1962, my dad took our family to Wakimi Lake Provincial Park. North of Thessalon about 100 miles. All gravel roads, my mom was not happy, riding in the back of a two door pickup with a topper. My brothers and I were in heaven though, awesome memories.
Years ago we took the passenger train from the Soo, through Agwa Canyon to Hearst. Stayed overnight and took the train back the next day. Enjoyed many flagdowns and the wilderness.
I really enjoy the channel being a new subscriber over the weekend. I envy you bringing history alive. I myself am a closet historian from northern NY (30 minutes from the Canadian border somewhat across from Kingston Canada). My history fact I found out when I got married at Niagara Falls was the park at the Falls was designed by Fredrick Olmstead because I already knew our park here in Watertown NY was a Fredrick Olmstead design. I miss the days when you could drive across the border without an enhanced license or passport.
I can't believe I just watched a video about Frater Road. We went down that road in 1998 with my 16yr old son. We had a Subaru Outback which at that time had pretty high clearance but we still rolled over a few boulders. There were people waiting to get picked up by the train to go back to the Soo and several cars parked. We only went as far as the tracks and turned around and went back. Nowadays when we are traveling down a rough interstate or state highway one of us will shout out "Frater Road." It was a fun vacation for 3 Michiganders.
Back then, the road didn't really go much farther than Frater. At least a good road. We often caught the train at Frater and headed into the canyon from there. Good times.
Thanks for posting this! It brings back great memories from the 70's and 80's of camping at Pancake Bay and Batchawana Bay and then catching the train in Frater to the canyon. I seem to recall the train station was in someone's house which also served as a post office.
We have done the tour train and it too was great, as was the canyon lunch break it provided. Love adventure drives and will do them with you. No bugs come through on TH-cam. More!
Great video Chuck and Poppins. I just got back yesterday from my Canadian adventure east of the Soo. Canoed at Temagami and then adventured north and west of Elliott Lake with friends who live there. My weather was similar to yours. --Rob Burg
Great adventure video! I've only crossed the bridge at the Soo once, three decades ago to go skiing at Searchmont. Picked up a brochure for the Agawa Canyon Snow Train, but haven't made it back there yet. Someday...
Yeah! Glad to hear it! There is a good Atlas to start your research called Ontario Backroads. Of course, GAIA has many of them too. We find the mystery of the unmapped roads to be a lot of fun.
On my list, highway 17 mainly in my converted Promaster from Grand Portage Minn to Detroit Mich. Will avoid secondary roads like 101 and 144, have 350-400 mile range at moderate cursing speeds, though they look good but boring from the street views.
Ah, memories of Pukaskwa National Park and hiking the White River with my Dad after dropping my Mom off at my Grandma and Grandpa's in Hancock. I don't recall us doing much south of Wawa, though like Isle Royal was amazing to me how tame like the fox were up there. Also, how insanely giant and invasive the bugs are when in season. About the same in the UP in regards to the critters, at least the northern parts I'm familiar with along the lakeshore. Thanks for sharing! Neat seeing the Agawa area.
I rode that train back in the early 80s,stood in the vestibule between cars,with my head out the open door! Well,you know,those toilets,don't have any holding tanks,and I got sprayed with piss,with every flush😢! A few other young guys stuck their heads out. I went and washed off, didn't notice the smell in the wind!till I washed my face off. We stopped and dropped of mail,canoes,food and ppl,or dogs and sleds! But the climb up to the top of Agawa canyon was quite a veiw,considering most of Ontario is pretty flat south of Barry! It'd be nice if that train ran again !
When I was Yooper copper country I got a bug jacket that was bug net vented under the air pits and had a bug net that zipped up on to the hood to protected the face. Add a fishing hat with a brim all the way around and it keeps the net and hood off the face even more. The bugs were brutal and I would not have survived with out it and DEET
Bug shirts are a life saver! We usually wear them when bugs are bad, they were there, but not "bad" on this trip. Poppins has a full bug suit - two jackets and a number of head nets!
Such an awesome adventure that you took us on. It's a gorgeous area. Loved the bug net! Do the two of you ever get a tad freaked out when you're "alone" in the woods???
