The Odyssey North



Picking up donations at OPSEU head office



The distance between Attawapiskat and Toronto may be only 1210 kilometres, but it took us four days to get there.

The Groovy Yurt truck and driver, Yves Ballenegger, left Gatineau, Quebec early morning February 4. A trip through Toronto was necessary to pick up donations and supplies.

On February 5, we met Steve Rider and his helper Cory Roberson from I.D.I.Canada, who had both volunteered to come to Attawapiskat with us. Steve is a mold remediation expert. Together we convoyed up to Cochrane where the provincial highway heading north ends.



Riding the Polar Bear Express



All aboard the Polar Bear Express



We boarded the Polar Bear Express the next morning. Every weekday the train leaves at 9 am and heads north 247 kilometres to Moosonee. It makes a same day return trip, leaving Moosonee at 5 pm and arriving back in Cochrane at 10 pm.

 The passenger train can take a personal vehicle, but anything bigger, like an 18 wheel tractor trailer, must go by freight train. The freight train only makes two return trips a week. Tuesday and Thursday it heads north and Wednesday and Friday it returns south. Our timing was good on the way up which meant the two trucks would be coming up the following morning.   

The four of us stayed overnight in Moose Factory, which is across the Moose River from Moosonee. This community is accessible by water taxi in the summer and ice road in the winter.

The next morning Yves and I walked back to Moosonee on the ice road just for the experience. We encountered a large slushy area. We walked around it but vehicles had to turn back and use an alternate ice road.

During the spring break up the community is totally inaccessible except by helicopter. It costs $40 per person to make the short three kilometre crossing, compared to the usual $10 by taxi.

The vehicles arrived as scheduled, but Yves’s truck was frozen. The engine needed to be warmed up using a tent made from a tarp and a propane heater. It was 2 pm before we were able to get the truck going. After traveling less than 100 metres the truck slid into the first snow bank of the trip. This one would be an easy fix, so we didn’t lose too much time; a loader was able to pull us out.

Traveling the ice road

For about 65 days of the year a winter road connects the west coast of James Bay communities of Attawapiskat, Kasheshewan, and Fort Albany to Moosonee. This all is dependent on the temperature remaining cold.



James Bay ice road

 The 266 kilometre ice road is built along the James Bay coast through the swampy muskeg and it crosses over 80 rivers. The road is continually flooded to build up the layers of ice. Normally the ice would freeze up to 24 inches thick, but to make it safe for transporting loads weighing about 45,000 kilograms, the ice has to be a minimum of 43 inches.

Signs posted on the straight stretches recommend 50 kilometres per hour; the curves (when marked) recommend 30 kilometers per hour. “There is no speed limit on this highway,” said one OPP officer we met up with. “The ice is the deterrent.”

Hanging out on the ice road

At kilometre 205.5 on the Attawapiskat ice road, the Groovy Yurt truck was unprepared for the upcoming curve, known affectionately by locals as “dead man’s curve.” It separates the seasoned ice road traveler from the novice.

Caution: unmarked curves

The truck was buried in the snow bank. Luckily no one was hurt, but the situation looked grim. It was -13 C. We were 55.5 kilometres from Attawapiskat and had no satellite radio. Calling for help was out of the equation. With a small square-mouth shovel, a flimsy snow shovel, and a pick, we set about digging out the truck.

The first vehicle heading to Attawapiskat stopped and assured us they would send help. It was almost an hour before the OPP came by and the two officers left to look for the ice road crew and possibly a loader to tow us out. Meanwhile we continued shoveling.

Much later in the evening the road crew arrived with a loader. After many dismal attempts, the truck remained stuck. It was the energy, hospitality and laughs the crew brought that warmed up the evening. This was our introduction to Attawapiskat and we knew we were welcomed. A call for bigger equipment went out.

 

At 10 pm, Yves cooked spaghetti dinner and brewed coffee in the cab of the truck while we waited. There was a clear full moon that evening, the truck was warm, and we began to realize what an adventure this was.

At 2:30 am a bull dozer arrived and finally we were towed out and heading to Attawapiskat. We arrived at the motel at 4 am, humbled and tired. 



Hero's of the Highway