Thank you for sharing as that trip looks special! So cool seeing your FJ and the mods you did to it. I have a 2012 FJ TTSE that I’m building out to overland so I’ll be on the back roads soon. Again, thank you!
I took my 2013 FJ from California on a 2 month 10,000 mile (16,000 km) trip into Western Canada and Alaska last summer. In the Yukon I took the Dempster Highway to Tuktoyatuk. Not nearly as remote as your trip but I had many of the same thoughts about preparing the vehicle for reliability and good overall performance. I may have to follow in your footsteps next on the Trans Taiga.
Hey mate. Really enjoyed this vid and the tidbits of local information you threw in like the height of the sun in the sky at that latitude... so very different to where I live. I'm always interested in wildlife... did you see bears, elk or wolf etc? Only been to Canada for one night... Goose Bay in the military... I've always wanted to go back. Look forward to watching your other vids. Subbed. Cheers 🍻
Thank you so much for commenting. I did get to see quite a bit of wildlife but failed to catch them while driving. Bear, coyote, elk, river otters, pheasants. It was quite the trip!
I'm doing the Trans Taiga in August, 2023. I did the Baie James Road back in Sept. 2001. Yes, the River Rupert was far more raging than I see now. My question is, I'll be renting a brand new Toyota Rav4 and bringing a full spare and tire repair kit. I understand the roughest part of the road is after Brisay -- the final 45 miles to Caniapiscau. * Did you have any tire issues and did you see many people? I saw very few in 2001 but I suspect the road is a lot more popular and traveled now due the Internet. Thank you for any input.
Hi. I did not have any issues with my tires but they were new large mud terrain ones that I used for this trip. I did not see anyone past brisey. From the main road to brisey I only saw 1 other overlander going in as I was leaving and I saw perhaps a handful of Hydro-Québec pickup trucks. Good luck with your trip :)
Perfect. I have a plan to hit this road with the same car .(manual ) . I have a question: where was your final place to fuel up your car and extra containers? KM 381 or you went to Radisson and came back to the Trans Taiga intersection?
Hi. I filled all of my gas canisters before I got on to the james bay highway as premium gas is nowhere to be found in the region (at least when I went) and it would be much cheaper to do it in a bigger city anyway. So if you have the cargo space, I suggest doing that. I did a fill up of my car at the relais at KM 381. Then I drove to the outfitter on the trans taiga having to use one of my 25 litre gas canisters to make the trip. I filled up with regular gas (only regular and diesel available) at the outfitter and filled my one used canister as well . Drove to the end of the road and back to the outfitter after some camping. I can't remember how many canisters I used to make it back. But if my fj (also manual!) can make it with all of the cargo I was carrying, you should be good too. I hope you enjoy your trip!!
I’ve been thinking about doing that on my motorcycle. I’ve ridden to Prudhoe Bay and Tuktoyaktuk 4 different times. What is the required fuel range? I have a range of 200 miles now but can carry more. Thanks for the video.
The range is 350km on the James bay road. And if you want to go to the end of the road in caniapiscau you’ll need to do approximately 600km to go from the outfitter and back.
@@theoccasionalexplorer thanks. Is this a well traveled road? If a person were to have problems how long would it be before someone came along? I’d be going in June/July. On the Dempster/Dalton you only have to wait 5-10 minutes or so. I can see where it’d be nice to team up with some Jeep or truck guys as I’d hate to carry enough fuel for the trip.
The James bay road is well traveled as it serves as the only access to the creek villages of Eastman in the south, chisasibi in the north and the French town of raddison at the very top. The trans taiga is much less traveled but the first half has access to some camping so I’d suspect decent activity on the road. After the out fitter you’ll only see either an occasional hydro worker or if in hunting season, some First Nation Cree. When I went in September, I didn’t see anyone from the outfitter on. That was 600 km round trip from the outfitter and back with no one but myself. But since the hydro camps are there, I’d imagine that you’d see someone within a day not including the weekends.
Thanks for posting, I'm working with a team of 6 Rigs that are going to be leaving from Michigan this summer to do the James Bay Road and Trans Tiaga, we have a 2 week route were wokring on planning out leaving early July. One thing I've been having a challange getting good informatoin on is camping on the actual Trans Tiaga, I understand that a campground is at KM203, but sounds like you camped out near the end, did you just find a place to pull off essentially?
Hi. Sound like you’re going to have a great time with your group. Before you reach the outfitter, as you mentioned, there are specific camping spots you can use. I can’t recall which one I used but being around km205 sounds correct. If it is, it was beautiful. But note that when I went (early sept) all of the campgrounds we’re technically closed. Even all the way up the James bay road. But there’s no one there to stop you from doing so. After the outfitter, there weren’t any developed campground that I can recall. But the same mindset still applies. There is no one there to tell you what to do. You’re in the bush so you’re on your own. Just keep out of hydro Quebec encampments. And unless you know a local Cree native to tell you otherwise, keep out of the Cree hunting camps. Everywhere else is (which is the majority) is open to you. So yes, I found places to pull off away from the road to camp. One thing about going in July, be prepared for a lot of black flies, horse flies, mosquitoes and gnats. Northern Quebec is teaming with flying insects at that time. Good luck!
