Initially I had thought to travel the loop clockwise as I was hoping to start the trip driving north through Vermont on I-91 into Quebec province, along the St. Lawrence River until the road ends. This takes you north on Rt.389, the only road there is, to Labrador (Rt 500). Luann, my wife pointed out a good point which reversed our direction. Having to have to make a reservation for the ferry crossing from Nova Scotia to Newfoundland puts a schedule demand on the calendar. Best to have this constraint at the start which then leaves the wandering wide open for our trip otherwise we would always know we had to be at a location on a certain date.
So, it just takes rethinking the places to camp for the first four nights in the other direction. Prior to this shift I was quite excited going into Quebec first. Vermont is a very civilized, low key, two lane interstate that is very relaxing to drive (a rarity in New England). It shadows the Connecticut river, separating NH from VT. Farms and forests, rivers and lakes…. a pleasant start. Our prior first major goal was to be northeast of Quebec city on the first night and then getting to Manicouagan Reservoir on the second night. I am really interested in this place. I had no idea it existed until two years ago.
When one sees it for the first time it is usually on a map of Canada, that’s how big in scale it is. It looks man made at first. What could be this big and nearly perfectly round? And, in the shape of a donut! It is sixty miles in diameter and doing the math means one can get in a big boat and do the whole circumference of 180 miles around the center island and that is not counting the real shoreline mileage.
It was created some 214 million years ago by a meteor strike… wow must have been a doozy. Some theories suggest it was part of a multiple strike event, the others in France and the Ukraine. At the southern extreme there is a hydroelectric dam which is also a possible interesting stop. There are a few places to camp on the shore that have showers that might be timely now it is a stop after crossing Labrador.
Finding out about places to visit keeps the excitement high as the departure day approaches….
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manicouagan_Reservoir
http://craterexplorer.ca/manicouagan-impact-structure/
https://www.nasa.gov/content/manicouagan-crater
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