Good question. It would be rare for both of us to get worked up while in the wilderness. Alone in a large city (to Chuck) is a more of a concern than in the woods, where he has spent a huge share of his life. Poppins isn't afraid of the wilderness, cities or Chuck. 😀
I grew up in Thunder Bay in the 50s and 60s and I have a sister who still lives there. I go back often Chicago Duluth Thunder Bay but a few years ago I went the SE way from Thunder Bay. It’s almost shocking how different it is. So much less developed. And that’s an understatement. I saw cross country bicyclists on that road and wondered what are you thinking!! Miles and miles of nothing
That road is what my dad would call a "speed road" on the old Press On Regardless Road Rally which was held in the UP about 30 years ago. They've stopped having it there but in its heyday it was considered even worse than Baja. When he said "speed road" he meant that the drivers would be doing 50-60 mph, if you can imagine driving that fast on that road.
I think POR was the last WRC event in the US. I've heard stories about it from a couple older rally guys. Then there is the story of a Lancia Stratos abandoned somewhere in the UP.
@@theresemalmberg955 One of the car mags ended up doing an article about it a while back. I think it was somewhere just out of Hancock supposedly but a car like that, I would assume it is just a tall tale.
@@Rattles02 Outside of Hancock? Doesn't seem likely. Too close to main roads, towing facilities--something like that wouldn't be left there for long. Now the Hurons on the other hand, I can see. They are off the beaten track. In fact I would not be surprised if there were more than one abandoned vehicle back there.
Great adventure! I did a course with the Fortune Bay bunch back in 2016 I think it was. I was prepping for a Canadian adventure myself. A friend of mine went on a few with a 4x4 group up there and gave me some tracks. Between covid and a kidney transplant, it's been put on hold. I still love getting to the UP. Funny for as many times as I have been to the Soo, I haven't crossed over to Canada.
Hot Date and I spent part of our honeymoon on the Agawa Canyon Train. I saw there was a town at the other end we could have stayed at, but didn't figure there was anything there. So, we just took the ride to the canyon. Still worth the trip.
Looking good , you got carpenter skils and the work ethic to get it done. I got everything and more done that I had planned for the week. The heat was brutal but got er done..and even had time for friends and family up this weekend to cap off a successful week, but I'm not 25 anymore, I feel it.. 😂
I just wanna say I really enjoyed your video, I have a camp up there about 20 km of that bridge you went across. I’ve been going up there since 1983 my Camp borders the park. If you like that message me, we can talk more about that area if you’d like.
Once you hit the Frater Road, no fuel stops, we carried extra fuel. Highway 17 does have a few but there is a 70 mile stretch without fuel (Frater Road is in the middle).
They aren't mine (I got permission for the edited video in video footage) - someone else produced the video (I wasn't a video guy back then). There might be something on the Fortune Bay Expedition Team FB Page - I think we posted stuff around 2010 and did an expedition to the canyon on foot and exited via train. They have a small channel with some footage too - there might be something there. @fortunebay
LOL. One time we took an ice road to the Arctic Ocean. We thought we were grand adventurers, then two mini-vans full of kids headed to a hockey game passed us. . . 😂😂
Elton is not a town. It is a railway siding and the buildings beside the tracks are old section houses that have been sold as camps for tourists. The other buildings are camps leased out to tourists. Calling this a town is not correct!
You guys go on the coolest adventures. I definitely want to take my girlfriend over the bridge to canada. It’s crazy how a 30min drive past the bridge is such a huge change in scenery.
Some of the footage is in a SD card, in a drone, in a tree in the far off wilderness. The rest of the footage, the GoPro (as often happens) didn't capture it. It was just a field and 1 cabin.
Ah - that is just an old mollie map bag with registration, edc items, passport, etc. I carry a rebuilt Adventure Medical Mountain Medic kit (and a current certification as a WFR. It is a "big" kit, so it is in a place under the backseat - not as accessible as above my head. That's a good idea for a smaller kit.
1962, my dad took our family to Wakimi Lake Provincial Park. North of Thessalon about 100 miles. All gravel roads, my mom was not happy, riding in the back of a two door pickup with a topper. My brothers and I were in heaven though, awesome memories.
Yes located near the town Sultan. 😮
❤ Poppins
❤ Chuck
♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️ Winch 😉✌️😎
(That footage at the end! 😨!!!)
Great adventure. Thanks for taking me along. I have noticed a guitar in the truck. You must sing us a song or two...
In some videos, but not many.
Thanks for taking us along on your adventure! Way to be a trooper Poppins !!! I loved the bug net with the Hat! Awesome!
I love these types of adventures. Thank you for taking us along 👍😎
Poppins, you're amazing!💛💙💚💜❤
Poppins ❤
Years ago we took the passenger train from the Soo, through Agwa Canyon to Hearst. Stayed overnight and took the train back the next day.
