Winter Photography in Ontario Canada

[peter_dendrinos1]

Hello all;

 

I just drove from Thunder Bay to Sault Ste Marie on 17. Truly some of

the most beautiful scenery I have seen in a long time.

 

I would like to go back this winter to capture it. LF B&W. basically

I shoot out of the car. That is to say I dont generally hike in, just

drive up, set up, and shoot.

 

My questions is this, Can anyone tell me what to expect.

Temperatures, snowfall, sunshine, road conditions, lodging. Stuff

like do I need to carry extra fuel, tire chains, should I prepare to

sleep in the car?

 

I live in very snowy country so I already have a handle on the

basics, but this is well north of me, and is not heavily populated

even in the warmer seasons.

 

Thanks for your input.

 

Pete

[miles_feigenbaum___dallas_]

A Cabernet should go well with the Black Bear.

[tedharris]

But Miles .... what if the bear prefers a Merlot with his photographer au gratin?

[peter_dendrinos1]

Well actually I am Greek, so the Cab would probably work better with the roast leg of photographer.

 

Pete

[tim_atherton9]

I can see you are all city folks who don't actually live in bear country - the bears go to sleep here for the winter....

 

Now, we did have wolves on the lake int he middle of town a couple of weeks ago.

[peter_dendrinos1]

I live in Northern Michigan; we have Bear, Wolves, and plenty of other critters. The bear dont bother me much, at least you can see them coming. Now lets talk snakes, forget it. I would rather live with big game than small poisonous ones any day.

[John Crowe]

Temperatures - very low.

 

 

Snow - lots.

 

 

Sunshine - not much.

 

 

Seriously, I am used to the conditions about 6 hours south of there, and there is a big difference. www.theweathernetwork.com may be of more use for current conditons and yearly highs/lows, that sort of thing. Also try www.ontariotravel.net.

[ben_gervais]

This is considered a major highway, and every effort is made to keep it open at all times. Having said that, breakdowns should happen, so you should be prepared to sleep in your car should something extraordinary occur.

<br><br>

I belive it is illegal to use chains on ontario roadways, and the road will be plowed and sanded / salted, so they shouldn't be necessary in any event.<br><br>

 

here is a link to Wawa's seasonal norms: <a href=http://www.climate.weatheroffice.ec.gc.ca/climate_normals/results_e.html?Province=ALL&StationName=wawa&SearchType=BeginsWith&LocateBy=Province&Proximity=25&ProximityFrom=City&StationNumber=&IDType=MSC&CityName=&ParkName=&LatitudeDegrees=&LatitudeMinutes=&LongitudeDegrees=&LongitudeMinutes=&NormalsClass=A&SelNormals=&StnId=4099&&autofwd=1&pageid=2&lang=ENG>Environment canada</a><br><br>

Cheers,<br><br>

-ben

[peter_dendrinos1]

I did some looking for average temps looks like high/low 16/-6 F or -9/-21 C for January. But I am not finding snow fall averages, or days of sun.

 

I would put up with the cold if I had sun. although I will say that the average temps are well below ours.

[peter_dendrinos1]

oh, thanks Ben.

[peter k]

Hi Peter, yes it is a very scenic trip. You will not have any problems with Lodging or services. As mentioned before it is a major Highway and it is kept open. The truckers, to some extend, use Highway 11 as it has less hills. But there is still much traffic during the day. I have travelled this road in winter for many years without any problems. Common sense prevails. Take an empty tabaco tin the kind a roll of toilet paper fits into. A bottle of rubbing alcohol put the toilet paper roll into the tin pour the alcohol into the tin and light it. This will burn a long time and keep you warm. This is the original stay alive stove. I do not think that you will need it but better to be prepared. I advise against driving at night.( much less traffic). You will have a great time. Keep the gas tank full and add some gas line anti freeze. Regards Peter

[chanj]

Be prepared for the worst. I would bring as a bare minimum.

 

1. Emergency kit (space blanket, coleman portable catalytic heater)

 

2. Snowshoes (or you won't be venturing too far from the car and getting pelted by salt crystals if your setting up shots on the highway isn't alot of fun).

 

3. A good tarp. And learn how to set it up.

 

4. You don't need snowchains (I think they're illegal now) but get a portable metal "tire track" you can put in your trunkk at the hardware store to put under a tire that freespins if you happen to park on glare ice (a real lifesaver). ALWAYS keep 4-6 L extra windshield washer fluid in your trunk cause you'll go through that stuff like water just trying to maintain visibility on the road (I know, I lived in Northern Ontario) and getting decent wipers (rubber boot + teflon edge) goes a long way to maintaining your sanity on the winter road.

