Highway 138 ends at Kegashka. Technically it continues again much further along the coast near Labrador, but for this trip, the Fin sign at Kegashka was my end point. My trips don’t always have a geographical end point, but I tend to appreciate the ones that do. It signals a time to slow down and take it all in, knowing the journey home is coming. End-of-the-road locations don’t tend to be overly spectacular, but they typically invite a more contemplative exploration.
The day started out from my remote parking lot camp. I didn’t have very much ground to cover to the end of the road…around 140km. Knowing that made the day quite relaxed. The highway had been feeling more remote after Havre-Saint-Pierre. I gather this part was gravel not long ago, but it is all paved now. Most of the towns were just small groups of houses, with maybe a dock or a gas station, but not much else.
The road itself wasn’t very scenic. It seemed like in some spots it used to run closer to the coast, but had been re-routed inland. I drove down a few side roads for some better views, but generally there weren’t as many places for exploration.
So when I saw the beach at Aguanish, I decided to stop and go walking. It didn’t seem all that interesting at first, but it turned out to be a really nice area with dunes and sand bars. It was really quiet too, I saw 2 other people. Otherwise it was just the seagulls and the waves. The town looked really picturesque the way it was nestled along the dunes.
After a refreshing walk at the beach, I moved on to Natashquan, which is the only town of any substance in the area. It is still quite small, but has a school, groceries, and some tourism. There were a decent number of tourists walking around. I went for a walk along the boardwalk. It was a nice looking place, but a bit crowded for me.
It seems common for tourists to drive to the end of the road at Kegashka just to take a photo at the sign, but they actually settle in and spend time at Natashquan.
The remaining drive to the end was uneventful. Kegashka isn’t an overly picturesque town and is quite small. From google, I knew there was a place just outside of town where I could probably wild camp. So I headed there first and setup. There are a few established camp spots by the remains of the wreck of Le Brion.
It was still quite early, but I didn’t want to lose my spot, so I set out on foot back toward town to get a photo of the end of the highway sign. There is a small beach, and a harbor, along with a ferry terminal, but otherwise it felt a little bit like I was invading a private community that I didn’t quite belong in…not a tourist town.
There were actually 2 end-of-the-road signs. One seems to be the official one at the T-intersection. But I also found another one on a little side road by the harbor. I liked that one better. I think maybe at some point they put up a new sign and someone saved the other one? The official one was so covered in stickers, it was hardly readable anyway.
Back at camp, I got a photo of the ferry as it came in. This ferry is an interesting one, as it runs the route along the coast where the highway doesn’t run…stopping at a bunch of very remote towns. A long time ago I looked into riding it, but it’s a long slow voyage, and it isn’t a proper car ferry, so either I would have to ride it all the way back, or it is possible to load a car into a container and load it on. Lots of hassle, but interesting to remember some of the crazy ideas I had back in the day.
The sunset was a muted affair after some of the previous ones and otherwise it was a very quiet night. A good time to sit, watch the waves, and think back on all the wondrous adventures of this trip. A little sad that it’s over, but happy that it happened! Nostalgia is a good part of any adventure.
That brings this chronicle to an end as well. As I noted at the start, this trip was uniquely good and got me back to the basics of what I really enjoy the most on a great road trip. I’m thankful that I had the opportunity and with such great weather and interesting experiences. God blessed me above expectations last summer! I’m very much looking forward to new adventures this year!
The Narrow Twisty Road 