wildlife I hope to see. If I go on a guided trip are the people actually from the area...what language do they speak etc etc
I see some outfitters are based in Ontario, so would want to know if they are well recieved up....things like that.

I remember when my wife was teaching she had at least 2 middle school age kids, when asked how they spent their summer vacations, they had spent 3 weeks paddling with a group and stopping at a couple of villages and having a great time on the trip.
So I know it's doable and not unheard of...just a matter figuring out who does what and where etc and not get in over my head thinking I know what I'm doing.
Probably bettter off going with folks who actually know what the are doing.

 

[MarshallM]

Spider, i also keenly followed David Demello's trip on the eastern side of James/Hudson Bays, where he planned to do the huge open water crossing to the Belcher Islands. David and his wife Juanita, as you may know, are very experienced northern canoe travelers, so i was quite surprised that he would attempt such an open water crossing solo in a canoe. Looking at a map, i believe that there were some islands on his route that he could have taken refuge on, but there appeared to be one crossing that was about 30 miles. Still quite ambitious, IMHO. Probably a good thing that he aborted the crossing in the end.

Anyway, didn't mean to sound too alarmist on the last post. However, i have a friend who paddled the Albany River many years ago, and for egress they paddled something like 90 or so miles down the western shore of James Bay to pick up the train at Moosonee, Ontario. Anyway, the shore was apparently mostly swamp and they ended up sleeping in their canoes and would only travel near high tide. Near low tide, apparently the bay is so shallow, that one can not get within about 2 miles or so of the shore in many places due to mudflats and shallow water. This is one reason why most paddlers doing river trips on that side of both bays will either fly out or hire natives to provide a water shuttle.

Anyway, using the local knowledge of the Moosonee area Cree outfitters/guides sounds like a good plan on your part.

marshall

 

[spider solo]

I see that the names of various rivers come into play that people run down into Hudson Bay.
In doing some reading I've just come to realize that the area near where I've been been thinking of is where the film from the early days... "Nanook of the North" was made. Of a man and a family group of the 1st nations who lived and hunted there. I have'nt ever seen the full film but have heard of it for many years.
A couple of links I have been checking out are
http://www.mitiq.com/belcher-islands.htm.
and
www.creetourism.ca

My understanding is that the eastern shore has more favorable tides and perhaps tree line extends to the southern regions of James Bay, but of course, there are many pieces of the puzzle to put together for a promising trip to the region.

 

[Stan]

Have you considered Goose Bay, Labrador and the rivers and lakes enroute? It is much closer and can be reached by road ... the condition of which I'm haven't updated myself on but it sounds like a wilderness adventure just to get there. ... and, it is within reach of the Torngats by freighter or air. I'd think seriously of this destination.

P.S. I'll learn the bailouts.

 

[MarshallM]

Spider, the link below provides information for the James Bay Road. I have not yet driven it, but the road will take you up to Radisson, Quebec, and could be useful in planning a Belcher Island trip on the east side of Hudson Bay. FWIW, at some point, i hope to paddle up the eastern side of the Bay to access one or more of the inland canoe routes in Quebec and Nunavik.

http://www.jamesbayroad.com/jbr/index.html

In regards to Stan's post, below is a link with information about Quebec Highway 389 and the Trans-Labrador Highway, which together you can drive from Baie-Comeau Quebec to Goose Bay Labrador. We drove the 575 km rt. 389 in 1988 on a canoe trip that we started near Labrador City and drove the 555 km Trans Labrador Highway in 1989 on the Churchill River canoe trip. Note that the Trans Labrador Highway used to be the much rougher road, although i understand it has been "upgraded" since our trip. The length of both roads taken together works out to be a little over 700 miles (and much of it is gravel road), according to my math.

http://tlhwy.com/index.html

Probably way too much information, but Goose Bay, Labrador, can also be accessed by a coastal ferry from Lewisport, Newfoundland. We found it to be much less driving, when we took the ferry in 1993 on the Naskaupi River canoe trip.

marshall

 

[spider solo]

Thanks for the links .
That Bay James link is great ! (I'll be spending a bunch of time on that site, figuring things out) Even has a forums section, where they talk about bug season,( among other things) which I'll be very pleased to miss if I can. Early Sept looks to be about ideal.

When I'm on the Gaspe I occasionally meet or hear mostly of guys making the "commute" to Fermont to work the mines... particulary the gold mines if I'm not mistaken. That section of road (389) goes by the "Eye of Canada" Reservoir Manicouagan. I might make it up that far some day, but don't think I'll make it much beyound Fermont or Labrador City. Have my doubts that I'll ever make it up to Goose Bay, but you never know

The land "East of East"...other than James Bay, the region I want to get back to is the Mingan Islands on the north shore of the lower Saint Lawrence.
Once you leave the Mingans and head East towards Blanc Sablon you are definetly "off the Grid". My understanding is that you can make arrangements with the freighter/ferry that stops in the towns once a week and they will load your boat in a container at the end of your trip. So you have several "bail out points". The road on that shore ends in Natashquan, after that you are on your own so the confindence /navigation has to be way up there. Even a small chunk of it would be pretty huge for me.

Canoeist run the Romaine and Magpie rivers...but I fear the Romaine has come to it's death in yet another Hydro Quebec project near Havre St Pierre.

Still from what I read most any river would be more promising than the Susan...

 

[MarshallM]

Spider, your Cree outfitting and tourism link is a keeper as well.

Funny that you mention the Manicouagan Reservoir, as i was going to suggest a circumnavigation trip as one that might be interesting in a kayak.

Haven't had the opportunity to go farther east on rt. 138 than Sept-Illes, Quebec, but it could happen if we ever paddle the Natashquan or another river out that way. Too bad about the Romaine, and from what i understand the Petite Mecatina River may also have a similar fate at the hands of Hydro-Quebec.

This is again pretty far removed from your original James Bay post, but another link that you might be interested in is for the Tshiuetin Railroad. It runs about 360 miles north from Sept-Illes, Quebec to Schefferville (and is boater friendly). I would think that Menihek and/or Ashuanipi Lakes are two very large ones that might make fine kayak trips. We used the train on this summer's Riviere De Pas and George River canoe trip.

http://www.tshiuetin.net/an_informations.html

As to the Susan, i suspect that if L. H. was still with us, he would most certainly agree with you....

marshall