Jackfish, Ontario

Many weeks ago, I promised to continue my journal on my trip in October to the ghosttown of Jackfish, Ontario. Its not easy to find the road that leads there - I actually missed it on the way up and was more than surprised that I actually managed to find it on the way back. Even once I started down the messy dirt road, I was unsure if I was in the right place. Even once I became fairly sure that it was the right road, I'm was not sure until I found the lot which matched the description in my guidebook where I should park. The road was barely a road... Kashechewan has better, but the road to Martin Head is a good deal worse. It was rutted and had deep puddles and need slow and cautious driving to avoid potential problems such as getting stuck or finding a surprise under the puddle. It was also fairly late in the afternoon by the time I arrived. Using the finger technique (and my experience of the last few days), I estimated that I had about 1 hour of good sunlight, followed by an hour of rapidly failing sunlight. If it had not been one of the few places that I really, really wanted to see I probably would have thought better of it. I was relieved to see operating trains nearby. It made the scene feel less deserted.