In August 2011 Russ and I headed out to explore the Manitoba portion of the Trans Canadian Adventure Trail (or TCAT for short). Here's the rundown of the trip.
I headed out to meet Russ on a sunny Sunday morning. The forecast was for a high of 31 Celcius (thats 88F for those of you not yet on the metric system). When I arrived at his place Russ was just finishing putting the gear on his bike.
For the first day we just wanted to get as close as we could to where we planned to start doing the TCAT exploration, which was the Manitoba-Ontario border. We had just over 1000 km (622 mi) to go, and it was divided highway pretty much all the way, so we hit the road. It was a beautiful morning for a ride.
We stopped briefly in Davidson, about 120 km south of Saskatoon, and took a look at the giant tea kettle and the bird cage.
Then we headed on to Chamberlain for gas. At the gas stop we saw one of those things you'll only see in Saskatchewan...
I guess this guy had to load up some wheat before heading to the lake, 'cause he was towing a grain auger behind his boat. Gotta love this place!
We stopped for a quick breakfast in Regina, then headed east down the Trans-Canada Highway. Somewhere along the way we noticed that the centre knobs were chunking off of Russ's brand new Kenda K270.
Had a quick lunch in Brandon MB and headed east again. Because of highway construction we were routed right through the centre of Portage La Prairie. As we came to a stop at a set of lights, Russ's bike lurched and stalled. The cause turned out to be a broken clutch cable.
We managed to limp the bike into a nearby gas station, where we began looking at how to fix the problem. We had offers of help from several people, and one guy even let me into his closed business to look for a bolt to try to clamp the cable ends together. Then we met Scott Ferguson...
...who said "I've got one of those bikes. Mine's an '87."
Russ asked if he'd be willing to part with his clutch cable, and Scott said "No problem." So I went over to his place and we took off his cable. He had a few bikes (Hyosung twin streetbike, R1200GS) and his KLR had over 46000 km on it. Anyway, I brought the cable back to Russ and after another quick fix for a broken tank bag clip we were on our way.
After an interesting 20 km backroad route just west of Winnipeg, we bypassed the city on the Perimeter Road to the south...
...and made it to Richer, MB just as darkness set in. The Richer Inn provided a pub, restaurant, and a decent room.
The next morning we set off for the border, with a 32 degree forecast. We had 100 km left to go on the Trans-Canada, and we made short work of it. We paused for the obligitory photos at the border...
...and started exploring the proposed route for the TCAT. Within a couple of km we encountered a spectacular old paved road, which had grass growing up through it. At the far end of that road (about 2 km down) we came across this gate.
It was easy to get around it, but if someone moves the rocks it's only a few km of the Trans-Canada you have to ride to bypass it. We went by Westhawk Lake...
...and headed up a wonderful little paved road to Falcon Beach. After that, the route was forced to hit the Trans-Canada again for about 25 km, as the side routes I had planned didn't work out (the old "Private Property - No Trespassing"). However, the road that awaited us was worth the slab. It was beautiful gravel, and while not twisty, it had enough curves to be interesting.
Russ's appraisal:
After a bit the roads straightened out again, and we found ourselves in the town of Elma.
We didn't try the cabroll perogies, but they're supposed to be good.
A slight route modification was required at Whitemouth, as a bridge was out (and looked like it would remain out permanently). But we found this little bridge instead.
From there it was on to the Moss Spur road, which was a great addition to the TCAT.
We crossed the highway and headed into the forest on a decent gravel road. A few km in, though, the GPS showed us that we had to split off onto this...
...which proved to be a fun ride. We passed this cabin on the way...
...and were thinking that this would be an awesome section for the TCAT, but things got a bit more gnarly further down.
So it was decided to make this trail a technical option. However, the portion to the cabin would be easily accessible for a big adventure bike like a 1200GS or a VStrom 1000 if someone was just looking for a spot to camp, and the rest would be possible, just a bit difficult for these types of bikes.