Enjoyed many flagdowns and the wilderness.
Thank you another wonderful vid. I enjoyed it with my morning cup of Joe.
Another great video. However it ended abruptly and left me wanting more. Please tell me there is a part 2
Yeah, for sure.....wanted to see why they wanted to go to Eton, and what, if anything, was there.
Another great adventure! Poppins, get Chuck to take you to a spa!!!🤣😂
🤣😂 We just finished a "Poppins Weekend" with wine tasting, resale shops, cute dinners and dress up weddings. So . . .
👍Well played!@@RestlessViking
Poppins inside the Jeep with her mosquito net on; I laughed out loud because I would probably do that too. 💗
Love the film , keep wheeling thru the bush !!
My dad used to take us fly-in fishing north of Wawa.
Beautiful scenery, cool video.
Thanx 4 sharing.
Many thanks!
Awesome trip. Thanks for filming your adventure .
I really enjoy the channel being a new subscriber over the weekend. I envy you bringing history alive. I myself am a closet historian from northern NY (30 minutes from the Canadian border somewhat across from Kingston Canada).
My history fact I found out when I got married at Niagara Falls was the park at the Falls was designed by Fredrick Olmstead because I already knew our park here in Watertown NY was a Fredrick Olmstead design.
I miss the days when you could drive across the border without an enhanced license or passport.
Welcome Phil!
I can't believe I just watched a video about Frater Road. We went down that road in 1998 with my 16yr old son. We had a Subaru Outback which at that time had pretty high clearance but we still rolled over a few boulders. There were people waiting to get picked up by the train to go back to the Soo and several cars parked. We only went as far as the tracks and turned around and went back. Nowadays when we are traveling down a rough interstate or state highway one of us will shout out "Frater Road." It was a fun vacation for 3 Michiganders.
Back then, the road didn't really go much farther than Frater. At least a good road. We often caught the train at Frater and headed into the canyon from there. Good times.
Very interesting. I’ll be sharing your videos with my husband
Never been across the International Bridge but I have been halfway across the adjacent railroad bridge several times many years ago.
Thanks for posting this! It brings back great memories from the 70's and 80's of camping at Pancake Bay and Batchawana Bay and then catching the train in Frater to the canyon. I seem to recall the train station was in someone's house which also served as a post office.
Very cool!
Poppins❤❤😊
We have done the tour train and it too was great, as was the canyon lunch break it provided.
Love adventure drives and will do them with you. No bugs come through on TH-cam. More!
LOL. We plan on doing more.
❤ Poppins.
Also, this channel is awesome.
(another Michigander)
Yay! Thank you!
Nice rubi and great to see it in it's normal terrain , Here in Oz they dont bring in the Diesel version 😥
Thanks! They don't have the Diesel down there? Wow. It is almost always the other way around.
Great video Chuck and Poppins. I just got back yesterday from my Canadian adventure east of the Soo. Canoed at Temagami and then adventured north and west of Elliott Lake with friends who live there. My weather was similar to yours.
--Rob Burg
I like that are. There's lots to explore over there!
We've taken the Agawa Canyon tour train several times. Poppins gets a gold star for surviving this adventure! Bugs - I hate those bugs.
Wow - I know right were you are! I was a timber surveyor for Domtar many years ago. The stories we could share!
Very cool! The stories indeed!
💚Poppins
Great adventure video! I've only crossed the bridge at the Soo once, three decades ago to go skiing at Searchmont. Picked up a brochure for the Agawa Canyon Snow Train, but haven't made it back there yet. Someday...
Thanks!
Welcome! And thank YOU!!
just awesome! thank you!
Looks beautiful. Now you have me researching Canada "trails"
Yeah! Glad to hear it! There is a good Atlas to start your research called Ontario Backroads. Of course, GAIA has many of them too. We find the mystery of the unmapped roads to be a lot of fun.
@@RestlessViking thanks for the direction! I was just starting to try and figure that out.
❤❤❤❤❤❤❤ Poppins ❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤
That is so cool! Thanks for sharing!
Thanks for watching!
Great video, haven't been able to do many adventures this summer thnx,hope theres another video showing the town or if is anything left of it lol.
Great Adventure with POPPIN'S driving I felt so much safer with her driving us Chuck :) and loved the hat POPPIN’S :) Happy Trails To You.
Happy holidays!
