I had intended to skirt round the north of Winnipeg to camp on the west side of Lake Winnipeg but more rain was forecast so I headed for Winnipeg and stayed in a hostel. Winnipeg was the largest town I had ridden through since starting the trip. The Ice Hockey Arena takes pride of place in the centre of town.

Drying Tent And Tarp Before Arriving In Winnipeg
Checking the weather forecast, thunder and heavy rain were predicted for the following afternoon and for several days after that. The next morning was supposed to be cloudy but dry. I decided to make an unusually early start and hopefully escape the heavy rain. Awaking to more rain was disappointing but at least it wasn't particularly heavy. Whilst making breakfast someone had put the TV weather channel on. The forecaster was warning of imminent severe thunder storms for Winnipeg and helpfully pointing out that these kind of storms can and sometimes do turn into hurricanes. The weather was clearer to the north so I opted to try and outrun the storm.

Lake Winnipeg, Manitoba

I had intermittent rain until mid afternoon but it then cleared into a hot dry evening as I travelled north from Winnipeg on routes 9, 68, 6 and 60 towards The Paz and Flin Flon.

Manitoba, Lake And Fewer Trees

Being roughly in the middle of nowhere I decided to wild camp and turned down a track off route 60. Exploring an area of open ground I got stuck in deep gravel whilst trying to turn the bike round. Having taking the luggage off to reduce the weight I then found an old discarded wooden door. Digging the gravel out behind the bike I got the door positioned so that I could pull the rear wheel onto the door and was then able to ride back to terra firma. No major drama as the ground was level and I knew I would get the bike out one way or another. In hindsight, there was firmer, wider ground ahead. I should have kept going and turned on the firmer ground. All adds to the excitement though!

If Your Stupid Enough To Get Stuck In The Gravel At Least Be Smart Enough To Do It Beside A Discarded Door!

Manitoba Wild Camp After Being Stuck In Gravel

Manitoba Lakes And Trees