After finding the route around the technical option, we continued on and found ourselves with our first view of true wide-open prairie - well, wheat fields anyway.
After a few miles of straight grid roads and one bridge that was out we got to the edge of the Mars Hill rec area. The TCAT will run through this area on the trails, and while the first attempt produced an extremely sandy trail, the second resulted in us finding this beauty.
This will be on the main route, but there is an easy grid road bypass for those who just don't feel like driving in here. However, aside from one very sandy spot about 20 metres across this trail is easily passable on a bigger bike.
After Mars Hill we took grid roads to get across highway 59, and west of the highway got onto this nice little gravel road that ran along the Red River.
We got to Selkirk and asked the kid at the Co-op gas station about a room. Apparently there is only one hotel in Selkirk, and when we got there it was completely booked. So we saddled up and headed toward Winnipeg. After cruising past a couple of places that we were a bit hesitant to stay in (not the best part of town) we headed for the airport and finally managed to get a room at the Hilton - a bit fancier than we were planning for this trip. TIP - if you plan to stay in Selkirk when riding the TCAT, book a room in advance! Winnipeg is only about 30 km away though.
The next morning the bellboy took our things out to the bikes...
...and we headed back to Selkirk for a quick breakfast before picking up the route again. The weather was not as hot as the previous day, and it looked like it could rain. After riding a few miles of an awesome little dirt road, we spotted the canal roads south of Clandeboye. We thought the grass on these was a bit long, and the rain was starting to fall, so we figured we'd check for an alternate way to the Oak Hammock area. Unfortunately the alternate route was gated and posted "No Motor Vehicles" so we headed back to the canal roads to try our luck in the tall grass.
The canal roads weren't as bad as they first looked - they were actually quite fun to ride and not rutted too badly, so we made pretty good time. We took a couple of mile jog on a paved road and then headed up this little dirt road. It came to a dead end, but it's an easy ride up onto the canal road to the left of the sign pictured.
This canal road was a bit more rutted than the last ones, and the tall grass made it tough to read the surface. After a couple of miles we split off onto a dirt road heading west.
This turned out to be a great ride, and took us along the north end of the Oak Marsh area.
Coming out of this area, I'd hoped to take this road out. The rain had stopped by this time, but things were still a bit slick. We headed down it, and Russ decided that his KLR needed a nap...
...which he decided it would take right on top of the only cowpie for 40 miles!
The road ended up being fenced off by a farmer, who had placed an electric fence wire across one end of a bridge. We almost drove into it before we saw it. Should have red flags attached, but you never can tell with some of these guys - they're so in the middle of nowhere that they figure no one will ever use that road anyway.
The route out was still nice, and after several green lanes and some gravel we stumbled across this motocross track out in some guys field. Well, Russ looked at me and I looked at him, and we both knew that we just had to do a lap. So the TCAT does a lap of this nice little track in the middle-of-nowhere Manitoba.
Well, after that and a bunch of laughs about KLRs on a motocross track (loaded KLRs no less) we headed to Stonewall for lunch.
We got a sandwich, chips and drink at the local grocery store, and met a guy named Jack in the parking lot.
Jack is 90 years old, and was in London (England, not Ontario) at the end of World War II. He was telling us about all the men and women bathing naked in the fountain in Trafalgar Square after they announced the Nazi's surrender. I was at Trafalgar Square a couple of times in the last year, but no naked people were bathing in it when I was there.
Anyway, we headed back out to the route and took some nice but mostly straight roads into Woodlands.
The wind had picked up as we were riding, and at this point was gusting to around 80 km/h. At Woodlands we headed up the 518, which is supposed to be part of the TCAT, even though the sign at the start of the road said it was closed.
It turned out that the 518 was great for maybe the first 15 km, but eventually we hit this portion.
There was a truck with a couple of people sitting on the endgate, and a boy fishing right off the road. Anyway, we headed back and detoured over to highway 6 and through St. Laurent. From there we headed east to pick up the north end of the 518, and when we tried to take the 415 we found this.
