Day 1- Monday, August 22. Route- Temagami, Ontario (near Sudbury) to Riviere Aux Meleze 100 miles west of Kuujuaq
We took off bright and early on a beautiful day. Light winds out of the north, perfect VFR. First leg was 100 miles to Val D'or Quebec for a fuel up. At $2.00 a liter we took all we could at Val D'Or. I've got the long range tanks on so we carried 84 useable. The next leg was 375 miles to Lac Falaise, a seaplane base adjacent to the big Hydro Quebec dam complex at La Grand 4. The weather was still good, we topped off, gas here is still brough in by tanker, but it must travel 300 kms on dirt and and 600 kms on pavement to get here. Gas is thus pricier at $2.40 a liter.
We put in a call to Quebec Flight Service, and they thought VFR to Kuujuaq (315 miles) had a reasonable chance of success, though we would have to scootch to the east and the forecast was for IFR at Kuujuaq soon after our scheduled arrival. So we departed in the early afternoon and had a great few hours flying over the Taiga forest big lakes and huge rivers. I used to guide canoe trips in this stretch so I enjoyed seeing some familiar sites. After an hour ceilings started lowering and showers increased, our course wandered to find holes, and soon we found ourselves well west of Kuujuaq needing to turn the corner to head east. We followed Rivier aux Melezes which leads to Kuujuaq and had hopes of making it all the way. XM in the cockpit confirmed Kuujuaq was still good VFR but dropping, at 100 miles out however I finally saw a wall of IMC and no way through with the ridges at our wingtips we decided to put it down. We found a good windward beach on Lac Natuak on the Rivier aux Melezes. N 57° 13' 1'' W 71° 44' 56''
We tied her down and camped amid shed caribou antlers and bear poop in a beatifull spot with terrible weather. The rib eye's and cold beer eased the pain of not making to our destination for the day.
Day 2
Of course I was up bright and early, and greated by IMC at ground level in wind and mist. A call to flight service on the sat phone brought our hopes up that things would improve. Kuujuaq was MVFR. Midmorning the ceiling was lifting and wind was coming up and had come around so our beach was no longer a great place for the plane. We gave it a go and barely mad it out before the waves became too big. Up in the air it did not look nearly as good. We made it 10 miles downstream and ran into IMC again and put her back down this time on the river proper, which was great for sheltering the plane from the winds but offered marginal beaching spots. By 4 in the afternoon we had confirmed good weather from Pireps from flight service and got back in the air and made Stewart Lake Seaplane base in Kuujuaq by 6 after a stunning flight with views of huge rivers and the arctic coast in the distance. The seaplane base was deserted of people but had a beautiful Turbo Otter on floats and 2 Beavers. We wandered into Kuujuaq ate fried chicken at the only restaurant in Town and got a ride back to the plane and camped under the northern lights.
Day 3
Up early and the soon the Base was buzzing as there was a backlog of flights from the previous days bad weather. Serge works for Jonnie May Charters and runs the base, and when he showed up everything went like clockwork to get us fueled briefed and back in the air. He had a drum of sealed avgas which saved us the time to get one delivered and we pumped from the drum. This was the most expensive gas on the trip, drums in Kuujuaq are going for $765.00 for 50 gallons. Its a bit cheaper in the other communities. We gassed up, picked up some last minute supplies at the Northern and got back in the air.
The plan for today was to fly to Barnoin River Lodge and meet with Alan Legace. As a backstory there are a few things to explain about Northern Quebec. The land in any particular region is controlled by the local village's land holding agency. If you get the land holding agency's blessing you are good to go and will not ruffle any feathers with the locals. In the past for instance I used to guide 5 week canoe trips on the Great Whale River which flows into Hudson Bay a few hundred miles to the south. By writing a few letters and asking for explicit permission we always got the villages blessing and were treated very well when we arrived in town. This permission is very important especially if you are planning on doing any fishing as the letter of the law in Northern Quebec is that any non-quebecois needs to be staying with a guide at their camp. That aint my style, we wanted to camp, canoe, and fish for a bit of food here and there. I contacted all the powers that be in the local village of Kangiqsilluajuaq, which is in the area we where interested in going. Everyone I talked to said to get in touch with Alan at Barnoin River Lodge. I corresponded with him and he encouraged me to stop by and he would write all the necessary permits. He's also a legendary pilot in the area so I thought we would get some good beta on where to go.