@@theoccasionalexplorer Thanks for the feedback, it's much appreciated. It was sort of what I assumed, but you know what happens when you assume. So it gives us a little clearer picture of what we're headed into on that leg of the trip. Yes, 'bugs' is a issue we're fully aware of. Unfortunatley aligning calendars with 6 people, isn't easy. So we're pretty limited to that mid summer timeframe. We're going in knowing it'll be an issue, so we'll be as prepared as we can be.
Hi Gary. I got the tent on Amazon. I believe it has many brand names but is made from the same Chinese supplier. What’s nice about that is that accessories can be mixed and matched from different brands. The material is actually very good. I don’t know if it’s 100% polyester but the material thick. I experienced daily rainfall in this trip and never had a leak. The drawback on it however is that the canvas is not very breathable and condensation can build up quickly if not ventilated. I had to use a towel to wipe the inner walls every morning before closing it. Thanks for watching.
Thank you! No problems with the fj. I hope with regular maintenance that will continue to be the case. The fj when full with the roof top tent installed uses a heck of a lot of gasoline. I’m getting maybe 16 miles per gallon average. Edit. I should had on the leg where I had to drive 630km with no gas station, I was going about 70km/h and I was able to go 500km until fully empty. Then with my reserve gas cans I was able to make back to the outfitter.
Hi. I purposely went the first week of september to avoid the mosquitoes. The only issues I had were with gnats at that time. If you're going late June, you should prepare for mosquitoes, horse flies, gnats and the like. I have been in other regions in northern quebec during the june/july time frame and a good mosquito shirt with hood would make things a lot more bearable. Good luck.
Thank you for sharing as that trip looks special! So cool seeing your FJ and the mods you did to it. I have a 2012 FJ TTSE that I’m building out to overland so I’ll be on the back roads soon. Again, thank you!
Thank you I for watching and sharing your comment :)
I took my 2013 FJ from California on a 2 month 10,000 mile (16,000 km) trip into Western Canada and Alaska last summer. In the Yukon I took the Dempster Highway to Tuktoyatuk. Not nearly as remote as your trip but I had many of the same thoughts about preparing the vehicle for reliability and good overall performance. I may have to follow in your footsteps next on the Trans Taiga.
That sounds like an amazing adventure. My next big trip is is hopefully to Tuktoyaktuk also. Maybe we will cross paths midway. :)
Impressive trip….. 👍🇨🇦
Hey mate. Really enjoyed this vid and the tidbits of local information you threw in like the height of the sun in the sky at that latitude... so very different to where I live. I'm always interested in wildlife... did you see bears, elk or wolf etc? Only been to Canada for one night... Goose Bay in the military... I've always wanted to go back. Look forward to watching your other vids. Subbed. Cheers 🍻
Thank you so much for commenting. I did get to see quite a bit of wildlife but failed to catch them while driving. Bear, coyote, elk, river otters, pheasants. It was quite the trip!
awesome video man!
Thank you so much
I'm doing the Trans Taiga in August, 2023. I did the Baie James Road back in Sept. 2001. Yes, the River Rupert was far more raging than I see now. My question is, I'll be renting a brand new Toyota Rav4 and bringing a full spare and tire repair kit. I understand the roughest part of the road is after Brisay -- the final 45 miles to Caniapiscau. * Did you have any tire issues and did you see many people? I saw very few in 2001 but I suspect the road is a lot more popular and traveled now due the Internet. Thank you for any input.
Hi. I did not have any issues with my tires but they were new large mud terrain ones that I used for this trip. I did not see anyone past brisey. From the main road to brisey I only saw 1 other overlander going in as I was leaving and I saw perhaps a handful of Hydro-Québec pickup trucks. Good luck with your trip :)
@@theoccasionalexplorer Thank you. I'll keep you in mind. I have no other concerns about this trip. Can't wait.
Perfect. I have a plan to hit this road with the same car .(manual ) . I have a question: where was your final place to fuel up your car and extra containers? KM 381 or you went to Radisson and came back to the Trans Taiga intersection?
Hi. I filled all of my gas canisters before I got on to the james bay highway as premium gas is nowhere to be found in the region (at least when I went) and it would be much cheaper to do it in a bigger city anyway. So if you have the cargo space, I suggest doing that. I did a fill up of my car at the relais at KM 381. Then I drove to the outfitter on the trans taiga having to use one of my 25 litre gas canisters to make the trip. I filled up with regular gas (only regular and diesel available) at the outfitter and filled my one used canister as well . Drove to the end of the road and back to the outfitter after some camping. I can't remember how many canisters I used to make it back. But if my fj (also manual!) can make it with all of the cargo I was carrying, you should be good too. I hope you enjoy your trip!!