We were laughing at Poppins driving the Jeep with the bug net. Definitely something I would do, lol.
😂😀 - She is a trooper for sure.
Been going to Eton my entire life, I hope you explored beyond the bridge!
We did. But didn't take any footage unfortunately.
❤ Poppins ❤
My wife and I just traveled on the Agawa Canyon Railroad just two months ago. It was a long day, but defiantly worth doing.
Great video! I have been to Frater and beyond a number of times and great to see you explore there.
On my list, highway 17 mainly in my converted Promaster from Grand Portage Minn to Detroit Mich. Will avoid secondary roads like 101 and 144, have 350-400 mile range at moderate cursing speeds, though they look good but boring from the street views.
Ah, memories of Pukaskwa National Park and hiking the White River with my Dad after dropping my Mom off at my Grandma and Grandpa's in Hancock. I don't recall us doing much south of Wawa, though like Isle Royal was amazing to me how tame like the fox were up there. Also, how insanely giant and invasive the bugs are when in season. About the same in the UP in regards to the critters, at least the northern parts I'm familiar with along the lakeshore. Thanks for sharing! Neat seeing the Agawa area.
I rode that train back in the early 80s,stood in the vestibule between cars,with my head out the open door! Well,you know,those toilets,don't have any holding tanks,and I got sprayed with piss,with every flush😢! A few other young guys stuck their heads out.
I went and washed off, didn't notice the smell in the wind!till I washed my face off.
We stopped and dropped of mail,canoes,food and ppl,or dogs and sleds!
But the climb up to the top of Agawa canyon was quite a veiw,considering most of Ontario is pretty flat south of Barry!
It'd be nice if that train ran again !
Taking off to the boonies to a whole new level. Looks like fun.
When I was Yooper copper country I got a bug jacket that was bug net vented under the air pits and had a bug net that zipped up on to the hood to protected the face. Add a fishing hat with a brim all the way around and it keeps the net and hood off the face even more. The bugs were brutal and I would not have survived with out it and DEET
Bug shirts are a life saver! We usually wear them when bugs are bad, they were there, but not "bad" on this trip. Poppins has a full bug suit - two jackets and a number of head nets!
Such an awesome adventure that you took us on. It's a gorgeous area. Loved the bug net! Do the two of you ever get a tad freaked out when you're "alone" in the woods???
Good question. It would be rare for both of us to get worked up while in the wilderness. Alone in a large city (to Chuck) is a more of a concern than in the woods, where he has spent a huge share of his life. Poppins isn't afraid of the wilderness, cities or Chuck. 😀
LOL, love it. Thank you.
I grew up in Thunder Bay in the 50s and 60s and I have a sister who still lives there. I go back often Chicago Duluth Thunder Bay but a few years ago I went the SE way from Thunder Bay. It’s almost shocking how different it is. So much less developed. And that’s an understatement. I saw cross country bicyclists on that road and wondered what are you thinking!! Miles and miles of nothing
#mysisterinlawiscoolerthanyours and she’s smart too. 💕Poppins💕
That road is what my dad would call a "speed road" on the old Press On Regardless Road Rally which was held in the UP about 30 years ago. They've stopped having it there but in its heyday it was considered even worse than Baja. When he said "speed road" he meant that the drivers would be doing 50-60 mph, if you can imagine driving that fast on that road.
I think POR was the last WRC event in the US. I've heard stories about it from a couple older rally guys. Then there is the story of a Lancia Stratos abandoned somewhere in the UP.
@@Rattles02 That wouldn't surprise me at all (the abandoned Lancia Stratos). Probably in the Huron Mountains.
@@theresemalmberg955 One of the car mags ended up doing an article about it a while back. I think it was somewhere just out of Hancock supposedly but a car like that, I would assume it is just a tall tale.
@@Rattles02 Outside of Hancock? Doesn't seem likely. Too close to main roads, towing facilities--something like that wouldn't be left there for long. Now the Hurons on the other hand, I can see. They are off the beaten track. In fact I would not be surprised if there were more than one abandoned vehicle back there.
You’re a trooper Poppins❤. My wife is not a big fan of that much adventure. But we’re working on it 😂.
Great video guys!
Poppins, yer a real trooper, eh!
Great adventure! I did a course with the Fortune Bay bunch back in 2016 I think it was. I was prepping for a Canadian adventure myself. A friend of mine went on a few with a 4x4 group up there and gave me some tracks. Between covid and a kidney transplant, it's been put on hold. I still love getting to the UP. Funny for as many times as I have been to the Soo, I haven't crossed over to Canada.
