David*BJ70
Looking forward to reach the end of the world
Again ! You read the title «2019» and think I procrastinated! 
Well, you are right !
Hope you enjoy to read it !
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Winter 2019, on a sunny Sunday afternoon, my wife and I were staring at the province of Quebec map to decide our next overlanding destination. We first thought this exercise would be a rather simple task but having on our short selection criteria list, a very specific thing, Terra incognitas, we soon realized that our trips over the last few years made this criteria a challenge.
We reached the Eastern most point of Route 138 in summer 2016. We did the James Bay Road in 2017. The summer 2018 brought us to do the great Newfoundland loop which it was one of the most pleasant and scenic adventures that we had the chance to do. Moreover, we covered pretty much all the destination within a 620 miles radius of our city which is a suburb of Montréal. If you know your North American geography, you will soon realize, as did we, that there are not so many destinations left to reach by road that meet the concept of Terra incognitas.
And then, just like that, we saw it, as plain as a nose in the middle of a face! But we quickly understood the road alone would not help us to reach our goal because we were planning to go on Anticosti Island, right in the middle of the Gulf of St-Lawrence. We also had a burning desire to set foot on this island before it became a popular destination for overlanders since it is currently more of a hunting destination. We can say we were among the first of the Overland community to declare, «been there, done that! »
Anticosti has a very special history. Occupied by the Natives well before the Europeans, first reported by Jacques Cartier in 1534, the Island was given to Louis Joliet in 1680 by the French king as a reward for his exploration of the Mississippi and his discovery of the Great Lakes region. Bigger than Puerto Rico and three times the size of Long Island, Anticosti is the largest island to have been owned by an individual person. After the death of Joliet the island became the property of the British Crown and then the Province of Quebec. Almost nothing happened until 1895 where it was sold for the sum of $ 125,000 to a rich French chocolate maker, Henri Menier, who made it a personal hunting reserve. To do so, Menier imported from the mainland, 220 white-tailed deer. This event was a milestone in the history of the island since, without natural predator, this cervid is now near 200 000 heads. When Menier died, the island was sold to a logging company. In 1974, the island was bought by the Quebec government and is now recognized for its hunting (apparently, it is the highest success rate for white-tailed deer hunting in North America). Many Americans go there during the hunting season. Hunting is the principal economic activity of the island well in front of the forestry activity. Recently, historians have discovered that, in 1937, the Third Reich became interested in the island and even made an offer to buy it, which did not happen, fortunately. This is a fascinating historical anecdote which cannot find its place in this chronicle.
Just like the great Québec northern territory, the government did not ensure passage in order to access Anticosti. Camping activities are still embryonic and visitors usually use aircraft / rental pickup packages on site. Going there with your own vehicle is still a marginal activity. So we had to use a cargo boat which serves the island and the isolated villages of the north coast of the St-Laurent between Sept-Îles and Blanc Sablon over a distance of about 450 mi.
We packed up our newly acquired Landcruiser HDJ100 named the "Grand Duke" and hooked up our M101 expedition trailer and drove leisurely, in 2 days, the 540mi. from our home to the port of Sept-Îles to containerize our vehicle. Although we drove this first section of our expedition several times, we couldn't stop being dumbfounded by the beauty of this magnificent road that runs along the majestic Saint Lawrence River. The weather was perfect and the nights were were lit by a beautiful moon quarter.
Halfway, we stopped at an artisan bakery renowned for its delicious pastries to realize the owner is a childhood friend of my wife’s. It was a moment filled with emotion to meet a person so loved but forgotten so far from home.
Well, you are right !Hope you enjoy to read it !
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Winter 2019, on a sunny Sunday afternoon, my wife and I were staring at the province of Quebec map to decide our next overlanding destination. We first thought this exercise would be a rather simple task but having on our short selection criteria list, a very specific thing, Terra incognitas, we soon realized that our trips over the last few years made this criteria a challenge.
We reached the Eastern most point of Route 138 in summer 2016. We did the James Bay Road in 2017. The summer 2018 brought us to do the great Newfoundland loop which it was one of the most pleasant and scenic adventures that we had the chance to do. Moreover, we covered pretty much all the destination within a 620 miles radius of our city which is a suburb of Montréal. If you know your North American geography, you will soon realize, as did we, that there are not so many destinations left to reach by road that meet the concept of Terra incognitas.
And then, just like that, we saw it, as plain as a nose in the middle of a face! But we quickly understood the road alone would not help us to reach our goal because we were planning to go on Anticosti Island, right in the middle of the Gulf of St-Lawrence. We also had a burning desire to set foot on this island before it became a popular destination for overlanders since it is currently more of a hunting destination. We can say we were among the first of the Overland community to declare, «been there, done that! »
Anticosti has a very special history. Occupied by the Natives well before the Europeans, first reported by Jacques Cartier in 1534, the Island was given to Louis Joliet in 1680 by the French king as a reward for his exploration of the Mississippi and his discovery of the Great Lakes region. Bigger than Puerto Rico and three times the size of Long Island, Anticosti is the largest island to have been owned by an individual person. After the death of Joliet the island became the property of the British Crown and then the Province of Quebec. Almost nothing happened until 1895 where it was sold for the sum of $ 125,000 to a rich French chocolate maker, Henri Menier, who made it a personal hunting reserve. To do so, Menier imported from the mainland, 220 white-tailed deer. This event was a milestone in the history of the island since, without natural predator, this cervid is now near 200 000 heads. When Menier died, the island was sold to a logging company. In 1974, the island was bought by the Quebec government and is now recognized for its hunting (apparently, it is the highest success rate for white-tailed deer hunting in North America). Many Americans go there during the hunting season. Hunting is the principal economic activity of the island well in front of the forestry activity. Recently, historians have discovered that, in 1937, the Third Reich became interested in the island and even made an offer to buy it, which did not happen, fortunately. This is a fascinating historical anecdote which cannot find its place in this chronicle.
Just like the great Québec northern territory, the government did not ensure passage in order to access Anticosti. Camping activities are still embryonic and visitors usually use aircraft / rental pickup packages on site. Going there with your own vehicle is still a marginal activity. So we had to use a cargo boat which serves the island and the isolated villages of the north coast of the St-Laurent between Sept-Îles and Blanc Sablon over a distance of about 450 mi.
We packed up our newly acquired Landcruiser HDJ100 named the "Grand Duke" and hooked up our M101 expedition trailer and drove leisurely, in 2 days, the 540mi. from our home to the port of Sept-Îles to containerize our vehicle. Although we drove this first section of our expedition several times, we couldn't stop being dumbfounded by the beauty of this magnificent road that runs along the majestic Saint Lawrence River. The weather was perfect and the nights were were lit by a beautiful moon quarter.
Halfway, we stopped at an artisan bakery renowned for its delicious pastries to realize the owner is a childhood friend of my wife’s. It was a moment filled with emotion to meet a person so loved but forgotten so far from home.
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