Gatineau Fall Colour Trip
A week ago, I took a quick trip to Quebec's Gatineau region, which is supposed to have some of the best autumn colours. Unfortunately, they weren't as good as I had hoped, but it was still a fun and scenic drive.



View from the
Temagami Fire Tower


East of North Bay




Quebec's longest covered bridge




To The End Of The Road
A few years ago, I heard that there was a huge hydroelectric power station in northern Quebec that offered tours. This summer, I did a lot of research, and then drove up the remote James Bay Road to the Robert Bourassa generating station at Radisson, Quebec. It's Canada's largest hydroelectric power station, and the 8th largest in the world. This station, plus 7 other power stations along the La Grande river, generate half of Quebec's power needs. Combined with other hydroelectric stations in the east part of the province, Quebec generates 95% of its electricity needs from hydro!

The three-hour tour of the power plant took a small group of us inside the station, as well as driving around the surrounding area to see the dam and spillway. Unfortunately, cameras were not allowed inside the station. After the tour, I drove north-west to Long Point, on James Bay. This is a small marina where the Cree can launch their fishing boats, as well as snowmobiles during the winter.



Heading north from Matagami


Morning at Waswanipi
River campground


Along the highway







450 kV DC line to Boston



View of the dam from
the observation tower


The spillway, to release excess
water in an emergency


The LG-1 power station
⇧ Rapids at the Rupert River bridge
⇧ James Bay at Long Point
On The Road Again
Current Location: Site J-6, Milton Heights Campground, Milton, Ontario
Dates: Apr 15-27, 2011
Services: E/W/S/WiFi($); Cost: $33.30; Nights: 12
Current Location: Sites 53&32, Mew Lake, Algonquin Provincial Park, Ontario
Dates: Apr 27-29, 2011
Services: E; Cost: $46.00; Nights: 2
Current Location: Sites 78&117, Sutton Bay Park, New Liskeard, Ontario
Dates: Apr 29-autumn, 2011
Services: E/W/WiFi; Cost: $21.00; Nights: ?

Now that the winter is finally over, I've headed back to northern Ontario for the summer. With the higher gas prices this year, I won't be regularly travelling around; instead, I plan to mostly stay in one location until the fall. For now, I'll be at Sutton Bay Park, where I stayed last fall.



Smoke Creek, Algonquin


Waiting For Spring




Temagami area






View from the top of
the Temagami Fire Tower




Sunset at Sutton Bay Park





Larder River


CountryFest 2011


List of travels by month ····· November 2010 travels