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Absolutely. Already planning what I am going to be building next and it will be diesel powered like the 60 was. Im sure I could cut out some time to have some fun pushing through with you guys. How wide were the tracks?
5 Wheel Drive: Land Rover & KTM tackle the Gaspé Peninsula
- Thread starter ini88
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Absolutely. Already planning what I am going to be building next and it will be diesel powered like the 60 was. Im sure I could cut out some time to have some fun pushing through with you guys. How wide were the tracks?
ini88
Adventurer
Some of the tracks were straight up bush wacking. One of them was about 50 yards long and I almost couldn't ride the bike though it! So yeah... some trails will be very tight but 90% are wide enough for the trucks.
ini88
Adventurer
The Final Chapter
We kept pace to get as far into the peninsula as we could. We didn't take any shortcuts or anything off the main path because we knew we were seriously behind schedule to reach the end by tomorrow. The iPad was estimating that we were only about a quarter of the way across and I know on all 3 of us kept thinking we would see some major logging trail just shoot straight over the hills so we could make up some serious ground. Sadly most of the major trials would stop or eventually be too covered to pass through. This was a very hard part in the trip because we would see trails up ahead but had no way to get to them. Yes we could have bush-wacked through but would we make it? Would we spend 5 hours building another bridge? Would something bad happen without any help around? Remember, we had to be at work on Tuesday!
At one point we found ourselves on this very promising trail that looked like it would lead us right to the mid-way point where a large road cuts up through the peninsula from the South. This was going to be our fuel point but after driving on that trail for miles on end it happen to be a dead end. So we found ourselves rushing back to find another way around. This seemed to be happening more and more. We were getting tired of not knowing this system of roads and interconnecting trails. We were playing a bad game with ourselves.
"Should we take this trail? It looks clear on the map?"
"I have no idea, The last 3 looked clear!"
The KTM's red fuel light kicked on so we decided to push on and cover some ground. I had about a half gallon of fuel left. This was September so the sun hung in the sky as long as it could so we used what little time we had and burned straight north. I was leading and carrying a good pace at around 60mph. The sunlight would flicker through the trees and impair my vision as it would pierce through my goggles. I wish I had a sun vision like the boys did in the truck behind me. The bike was handling great and I was surprised to see I could carry on another 30 miles before we pulled over to fill up.
Jarek pulled out the siphon tube…. Hmmm, taste like chicken!
The long shadows gave us a good warning of how much time we had before we needed to set up camp
Tasty shrooms for dessert? Hmmmm lets pass this time.
I know it's not just me, but the feeling of having a full tank is amazing. You kind of feel like you can ride forever. Its funny too because my Defender has a 15 gallon tank and sadly my KTM has a 3 gallon tank and will still go farther. Jarek's Discovery had about a quarter of a tank left of fuel and we decided to press on and fill it up later tomorrow.
We took off again and this time happen to be on the northern side of the peninsula. We climbed wide logging roads further and further up. Everything around us felt like it was just falling off the side of the road. We could now see how vast this place was.
The three of us.
We kept pace to get as far into the peninsula as we could. We didn't take any shortcuts or anything off the main path because we knew we were seriously behind schedule to reach the end by tomorrow. The iPad was estimating that we were only about a quarter of the way across and I know on all 3 of us kept thinking we would see some major logging trail just shoot straight over the hills so we could make up some serious ground. Sadly most of the major trials would stop or eventually be too covered to pass through. This was a very hard part in the trip because we would see trails up ahead but had no way to get to them. Yes we could have bush-wacked through but would we make it? Would we spend 5 hours building another bridge? Would something bad happen without any help around? Remember, we had to be at work on Tuesday!
At one point we found ourselves on this very promising trail that looked like it would lead us right to the mid-way point where a large road cuts up through the peninsula from the South. This was going to be our fuel point but after driving on that trail for miles on end it happen to be a dead end. So we found ourselves rushing back to find another way around. This seemed to be happening more and more. We were getting tired of not knowing this system of roads and interconnecting trails. We were playing a bad game with ourselves.
"Should we take this trail? It looks clear on the map?"
"I have no idea, The last 3 looked clear!"
The KTM's red fuel light kicked on so we decided to push on and cover some ground. I had about a half gallon of fuel left. This was September so the sun hung in the sky as long as it could so we used what little time we had and burned straight north. I was leading and carrying a good pace at around 60mph. The sunlight would flicker through the trees and impair my vision as it would pierce through my goggles. I wish I had a sun vision like the boys did in the truck behind me. The bike was handling great and I was surprised to see I could carry on another 30 miles before we pulled over to fill up.
Jarek pulled out the siphon tube…. Hmmm, taste like chicken!
The long shadows gave us a good warning of how much time we had before we needed to set up camp
Tasty shrooms for dessert? Hmmmm lets pass this time.
I know it's not just me, but the feeling of having a full tank is amazing. You kind of feel like you can ride forever. Its funny too because my Defender has a 15 gallon tank and sadly my KTM has a 3 gallon tank and will still go farther. Jarek's Discovery had about a quarter of a tank left of fuel and we decided to press on and fill it up later tomorrow.
We took off again and this time happen to be on the northern side of the peninsula. We climbed wide logging roads further and further up. Everything around us felt like it was just falling off the side of the road. We could now see how vast this place was.
