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If you don't start off in Canada, the road to Labrador, Canada can be a long one. I began my trip at the Minneapolis/St. Paul International Airport. As I boarded the plane for the first leg of my trip, I was seated next to a woman my age. She asked where I was headed. I told her that. Labrador City, Newfoundland was my final destination. She went on to tell me about the friends she has in Labrador, and added, "you'll never find nicer people than in Newfoundland." She was right.
I flew from Minneapolis to Toronto to Montreal to Wabush, Newfoundland, with a couple stops in between. In all, it was a 12-hour trip to get to Labrador City. As the plane descended for the last time toward the Wabush airport, I noticed from my window seat that the area had large craters and machinery located throughout. I found out later, that these are some of Canada's largest iron ore mines, and the area's main industry.
Since one of my bags did not make it with me the entire trip, I spent my first day in northern Canada with Sherry Kean, a member of the white wolf snowmobile club, who showed me around the town of 10,500 for the day.
The next morning I was met by Peter MacMillan and his wife Linda, my guides for the first half of my eight-hour snowmobile ride to the Northern Lights Fishing Lodge on Shaw Lake. Now I've ridden snowmobiles, but I have never ridden eight hours in one day. I was in for some serious seat time. We had a long ride ahead of us, so we kept a pretty good pace on the trail. The trails were smooth, wide and well groomed. We followed close to the Ontario North Shore and Labrador Railway tracks for quite a long time. Chalets dotted the trail every so often and were stocked with a wood stove, benches and split firewood so you could stop to warm up a bit before continuing on. Good thing, too, because there are no towns to stop at after leaving Labrador City. We even had to pack in full gas cans on a sleigh behind the sled just to get us to the lodge. During summertime, lodge guests are flown in via float plane- there is no road to where we were headed.
Halfway we met up with Don Mitsuk, a guide from the Northern Lights Lodge, who took me the rest of the way to the lodge. Don's sled was outfitted and prepared for the worst. An axe and rifle were among the survival items I saw on his snowmobile, along with a coffee can for heating snow for water, a backpack with other assorted items and a container of sandwiches that we ate along the way.
We reached what the guides call, The Green Shack. Inside is similar to the other chalets I saw on the ride north, except this one is owned by the lodge and it has a CB-radio inside. Don radioed up to the lodge and let his wife, Annette, know we were on the last leg of the trip. It was getting dark and the trail beyond the green shack was in rough shape due to the snowfall a few days earlier. We drove over hills and across lake trails marked by sawed-off evergreen tree tops and finally pulled in at the lodge.
Dinner was waiting for Don and I when we walked in the door. Annette, the lodge's resident chef, had prepared an absolutely delicious homemade chicken dinner with all the fixings. After dinner I settled in for the stormy night ahead. The next morning, we were going to ride around and try to spot some caribou.
A lumberjack-sized breakfast awaited me the next morning. We hopped on the sleds and rode across a lake with hopes of spotting a few members of the largest herds of caribou in the world. After about 15 minutes of riding, Don motioned to the right. Far off in the distance I saw a small group of animals running and kicking up snow dust on the frozen lake. It was one of the most amazing things I'd ever seen. There were just over a dozen of the creatures in the pack. When we returned to the lodge, Annette and Don told me of the times they had woken up to see several hundred caribou on the lake just outside the lodge's windows.
My stay at the lodge was brief- less than 24 hours, thanks to the airlines baggage handlers. I rode up to the lodge one day… and right back the next. Don and I drove down to the green shack to meet up with another guide from the lodge and some folks from Virginia who had ridden to Churchill Falls the day before and were on their way back to Labrador City. From the green shack, we drove back without Don. By the time we arrived in Lab. City, I was more exhausted than I've ever been my whole life. My throttle thumb had gotten such a workout that I could barely undo the buckle on my helmet. I also needed assistance getting my little suitcase off the cargo rack on the back of the sled I was riding once we finally reached the hotel in Labrador City. I managed to drag my suitcase up the stairs to my room and then I collapsed for the evening. I would definitely recommend taking your time riding to and from the lodge… and be sure to stay a few days to spread out all that riding. Unless that's what you're used to! I would have loved to have stayed longer- it was gorgeous there, and the food was great, too.
The next morning, Sherry called, eager to hear how my trip had gone. She invited me to go "Ski-Dooing" with her and a friend on a short trip across the border into Fermont, Quebec. I accepted, only after she promised that we would be on the trail no more than a couple of hours. It was close to the end of my trip- and I was beat. I saw more of the White Wolf Snowmobile Club's trail system while on the trip over the border to Fermont.
Nearly all of Fermont is in one gigantic building, including a hotel, stores, restaurants and a large apartment complex. Of course, the natives speak French there. Fermont and Labrador City have different languages and time zones. We stopped at one of the restaurants there and I enjoyed the Canadian treat, poutine- which is French fries topped with gravy and melting mozzarella cheese curds.
We rode back to Labrador City and met up again that night for a White Wolf Snowmobile Club meeting. I was happy to be there and meet with the club members.
I left Labrador the next morning and reflected at my experience on my way home. The folks there are top-notch, the hospitality was great and the scenery is gorgeous. There are not a whole lot of people there (compared to where I'm from) and chances are you'll have the trails mostly to yourself. If you enjoy unspoiled wilderness and plenty of trails, this is a great spot to ride. It's also quite an adventure!