6 Wheels North: Lodge Between the Lakes

 

When I left you last (figuratively), Dan and I had just pulled up to a very isolated pump with a sign which read, "GAS PUMPS ARE OFFLINE AT THE MOMENT."  This is that same pump.  That white van with the Absolute Petroleum logo gave me hope.  At least someone was working on it.  Another white van (behind the photographer) had the opposite effect.  It was a teenage church group, heading for a remote village to the southeast.  All its passengers were standing around talking to each other.  And it seemed like they'd been doing that for a while.

I strode into the store, trying not to be too discouraged.  "We might be able to make it to the next station," I thought.  "We might not."

When the customer already at the counter finished her transaction, the woman behind it read my mind.  "You wanting some gas?  It should be back on now."

Turns out, all the power had been out in Wabowden for quite some time--and we'd pulled up just as things were getting back online!  In the above photo, Dan is filling his tank for the last time that day.  Our accommodations for the night were less than an hour up the road.

We pulled up to the store to pay, where we heard that the electric company had cut off the current on purpose--a precaution having to do with a wildfire near the line somewhere.  We knew fires had been a big problem in northern Manitoba for the last few weeks.  In fact, one of the towns we were heading for had been evacuated for a time.  But I hadn't considered the possibility of fires that weren't even that close affecting our ability to get gas.

Shortly after 5:00, we found the Sasagiu Rapids Lodge right where it was supposed to be--near the south end of the bridge between Setting Lake and Brostrom Lake.  It looked vacant.

The sandwich board in front of the double doors read, "HOTEL OPEN INFO CAL."  After the phone number, "CLOSED TO UBLIC" was added.

Those first two words were encouraging.  The rest of it, not so much.  Before getting out a phone, we idled over to the water side of the building--where you could see that blue truck parked in the previous photo.

There, we met one of the two men I'd corresponded with when I'd made the reservation months before.  He directed us to the motel-style room behind my Ryker.  The blue side-by-side is blocking your view of our door.

"The restaurant opens at 6:00," he assured us.  "You can access it through the inside hallway."

That gave us most of an hour to unload, unpack, and change clothes--perfect!

The view of the water from the parking lot was impressive, and we thought we might be able to get even closer.  But that could wait.  After riding a bit over 300 miles, 75 of it unpaved, we were ready to take our boots off. 

We walked down the hall just before 6:00--wanting to beat the rush.  The rooms are to the left, past the picture that appears to have multiple frames (underneath the red smoke alarm).  The main entrance is to the right.  The dining room is behind the photographer.  The place still looked vacant.  Perhaps winter is their busy season.

We had plenty of seating options...

So, I chose the window table with the best view--of course!  The friendly waitress came quickly and took our orders.  I can't recall what Dan had, but I picked the open-faced hot beef sandwich with mashed potatoes.  Over the course of our meal, we saw a couple other guests, but they didn't sit down.

As we were finishing up, the guy who'd checked us in passed through the lobby.  I think his name was Steve.  To save time in the morning, we asked if we could pay for our room.  He offered to add the food to the ticket as well and take care of it all together.  As that was being accomplished, it came up that our next stop was the Grand Slam Lodge on Reindeer Lake.

"Oh, you've talked with Floyd, then!" Steve lit up.  "He's a great a guy--been a fixture up there forever."

"After our phone conversations," I said, "I'm certainly looking forward to meeting him."

"Well, he'll treat you right.  Be sure and tell him Steve said hi!"

After dinner, we found the trail Steve had told us about and carefully descended to the water's edge.  This is the downstream end of the Sasagiu Rapids.  The clouds that had formed earlier in the afternoon had returned, but still not produced any rain.

Just upstream was the highway bridge we would cross in the morning.  It's tough to see in this photo, but it's there.  I'd crossed it 11 years ago and seen the torrent from above, but not from this angle.

The sky looked somewhat better to the northeast.  Unfortunately, we'd be heading northwest.  Still, the official forecast wasn't bad.  But we had 120 miles of gravel to negotiate the next day--and the same 120 in the opposite direction, the day after that.  I hoped it didn't rain too much.

But back to the present, wouldn't it be fun to take a boat out to that island and have a look around?  Something for next time.

After returning from the lake, we did some work on the trikes.  I added some oil to my engine, and then Dan discovered that one of his gas cans was leaking.  The problem spot appeared to be in the center, where it mounted to the rack.  He was able to pour half of it into his tank, getting the level of the remaining fuel below the crack.  Problem solved--as long as he didn't need that half a gallon later.

When the work was all done, we took another short walk--to the other end of the property.  Evidently, an RV park (of sorts) is also part of Steve's business plan.  In fact, there seemed to be more people staying out here than inside the lodge.

Back in our room, I called Kim to deliver a report of the day's progress, then discussed the next day's plan with Dan.  Total mileage would only be around 300 again, but I've already told you about all the gravel--and the uncertainty of its condition.  Our light was out by 10:30.