Appreciate you.🙏🙏🙏🙏
I’ve been thinking about doing that on my motorcycle. I’ve ridden to Prudhoe Bay and Tuktoyaktuk 4 different times. What is the required fuel range? I have a range of 200 miles now but can carry more. Thanks for the video.
The range is 350km on the James bay road. And if you want to go to the end of the road in caniapiscau you’ll need to do approximately 600km to go from the outfitter and back.
@@theoccasionalexplorer thanks. Is this a well traveled road? If a person were to have problems how long would it be before someone came along? I’d be going in June/July. On the Dempster/Dalton you only have to wait 5-10 minutes or so. I can see where it’d be nice to team up with some Jeep or truck guys as I’d hate to carry enough fuel for the trip.
The James bay road is well traveled as it serves as the only access to the creek villages of Eastman in the south, chisasibi in the north and the French town of raddison at the very top. The trans taiga is much less traveled but the first half has access to some camping so I’d suspect decent activity on the road. After the out fitter you’ll only see either an occasional hydro worker or if in hunting season, some First Nation Cree. When I went in September, I didn’t see anyone from the outfitter on. That was 600 km round trip from the outfitter and back with no one but myself. But since the hydro camps are there, I’d imagine that you’d see someone within a day not including the weekends.
Thanks for posting, I'm working with a team of 6 Rigs that are going to be leaving from Michigan this summer to do the James Bay Road and Trans Tiaga, we have a 2 week route were wokring on planning out leaving early July. One thing I've been having a challange getting good informatoin on is camping on the actual Trans Tiaga, I understand that a campground is at KM203, but sounds like you camped out near the end, did you just find a place to pull off essentially?
Hi. Sound like you’re going to have a great time with your group. Before you reach the outfitter, as you mentioned, there are specific camping spots you can use. I can’t recall which one I used but being around km205 sounds correct. If it is, it was beautiful. But note that when I went (early sept) all of the campgrounds we’re technically closed. Even all the way up the James bay road. But there’s no one there to stop you from doing so. After the outfitter, there weren’t any developed campground that I can recall. But the same mindset still applies. There is no one there to tell you what to do. You’re in the bush so you’re on your own. Just keep out of hydro Quebec encampments. And unless you know a local Cree native to tell you otherwise, keep out of the Cree hunting camps. Everywhere else is (which is the majority) is open to you. So yes, I found places to pull off away from the road to camp. One thing about going in July, be prepared for a lot of black flies, horse flies, mosquitoes and gnats. Northern Quebec is teaming with flying insects at that time. Good luck!
@@theoccasionalexplorer Thanks for the feedback, it's much appreciated. It was sort of what I assumed, but you know what happens when you assume. So it gives us a little clearer picture of what we're headed into on that leg of the trip. Yes, 'bugs' is a issue we're fully aware of. Unfortunatley aligning calendars with 6 people, isn't easy. So we're pretty limited to that mid summer timeframe. We're going in knowing it'll be an issue, so we'll be as prepared as we can be.
Were did you get the tent, how has it performed, did you have any bad weather.
Hi Gary. I got the tent on Amazon. I believe it has many brand names but is made from the same Chinese supplier. What’s nice about that is that accessories can be mixed and matched from different brands. The material is actually very good. I don’t know if it’s 100% polyester but the material thick. I experienced daily rainfall in this trip and never had a leak. The drawback on it however is that the canvas is not very breathable and condensation can build up quickly if not ventilated. I had to use a towel to wipe the inner walls every morning before closing it. Thanks for watching.
Very nice set up! Would love to do an adventure like that. Did you have any problems with the FJ? How much fuel did you use?
Thank you! No problems with the fj. I hope with regular maintenance that will continue to be the case. The fj when full with the roof top tent installed uses a heck of a lot of gasoline. I’m getting maybe 16 miles per gallon average. Edit. I should had on the leg where I had to drive 630km with no gas station, I was going about 70km/h and I was able to go 500km until fully empty. Then with my reserve gas cans I was able to make back to the outfitter.
Which month did you go there? Were mosquitoes a problem? I'm going there in the last week of June 2023.
Hi. I purposely went the first week of september to avoid the mosquitoes. The only issues I had were with gnats at that time. If you're going late June, you should prepare for mosquitoes, horse flies, gnats and the like. I have been in other regions in northern quebec during the june/july time frame and a good mosquito shirt with hood would make things a lot more bearable. Good luck.
How long did the whole trip take in total?
It took me a little over a week with a strong emphasis on doing lots of driving. I would next time do it in a much more relaxed way.
@@theoccasionalexplorer wow, that's pretty quick, how many hours do you typically drive in one go?
It’s not uncommon for me to do 9 hours of driving when I’m trying to get as many kms as I can. I don’t recommend it however.
You said you could do it in an SUV, isn't an FJ and SUV? Maybe I misunderstood your comment.