James Bay Road

[goldxc70]

Thinking about taking a trip to Radsison, Quebec along the James Bay Road. Here's a link: http://jamesbayroad.com/index.html

The 381 km (236 mile) stretch of the James Bay Road is the longest service-free stretch of road in Canada, and the second longest service-free stretch of road in North America! This is second only by a hair to the Dalton Hwy in Alaska, which has a 394 km (244 mile) stretch without services. The Dempster Hwy running from the Yukon to NWT in Canada has a stretch of 363 km (225 miles) without services.

I'm thinking of using the to sleep in instead of a tent (which I'll bring along as backup of course!) because our overnights will be relatively short. Some others on this forum have reported this working out quite well although where the other stuff goes is the question!

Has anybody ever taken this particular trip? Has anybody any advice to offer on using the XC70 as a tent?

[kusa]

Ive never been on that stretch of road so I can offer no feedback in that dept. As far as using the XC as a tent...ya, I camp out of it a great deal in the high desert of New Mexico...pretty much live in it. The back interior of the xc is slightly shorter than my old 145 and 240 which also has seen a lot of camping...if you are any taller than I am 6'2" the back will be tight if you need to close the tailgate hatch due to snow or rain. I sleep diagonally and just fit comfortably. You can gain a few inches in length if you pull the rear seats but you may need to improvise a rest for the seat backs because they are designed to rest on hooks on the underside of the lower seats when folded forward. I also pull the center lower rear seat so that there is a opening between the cockpit and the sleep area. This way you can easily crawl between or retrieve items from the cockpit or visa versa. I use an open style roof cargo rack for a spare tire, jumper/compressor unit and my gear in dry bags...this keeps my gear out of the sleep area. If you sleep with the gate hatch open you can shut the rear overhead light off by holding the center light button of the overhead cockpit light for 3 seconds...it should stay off until you switch again...there is nothing worse than having your nights eyes ruined by opening the tail gate to a blinding flash of light. Because its the monsoon season down here I often have muddy feat or clothes, for this reason I picked up a truck bed rubber mat and cut it to fit in the back of the wagon...keeps that lovely fuzzy interior looking nice. Ive also rigged a tarp to the rack for a leanto. I also use a multi-fuel camp stove that will run on auto fuel this way Im not hauling out additional fuel canisters ie. propane/ butane.

[goldxc70]

Ive also rigged a tarp to the rack for a leanto. I also use a multi-fuel camp stove that will run on auto fuel this way Im not hauling out additional fuel canisters ie. propane/ butane.

Thanks for all your information but especially these two great ideas that I hadn't even thought about!