So we backtracked to 518 and headed north further. We found some nice gravel roads, and ended up taking this road over toward Lake Manitoba.
The lake was incredibly high, and some of the roads had dikes built along them to keep the water from swamping them. We rode some sections where the water on the opposite side of the dike was higher than the road we were on - an eerie feeling!
We headed to Lundar Beach, where there were Provincial emergency response people stationed to prevent people from getting into trouble due to the high water. They allowed us to walk over to the beach and take a look at the lake, which was angry due to the high winds.
North of Lundar we were zigzagging on the gravel roads, when we saw a nasty-looking storm approaching from the west. We broke off the route and beelined it northeast for Eriksdale trying to dodge it.
It passed to the south of Eriksdale at a very high speed, and after filling with gas we were able to head back to the route.
After a few more zigs and zags we hit the 417 and headed through the Dog Creek Indian Reservation. This was a nice ride, and the sunset was particularly spectacular with all the water vapour in the air. However, it was getting dark, and another larger storm appeared to be moving in. By the time we got to The Narrows it was pitch black and starting to rain. I went in to get a room, and they informed us that all of their rooms were full and that the nearest places to stay were about 45 minutes away! Well, we decided that if we were going to ride 45 minutes in the dark in the rain we'd better be sure that there was indeed a room available, so we were just getting the bartender to phone around for us when the boss, Blair, came up to us and said they had found us a room! Wow were we relieved! We thanked him profusely, and proceeded to get settled and then have several pints in the bar.
The Narrows Lodge will make a great stop on the TCAT. It is the only place for miles, so it's probably best to book in advance, but it's got gas, a convenience store, camping, a motel with decent rooms, and a restaurant all in one spot. Plus it's right on the shore of Lake Manitoba. The people there were great to us, and I highly recommend it as a stop on the TCAT, or if you just happen to be in the area. There is a fair bit of hunting and fishing that goes on around there as well, if you're into more than just motorcycling. See
http://www.narrowswest.com, or call (204) 768-2749 for info.
The next morning we had a good breakfast at the restaurant and gassed up at the lodge. The weather looked great, and although it was still windy, it wasn't quite as windy as it had been the day before.
We were planning to head toward Crane River, and Blair was kind enough to phone a buddy of his to make sure the road was open.
In the store they had this poster showing Lake Manitoba around The Narrows, and how high the water was. The blue areas are all normally above the water level, but are currently flooded.
The Reykjavik road didn't work out, but the cutoff to the Crane River road worked well and was fun, and the road to Crane River was wide, fast gravel that was fairly rough - but on a KLR was a total blast to ride. Plus the rain from the night before was just enough to keep the dust down, but not enough to turn the road into a sloppy mess. Perfect riding conditions!
We paused in Crane River, which has a gas station and convenience store with good hours...
...and continued down the road. After some curves we popped out at the 276...
...and headed west through a few zigs and zags to Oak Brae, on the northeast shore of Dauphin Lake. Oak Brae isn't really a town. There's a sign and a couple of houses and an old barn, but that's about it.
From there it was on to Fork River, which had no services. So we blasted 16 km up the highway to Winnipegosis for gas and food. In Winnipegosis, we sat down in the Chinese restaurant, and after about 5 minutes an old Chinese lady came out of the back, looked at us, and just said "What?". Well, she went to the back again as Russ and I tried not to laugh - I thought that when you entered a restaurant and sat down at a table it was pretty obvious what you wanted...
Anyway, the food was fine and after lunch we headed back to Fork River, and promptly got onto a really nice little road heading out of town to the west. The road was packed dirt and snaked along the bank of the river through the trees. After a couple of km of that it was straighter grid roads and then maybe 8 km of slab to the town of Ethelbert.
In Ethelbert we topped off our fuel just to be on the safe side, and tried to figure out if the road we wanted to take into Duck Mountain Provincial Park was open. We had some help in route planning from a local and a map on the gas station wall...