The three of us.
ini88
Adventurer
We found a nice turn off from the main logging road we have been following for the last... god knows what. The trail went down this hill and leveled off into this nice open area with lots of cover around us. There was a stream just off the cliff that we could see. Soon all the camping gear, tables, chairs came out and we got to work setting up our home for the night. We noticed there were not a lot of dead trees, logs or anything of that nature around. Mostly fresh, vibrant vegetation. We got a little fire going for what we could find around us. Ryan and I got out the chainsaw and flashlights and headed up the trail to see what we could find. There were some down trees and we needed to saw them up before we could carry them out of the thick forest. We made that walk back and forth about 5 times dragging the long trees behind us. I could not tell you how beat I was trying to gather all that firewood after riding the KTM all day long, and I know Ryan was feeling the same.
Barbara, Jarek's wife packed us with soups, breads, and Polish goods. My good friend just got back from Taiwan and she gave me these lemon cakes that were insanely packed with calories, I ate about 5 of them. She also gave me some soup with dehydrated beef in it! It is illegal in the States to have this so they sneak them over. That stuff tasted great! We ate everything up and broke out the French Canadian wine. Jarek and I thought about eating the canned calamari but once again wanted to wait till we saw a paved road to eat that.
Camp.
Taiwanese beef soup!
As the sun finally set behind the hills we could feel the cold setting in. The fire could not get hot enough to keep us from putting on more layers. The wine started to kick in as we passed around our camera's to see what we just did 8 hours ago. I always fine it funny how caught up we can be in something so fun and excited. I just road a backbreaking 12 hours and now I want to see the evidence of it, haha?
The one thing we didn't do was talk in-depth about how tomorrow would play out. I think deep in the back of all our minds, we knew we would not make it to the halfway point. Fuel was low and we weren't even close to where we had to be. We basically agreed to think about it in the morning after we sobered up.
Goodnight.
Barbara, Jarek's wife packed us with soups, breads, and Polish goods. My good friend just got back from Taiwan and she gave me these lemon cakes that were insanely packed with calories, I ate about 5 of them. She also gave me some soup with dehydrated beef in it! It is illegal in the States to have this so they sneak them over. That stuff tasted great! We ate everything up and broke out the French Canadian wine. Jarek and I thought about eating the canned calamari but once again wanted to wait till we saw a paved road to eat that.
Camp.
Taiwanese beef soup!
As the sun finally set behind the hills we could feel the cold setting in. The fire could not get hot enough to keep us from putting on more layers. The wine started to kick in as we passed around our camera's to see what we just did 8 hours ago. I always fine it funny how caught up we can be in something so fun and excited. I just road a backbreaking 12 hours and now I want to see the evidence of it, haha?
The one thing we didn't do was talk in-depth about how tomorrow would play out. I think deep in the back of all our minds, we knew we would not make it to the halfway point. Fuel was low and we weren't even close to where we had to be. We basically agreed to think about it in the morning after we sobered up.
Goodnight.
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rydz
Member
Absolutely great pics and adventure,if you guys are going again around the same time next year,please do let me know.
If required I can tag along with a M101 trailer in order to carry the additional gas cans and extra's if you think it can pass through.
How much fuel to do you think it would take to complete the trip your guys had mapped? My cruiser holds 80L of diesel and I can carry 40L on the rack or a bunch in the trailer.(dont like having the fuel in the car). and I would probably remove the RTT as punching through forest would probably tear the tent to bits,just take along a ground tent.
Pardon my french but this looks way to kick *** to leave alone.Let me know
Paulo
If required I can tag along with a M101 trailer in order to carry the additional gas cans and extra's if you think it can pass through.
How much fuel to do you think it would take to complete the trip your guys had mapped? My cruiser holds 80L of diesel and I can carry 40L on the rack or a bunch in the trailer.(dont like having the fuel in the car). and I would probably remove the RTT as punching through forest would probably tear the tent to bits,just take along a ground tent.
Pardon my french but this looks way to kick *** to leave alone.Let me know
Paulo
Jarek M
Adventurer
I had 25g in the tank and 15g on the roof this would get me to the half way point where there was gas available, but I gave one can to Dan for his KTM.
Now all the extra gas on the roof was "just in case gas", 25g in the tank was supposed to get us 150m to half way point, well it didn't. The other " half of the route is 300+ miles long!!! Do the math....
And the trailer woul be a pain to get through there.
Now all the extra gas on the roof was "just in case gas", 25g in the tank was supposed to get us 150m to half way point, well it didn't. The other " half of the route is 300+ miles long!!! Do the math....
And the trailer woul be a pain to get through there.
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ini88
Adventurer
We should really call that gas station at the midway point and make sure they have Diesel before we attempt it again! 40G/150L would be on the safe size.
It is very hard to judge, because we would drive for miles to get to a dead end and have to turn around. But I feel the second time will be better as we will have more trucks to forge a path and help winch each other through. We would have plowed through the unknown if we had a second vehicle with us. One truck with a back up motorcycle and we had to play it somewhat safe. Stuck/broken truck and we are screwed.
I think we should set up a list of who is in for next time!
It is very hard to judge, because we would drive for miles to get to a dead end and have to turn around. But I feel the second time will be better as we will have more trucks to forge a path and help winch each other through. We would have plowed through the unknown if we had a second vehicle with us. One truck with a back up motorcycle and we had to play it somewhat safe. Stuck/broken truck and we are screwed.
I think we should set up a list of who is in for next time!
rydz
Member
Well guys
super interesting trip,and it would be neat to try to complete the adventure,def keep me in the loop,especially if you go again in september or october ect,I am sure there are a few canuks that would to try to be a part of this.
Looking forward to hearing back on this subject one day
Best
Paulo
super interesting trip,and it would be neat to try to complete the adventure,def keep me in the loop,especially if you go again in september or october ect,I am sure there are a few canuks that would to try to be a part of this.
Looking forward to hearing back on this subject one day
Best
Paulo