Moose Factory, August 30, 2003

Trip to James Bay

You can cross our country from East to West, which we did a few years ago by car from Vancouver to Toronto, or you can go up North to be fascinated by the expanse of Canada. You need a long weekend from Toronto to get at least a glimpse of it.

About 800 km North of Lake Ontario, a 12 hours drive including pit stops, you get to Cochrane, Ontario. The small city with a population of a few thousands is the local supply centre, basically a highway strip with supermarkets, hardware stores, car dealers, repair shops and motels. Highway 11, the Northern branch of the famous Trans Canada Highway bends here and swings westward. Another 800 km to the West is the City of Thunder Bay; from there it is only another 500 km to the Western border of Ontario; and if you want to see the Northern border of Ontario in the area of Fort Severn be patient for more than 1,000 km further northward, unfortunately no longer by car. You have to rent a boat or charter a seaplane to continue your journey.

Or take a train -- at least for the next 350 km North to the town of Moosonee. Cochrane is the hub of Ontario Northland Railways. Ontario Northland, a public company, runs freight services in Northern Ontario providing the only reliable mode of transportation for some remote settlements . And it operates passenger trains: (1) the Ontario Northland, a  12 hour night train  connecting Toronto with Cochrane and (2) the Polar Bear Express, a daily return service in summer non-stop between Cochrane and Moosonee; from September to May it is replaced by the Little Bear Express, a mixed train of freight and passenger service with lots of whistle stops at remote camps of hydro power or lumber companies. And there is even a special service: call the railway in advance and let them know at which milepost you want  to get on or off the train; they will stop for you right in the middle of the wilderness. No wonder that the Little Bear needs a day for the one-way trip to Moosonee.

We (Olga, our visitor from Germany, Karin and Rainer) decided to go by car to Cochrane because of the (for us) inconvenient time schedule of the Ontario Northland. On August 29 we arrived in Cochrane late afternoon and stayed at the Station Inn which is part of the nicely renovated railway station.

Next morning we boarded the Polar Bear Express leaving Cochrane at 8:30 am. "It's the journey not the destination" is the correct motto for the trip. The scenic tour offers you great vistas of majestic rivers, wet lands, clear lakes and dark forests. This region is the transition from  the tree belt to the arctic tundra. Human artifacts are scarce: a few power lines, a hydro power dam and some work camps. Unlike its little brother in winter the Polar Bear Express passes by with a decent average speed of about 80 km/h. Travel time to Moosonee is circa four hours.

Our train was fully booked with some 300 passengers, mostly tourists who poured into the town of Moosonee, home of about 2,000 people. More than 80 % of the population belong to the Cree nation. For 25 % of the people Cree is the first learned and first understood language.

The town is located on the west banks of the Moose River, a short 20 km away from the salt waters of James Bay Its development started 400 years ago with the arrival of French fur traders from the Paris based company Revillon Freres (today Revlon of France). The settlement of Crees around their trade post marks the beginning of the local business. Today, Moosonee is the turntable for the supplies of the Northern settlements along James Bay and Hudson Bay. Everything, from diapers to pre-fab trailer homes, from nuts and bolts to kerosene for seaplanes is transferred from the train either on tug boats during the ice-free season or on tractor-trailer monsters which operate on trails in summer or winter (dry or frozen grounds). Some natives living closer by use their 4WD car for a day of "shopping spree" in Moosonee during the summer months.

The airport of Moosonee is served by AirCree on a scheduled basis. From here, small planes and helicopters link most of the Northern outposts providing a passenger, light freight and emergency service relatively independent from weather conditions.

Moosonee was an important station in the Northern defense chain of NATO during the Cold War. The departure of the military led to a decline of the local jobs. The abandoned dwellings of the troops are used for new urban settlements, for health care institutions and for the expansion of the high school. The Moosonee High School is a very special one. Where else do you find a school where helicopters replace the morning and afternoon yellow school bus? It is a must here during the icing and thawing season when the chopper service is the only way to attend school if you live across the river. Once the river is frozen, the school bus crosses the river. And in summer the school bus is ferried across the river or some students have to take a water taxi, a small power boat commonly used for "public transit" in summer.

