Road Trip: Day 2 - Matagami to Radisson

Kilometre 843/I had been warned about the rabid black flies. And as I pulled over to take some beauty shots, left, the stories really are true.

I guess when the next available human flesh is hundreds of kilometres away in every direction, when the opportunity presents itself,  it's time to strike. 

Can you say, "swarm!"

Km 909/Ahhh, that's better.

After two hours of dodging potholes and keeping an eye out for sections of the road that remind too much of Ottawa's streets in the spring, the terra becomes a little more firma underneath the pavement. So its time to stretch the BMW's legs.

Just a refresher on my set of JBR wheels.

The X6 is BMW's Mercedes CLS sedan; a sportier and swoopier version of an existing model that both German automakers refer to as coupes, despite having four-doors and B-pillars. Go figure.

In BMW's case, an X5 crossover is the base instead of the CLS's E Class sedan. Also like the Merc, one loses the rear-middle seating position in the X6, making it one of the world's largest four seaters (instead of five or the available seven in the X5.)

For the extra $2k over the $61,300 BMW wants for an X5 3.0si, the X6 xDrive35i gives you an extra 40 hp (300 from the twin-turbo straight-six we love in the 1 and 3 Series), a 0-100 km/h time that drops from 8.3 to 6.9 seconds, and Dynamic Performance Control (DPC adds to BMW's xDrive all-wheel drive system by varying torque and steering forces infinitely between the front and rear axles depending on the circumstances.)

So far, my circumstances haven't asked for PDC's help. Too much.