So off to Barnoin River, 100 miles east. Gorgeous VFR and a great spot to land. The one problem on our arrival was Alan had just flown out for the day with 2 clients. The cook said he'd be back at 4:30, it was 10:30 AM. We looked at wasting a perfect VFR day waiting at the lodge, which we did, but took advantage of a local hike to some HUGE falls, and caught a few trout along the way.
At 5pm Alan arrived, coincedentially the weather was starting to deteriorate. Alan informed us that though he intended at the time of our correspondance to write us permits, upon research of the letter of the local laws since we are not Quebecois, and not staying at his camp he would be unable to do so. We were a bit floored, my efforts to be in integrity with the local inuit, and Quebec had reached a roadblock. Alan seemed to truly want to help but felt he had no choice. As weather moved in from the west we pressed Alan for advice on somewhere to go and camp and paddle, he thought and pulled out our map and hastily scrawled 4 beach locations on the Abrat River. "You'll love it." he said. We took off as the peaks around us started to cloud in, and flew 45 mile to the Abrat. It looked great and as IMC closed in we landed at a beautiful spot.
Day 4-8
The weather went to the ground and remained there for about 5 days. This actually was what I really wanted. It was time to inflate our boat and become intimate with this awesome country. We spent a few days away from the plane going down river to the Arctic Ocean, fishing for our dinner and generally sighseeing.
16 foot Soar Boat, perfect for exploring
We put this guy back, he would have fed us for a week
Day 9-
Today the weather broke and we were ready. Up at 4:30 AM packed up and in the air by 7AM. We flew up the arctic coast to the northeastern tip of North America. Along the way we saw 5 polar bears, icebergs, tidal rapids, and incredible scenery.
Fjords
Polar Bear
North of 60 degrees latitude
This flight for me ranks as my favorite ever. I've looked at the that land for years on the map and wondered what it was like, and to fly it in perfect VFR was awesome.
After burning exactly 50 gallons of gas we landed at a postage stamp sized lake next the village of Kangiqsilluajjuaq. I would have never put it down, except I spoke with a 185 driver that had gotten out at gross. This was by far the smallest lake I'd ever set my plane down on. Gas was delivered ($605), we pumped the plane full, and as I made plan I looked out on the lake and it was glassy. Now, I challenge anyone to go to http://www.weatheroffice.gc.ca/city/pag ... ric_e.html and check the weather here. It is the windiest place on the planet, a typical daily forecast calls for 20 gusting to 50kms/hr. Not today. So we toured around town and I bought a phone card and made a nervous call to Brian (185bushbird) with Adventure Seaplanes for advice. He reminded me of his preffered technique for situations like this. Given that the l shaped lake required a 90 degree step turn on takeoff, he advised 10 degrees flaps, power in, at 45 knots 30 degrees, step turn to the left, and don't be afraid to pull power and try again later.
Well I felt better and after donating my remaining beer, vodka, and a boat anchor to a local charity, I lined up and the takeoff went just as planned with only light winds to help my cause. Plug for Aerocet floats here.
We took advantage of this perfect day to book south. After 4 hours I visited an old friend camping on the shores of the Great Whale River were I spent many years guiding. Oh and the water went glassy on me and with miles of water to play with I almost ran it into shore. Glassy Water! Sneakier than any other challenge on floats.
Great Whale River camp.
Day 10-
Up early, perfect weather here, 1 hour to LG4 for a fill up. Waited 3 hours for a low to move through. Then a 5 hour flight directly back to Temagami, Ontario. My best scud running ever 4 hours of 800-1200 ft AGL lining up the brighter spots. The best part was good water under the floats almost the whole way home. We broke out in the last hour and returned home safe and sound.
Thats the trip, it was awesome.
I'll post a video or two when I can upload.
Brad