The local tour and ferry operator welcomed us (and the rest of the crowd with pre-booked tickets) for a short sightseeing tour by (school) bus ensuring that you have a chance to visit the local restaurant, the gift shop and some native street sales. Then we were taken to the dock of the small passenger ferry serving Moose Factory.

A short geography lesson: The Moose River fed by its many tributaries (among others French River and Abitabi River) flows into James Bay. This salt water bay at the southern tip of the Hudson Bay covers an area slightly larger than Lake Superior. The Hudson Bay itself is one of the worldwide largest bodies of water with an open sea access, in this case the Northern Ocean. As an illustration for our German friends: Germany would fit easily into the area of Hudson Bay. Tide effects are seen about 30 km upstream the Moose River. In winter the Hudson Bay freezes over; even heavy tug boats have to be taken out of the water; the immense pressure of ice would even crunch their steel body.

Moose Factory with a population of about 2,000 people, most of them belonging to the Cree nation, is located three kilometers upstream on an island in the Moose River. Being a Cree settlement for many centuries the Hudson Bay Company established one of its important trade posts ("factory") in the Hudson Bay area in 1673. A small museum and some remaining old buildings give witness of these days. And there is today's "The Bay", an outlet store of the still existing Hudson Bay Company. It looks like a mix of gas station and convenience store with some attached sheds storing some furniture and agricultural equipment, and, important for the dark winters, a well furnished video rental department.

Though today Moosonee is the more important settlement for the supply chain to the North, the twin towns look very much alike. Moose Factory is home of the regional hospital, a health care operation responsible for the entire Western Hudson Bay area reaching as far as 1,000 km North. Needless to say that this can be only covered by air, in particular by SAR helicopters.

And, yet, there is another difference: unlike in Moosonee traffic by-laws are not enforced in Moose Factory. So driving is a little bit on the wild side but not really a problem because of the small number of cars (the ATV races of the youth are the most dangerous challenges).

The guided bus tour guarantees that you stop at all sites either of historical or commercial value. The Cree bread-on-a-stick baked over an open fire pit in a teepee is a new experience. The teepees in most of the backyards are not for tourist purpose. The Cree  still follow their tradition of moose hunting in fall. The meat is smoked and dried in these teepees.

Ferry and bus take you back to the train station just in time for the departure at 6:00 pm. Nearly all tourists return the same day. The time from noon to six is sufficient time for sightseeing in Moosonee and Moose Factory. Those who stay in local B&B or motels (don't expect Southern Ontario standards for accommodation and food service) have certain adventure tours in mind: hunting, fishing, excursion on a freight canoe or visit (by plane) to the Provincial Polar Bear Park in Northern Ontario.

We left on time. Soon after the sun set and it got dark, time to visit the diner and then, later, the entertainment coach. This car of the Polar Bear Express features local singers for a mixture of folk and country as well as sing along. The rest of the time we spent trying to have a nap  after this long though not exhausting day.

The train pulled into Cochrane station on time. Just a walk across the platform got us back into our Station Inn for the night. Don't expect to have a cold beer or a nice glass of wine in the attached restaurant. It closes at 10:00 pm just before the train arrives. So make sure that you have catered something if you get thirsty during the night. Or have correct change for the dispenser of pop.

After Sunday morning's breakfast at the restaurant of the station we left Cochrane. In order to see some different locations of Northern Ontario we took a detour via Timmins. Timmins is a small city and business centre for the surrounding area. It was a boom town during the gold rush (we were too late for the guided morning tour of one of the historic gold mines); today fans know Timmins as the home town of Shania Twain (there is a Shania Twain centre right at the entrance of the gold mine).

From here, highway 144 leads directly South to Sudbury, a drive of about 300 km on a scenic country road. Sudbury is the economic centre of the Nickel Belt of Ontario and the largest city in Northern Ontario.

The rest of the trip was routine. Highway 69 and then highway 400 follow Georgian Bay off Lake Huron linking directly Sudbury with Toronto.

Back home we joked that we can now checkmark another piece of Canada as being visited. But there was this other feeling, too, that you only can "understand" Canada if you follow the motto in its coat of arms "from sea to sea to sea". J

more photos in photo gallery

www.town.cochrane.on.ca

www.townofmoosonee.homestead.com

www.polarbearexpress.ca

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