... and then we headed out of town. The route I had planned turned into an overgrown road, so we headed north to find a new route to get into Duck Mountain Park. This new route happened to have a small water crossing...
...and some flood damaged road that would have been impassible in a car but was no problem for a KLR...
...but then got onto a bit of slab leading into the park.
The pavement changed into gravel, and before I knew it we reached the point at which I'd started exploring Manitoba in May - the junction of Manitoba 366 and 367.
From there it was a nice winding ride up the fast, wide gravel 366 to the spectacular view at the edge of Duck Mountain Park...
...and a stream crossing (much lower than it had been in May)...
...which led to a beautiful sunset on the rural roads southwest of Swan River.
We reached the Super8 at Swan River and were told that all the rooms were booked due to a hockey camp in town. Other hotels had a similar response, and we wound up staying at the Nelson Motor Inn - maybe the seediest place in town. At this point we were thinking that Manitoba could potentially benefit from 50 to 100 well-placed hotels, as we had had trouble finding a room every night except the first night in Richer.
The next morning the weather was looking pretty good, but it was still breezy. It was coolish, and the forecast was a chance of showers for Hudson Bay SK. We got a quick breakfast at the Subway...
...and filled up next door at the Fas Gas, which is where we met Marty. Marty was in his truck, but apparently has a '90 KLR, so he was interested in what we were up to. He told us that there are weekly rides that meet at the Qwik Stop across the street from the Fas Gas at 7:00 PM every Wednesday.
Apparently they're street rides (not that many dual-sports in Swan River) but for TCAT riders it might be neat to get in on a local ride if you happen to make Swan River early enough on a Wednesday. Marty said all bikes are welcome, and strangers are welcome as well.
We headed out of town on the TCAT route explored in May, arriving at the Saskatchewan border in about 15 minutes. The border here is basically unsigned - you have to look for the Saskatchewan road number sign, where Manitoba 275 changes to Saskatchewan 753. It's also where the rough pavement changes to gravel, and the speed limit drops to 80 km/h.
We turned north and headed into the forest, stopping for the photo at km 0 of the 980.
Several km up the road is the Moose Range Lodge (
https://sites.google.com/site/porcupine ... ange-lodge), which has gas, a small restaurant (closed Wednesdays), and cabins to rent.
Further down the road we came to the nice views!
You actually lose about 1400 feet of elevation going down this hill, so the views are really something. The pics don't do it justice.
From there it was on to th 981, which looks like this...
...and is a ton of fun to ride. The only thing is that you have to take it easy, because the trees grow close to the road, and a moose could step out in front of you at any time. It would be a disaster to hit one of those.
After a stop at the Treeline Motel and Dining Room at Hudson Bay for lunch we headed back to Saskatoon on the highway.
Not far out of Hudson Bay my odometer hit 35,000 km (almost 22,000 miles).
After a quick stop at Tisdale...
...and a fillup at Wakaw, we finally saw the skyline of Saskatoon in the distance.
Not quite like Calgary's skyline, but it's home.
We paused at Wilson's Growers on the east side of Saskatoon to say our goodbyes and headed home. Total km for the trip were 2750, about half of which were either on the TCAT or exploring potential routes for it. No flats, one blown clutch cable, and thousands of km of good time! Russ was a great riding partner. He never complained about any of the "situations" we found ourselves in, he was always upbeat, and he rode at a good pace. Great ride! Can't wait to do it again!
Hopefully TCAT riders enjoy the Manitoba section as much as I enjoyed exploring it. There are quite a few straight gravel roads, and one stretch of about 40 km of somewhat curvy pavement through The Narrows, but these roads are part of the prairie experience. The trails, green lanes, canal roads, and gravel of the Manitoba TCAT are worth the ride, in my opinion. Enjoy!
For those interested in how the TCAT project is progressing, the TCAT thread can be found here:
http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=594395