 

You will encounter temperatures south of -20 C, there is alot of snowfall because of the lake effect (we got 2 ft of snow in one night up at Agawa Canyon last year!), there will be alot of salt crystals on the road at -20 and glare ice is pretty tacky at that temperature so snow tires aren't really a concern (if there isn't any precipitation... otherwise get a good ice tire like Michelin Arctic Alpins or Bridgestone Blizzaks), there are motels along the highway that charge between 30-60 CDN dollars per night.

 

Have fun,

[danny_wong2]

Seems like most common sense winter survival stuff has been covered.

 

Gearwise - one pair of glove that you can use to make camera adjusment with a good pair of mittens to keep them warm. Put tape over all bare metal of your tripod. (remember the joke about not licking a frozen flagpole).

 

One more to add is to let someone know your trip. Call/chat/email them everynight that you are safe and sound at agreed time. Let them know what your plans are tomorrow. this way if you are overdue someone will know. Also if you have the system set up and your contact has record of your trip S&R will take any related distress call more seriously.

 

Cell phone coverage is spotty on this stretch of road, CB are still in use by the truckers. Since this is the major east west highway through Canada it is well travelled so there will be truck driver. Find out at the stops what channel they are on and you can get road/weather information as well as assistance. Do learn CB manners and you will have many friends on the road.

 

I have been there in the winter and photographically, you should too.

 

ENJOY - Let's be careful out there!!

[bruce_karnopp1]

Keep in mind that you are talking about an area to the East of the Great Lakes. These keep folks a tad warmer than you might think. I have a cottage at the top of the Michigan mitten (lower Mighigan). If you go Noth from my cottage, you get wet in Lake Huron. I figure that the cottage is about 5 degrees cooler than Ann Arbor.

 

Ann Arbor is often cloudy, but is a great deal warmer in Winter than Wisconsin. Milwaukee will get -20F with some reularity. In Ann Arbor, we almost never go below 0 F. That doesn't mean that it cannot happen to the East of the Great Lakes, but it is less likely.

[peter_dendrinos1]

Thank you all for the input. I will be sure to carry all the basics for emergencies. I am no stranger to winter driving, but I have no experience with that strip of highway in the winter. It is good to know they keep it clear during the winter.

 

My intention is to shoot the area between Sault Ste Marie and Thunder Bay twice, once in the winter, and once when the trees and vegetation are flushed out.

 

As my wife and I drove through that area last week, it occurred to me that some of the gas stations and motels might shut down in the winter if things got slow enough. I guess that is not such an issue.

[chanj]

I don't think you should worry about cheap lodgings in the winter. We frequently go ice climbing in that area of Ontario and there is no shortage of inexpensive motels to hunker down in during the season.

[peter_dendrinos1]

We stopped into a place in Nipigon, they had pictures of guys Ice Climbing from near by. Perhaps that was you.

 

Pete

[van_camper]

Bring with you a Coleman catalytic heater (any Wallmart)which runs on propane. It is designed for indoor or tent use. It'll save your butt if you break down. One bottle lasts 8 hours, is flameless heat (no monoxide). I love them in my van.

[peter_dendrinos1]

Ya, Ivan had mentioned that. I looked it up and am trying to find one. Looks like a very cool device. Might even make a good hand warmer out on location.

 

Pete

[chanj]

Could have well been. I don't recall too many of us had cameras on our outings though... especially when there's only 4 of you and 6 hours of useful daylight.

On more "tip" I will give you (from my ice climbing experience) is to bring hot tea with you into location. NOTHING feels better and is more moral boosting than hot drink in the dead of winter. In addition, if you want to maintain feeling in your extremities you could try adding either ginger or cayenne pepper to your tea (ginger tastes better). You don't need too much but it acts like a vasodilator and helps keep your fingers and toes warm). A few "hot pockets" chemical heating pads will also come in handy especially if you want to start up your catalytic heater because LPG doesn't pressurize in the cold (you can hold the hot pad against the propane canister to help "pressurize" it before lighting it up).

In terms of gloves I STRONGLY recommend Polartec wind-stopper material. You can get by with pretty dexterious gloves in the cold provided they are wind-proof. The best liner gloves you can get are actually quite cheap and made of possum fur. You can pick these up at www.backpackinglight.com and they are lighter and wick better than silk (cold) or polypro. One last thing... don't forget the sunglasses. You'll need the equivalent of glacier glasses (10% transmission) if you want to aviod snow blindness and trust me... it REALLY hurts if you get it.

That's about covers it.

Again, have fun... but be aware of your surroundings.