For your viewing pleasure i though i would separate this from the how far north thread. I have nothing new to add to the wonderful and picturesque previous report to Points North. Road to Points is a great ride and a good gravel road. North of Points is gorgeous but questionably a road. 90 ish KM of almost a cobblestone gravel road with rocks sticking out everywhere about 3-4 inches followed but 50km of sand and what could be best described as gypsum powder followed by a chaser of the remaining KM covered with 3-5 inch deep shale razors. Road got progressively "adventurous" until 20km out of Stony. Worth the trip in every way, but don't become attached to the condition of your bike. To be fair this summer has been particularly dry up there (i work in stony) and even by the highways workers admission the road is in terrible shape. Your luck may be better depending on when they were last able to do work on it. That all being said, i'm kind of glad that its that bad so as to make it a real adventure route and not a easy journey.

[youtube]http://youtu.be/wyu7kikSvu8[/youtube]



Daniel

What an Adventure!
And you’re lucky with the weather - roads. That dry dust is real grease after a couple of days of rain.
How long was the spit of rain for, enough to knock down the dust?
What a ride!!

How much time did you take from Points North Landing to Stony Rapid? We turned around at Km 90 but at the pace we were going it would have take us a bit less than 6 hours to complete 200km. Some area we could ride 60km/h but in most area 25 to 50km/h. "Terrible Road" that is a good description, but the scenery is amazing. Thanks for the video.

_________________
So many roads so little time but... AGATT

2019 F850GSA
2018 Multistrada 950
2016 WR250R

I recall it taking us a touch over six hours going the north way and we trimmed it down to five and a half coming back south. We ended up doing the north portion in late afternoon into evening and I would advise against this at all costs. We were into the sun in very dusty conditions with bug covered visors. It was actually more terrifying at times being that blind on the Black Lake road then the big rocks and chalky dust of the Athabasca Seasonal Road!

We road a mix of 60-80km, terrain allowing, on the solid parts of the road and when the sand started I found my bike handled 'the best' at around 40km in second gear (the KLR). Handling is a relative term up there because I'm sure a better rider could blast that road in half the time we did but you must consider the remoteness of your situation and balance what speed your skill level allows with what is actually safe. Each rider has a responsibility to the other riders to not endanger themselves or each other because even if someone came across you within an hour or less after a wreck it would be many hours and a bumpy ride before you could get anywhere with medical services.

It would actually be really interesting to see a Dakar level rider blast that road, I would ride up there again to watch it for sure!

I might throw together some of my images and smaller video clips as well. I only had one battery and a poor mounting position so all I shot was departing Stony and the 100km to the radio tower.

_________________
See you 'round
2009 KLR 650

Here are some of my photos:

The unending dusty ribbon.



Getting ready to go back over the road to Points North. Felt good that day!



Hidden Bay Camp Ground 36km south of Points North. Amazing place!



Vistas like this abound on the trip. I particularly like the Brabant/Southend area.



A 360 stitched photo turned into a 'Little World' (a feature on Google Nexus devices):



The KLR in Stony...half way little buddy!

_________________
See you 'round
2009 KLR 650

_________________
So many roads so little time but... AGATT

2019 F850GSA
2018 Multistrada 950
2016 WR250R

_________________
So many roads so little time but... AGATT

2019 F850GSA
2018 Multistrada 950
2016 WR250R

All three of us actually work for West Wind Aviation and the other two guys (I work in Saskatoon but we operate an airbase in Stony) are stationed there on rotation so we stayed in the crew house (a perk for us you could say, that picture was taken in the garage). Other then that you could camp or stay at either Al's Place or the Whitewater Inn but they are both somewhat pricey simply due to where they are. I have stayed at Al's on a work trip and it was very comfortable and a great room. The dining room there is open only at meal times so you'd want to check with staff because you can't simply go whenever you like.

There is a hospital in Stony that services Stony and Black Lake and the airport sees traffic daily from Saskatoon (except maybe Saturdays, we don't operate a sched flight that day but maybe Transwest does). As well Scott's Store is THE place to buy anything locally including ATV's and snowmobiles so they have a decent amount of oils/lubes and various stuff (got myself the Stony Rapids T-shirt as well as the Points one that you got). They also sell premium fuel there. As you guys said food/everything is more expensive up there due to the logistics of getting it there.

EDIT: Oh and about the campsite. We stopped at the Cree River bridge which is what I think you're talking about (there is one other smaller bridge that could be the Black Bear one) and there was something of a clearing there that the locals obviously use for bush parties or something, you could maybe camp there. I would almost ride into town and ask at Scott's store about camping before setting up somewhere first. Daniel or Thomas might have a more informed opinion on this as they live up there part time.

_________________
See you 'round
2009 KLR 650