Very cool. I used to give a lot of classes with Fortune Bay. Canada holds a lot of adventure and I really hope you are able to get up there soon!
Hot Date and I spent part of our honeymoon on the Agawa Canyon Train. I saw there was a town at the other end we could have stayed at, but didn't figure there was anything there. So, we just took the ride to the canyon. Still worth the trip.
Looking good , you got carpenter skils and the work ethic to get it done. I got everything and more done that I had planned for the week. The heat was brutal but got er done..and even had time for friends and family up this weekend to cap off a successful week, but I'm not 25 anymore, I feel it.. 😂
Right on!
@RestlessViking sorry probably did not make sense for ya, waa replying to a different post and some how ended up on yours 🤣
😂@@dacabinguy
wow
Great video, sending a big Canadian hug and *sorry* for the bugs 😅
😁 😄
Last time across that international bridge was on the return trip from Alaska in February 2004.
Selectable lockers are an expensive but totally worth it.
I just wanna say I really enjoyed your video, I have a camp up there about 20 km of that bridge you went across. I’ve been going up there since 1983 my Camp borders the park. If you like that message me, we can talk more about that area if you’d like.
Eh i go up a Wart Lake Its 71mi north of the Soo. My fam has a Cabin on in Island. cool old land.
This was great! What year is jeep? Does it have the 3.6?
Thanks Josh. It is a 2001 with the 3.6.
@@RestlessViking '01 ?!?!! Great shape!
LOL!!! Sorry! "2021"!!!@@gus473
My Father was an MP at the same kind of POW camp in or around Blissfield, MI
Are there fuel stops available? Or are you carrying extra?
Once you hit the Frater Road, no fuel stops, we carried extra fuel. Highway 17 does have a few but there is a 70 mile stretch without fuel (Frater Road is in the middle).
Does that make you in the market for some better off road tires?
They were ordered before the trip, but waiting for the buy 3 get one deal. 😄 Those tires had too many miles.
Post your old videos at Frater Chuck!
They aren't mine (I got permission for the edited video in video footage) - someone else produced the video (I wasn't a video guy back then). There might be something on the Fortune Bay Expedition Team FB Page - I think we posted stuff around 2010 and did an expedition to the canyon on foot and exited via train. They have a small channel with some footage too - there might be something there. @fortunebay
❤❤POPPINS❤❤
☘️ FJK
Poppin, if you have less bug bites, you are the winner
Either of us got any bites - that makes it a victory for Poppins!
More remote than Australia 👍👍 here in Oz you may think your remote but then a 4WD pulling a camper will come along 😆😆
LOL. One time we took an ice road to the Arctic Ocean. We thought we were grand adventurers, then two mini-vans full of kids headed to a hockey game passed us. . . 😂😂
After the mosquitos up there finish you off, they go after your family.
😂
I'm sorry to say, if you stopped at Voyageur and didn't get one of their enormous apple fritters....you missed out on something big!!!
GO BACK!!!! ;)
I can't believe you stopped at the Voyagers and didn't get apple fritters... I almost had to stop the video...
We did, but to go.
❤🧡💛💚💙💜🤎🖤🤍
Elton is not a town. It is a railway siding and the buildings beside the tracks are old section houses that have been sold as camps for tourists. The other buildings are camps leased out to tourists. Calling this a town is not correct!
It's Eton. . . not Elton. And we explain all that in the video.
Yeah, the net on poppins was hilarious!
Bugs do love her and the net does work wonders for her.
You guys go on the coolest adventures. I definitely want to take my girlfriend over the bridge to canada. It’s crazy how a 30min drive past the bridge is such a huge change in scenery.
Crazy Indeed and very true!
Why didn’t you show us the town of Elton?
Some of the footage is in a SD card, in a drone, in a tree in the far off wilderness. The rest of the footage, the GoPro (as often happens) didn't capture it. It was just a field and 1 cabin.
Is the Frist aid kit for Bear Nations or Medical Refuge?
The ones we carry?
@@RestlessViking The one above you in the Jeep?
Ah - that is just an old mollie map bag with registration, edc items, passport, etc. I carry a rebuilt Adventure Medical Mountain Medic kit (and a current certification as a WFR. It is a "big" kit, so it is in a place under the backseat - not as accessible as above my head. That's a good idea for a smaller kit.
Where's part 2?