The Hudson Bay MINI road trip is only a month away and here’s all the latest from the event organizers:

With one month to go the participants of the Midwinter MINI Arctic Run are busy preparing for the trip. To date, 15 cars have signed up for the event.

Plans are to leave our respective areas and meet up at the NY/Canadian border about noon on Friday, February 18. Many MINIs will be joining up locally to MINIvan together to the border. From the border, the group will drive together through Canada’s Laurentian Mountains and the Canadian gold mining region to Matagami, Quebec for a nights sleep.

Saturday is the drive the group is looking forward to. MINIster of Navigation, iBlue reports “From Matagami we enter the James Bay Road. A long, long stretch, flat, straight and great driving all the way to Chisasibi and Radisson at the other end. At 650+ km, we are looking forward to what should be the longest, furthest, uninterrupted drive of MINIs, anywhere in the world!”

Sunday will be group activity day. MINIster of Events, DUCTTAPE, has indicated a number of events are lined up. “We have arranged to have Hydro Quebec give us a guided tour of their La Grande 1 facility. It’s the world’s largest underground hydro plant. We are also discussing an airplane flight out over the Bay, or in search of caribou. With hunting season having ended just the week before, remnants of the world’s largest caribou herd will still be in the area. There will be opportunities to rent ski-doos, and of course, if you can fit them in MINI, bring snows shoes or cross-country skis.”

The entire event will be a photography buff’s delight. Said Rose “We are anticipating many photo breaks. We will be traveling through pristine wilderness at a gorgeous time of the year. Wildlife, scenery and MINIs will represent some tremendous opportunities. Several sponsors have also asked us to pose, with all our MINIs, for group photos.”

The group is planning to offer several pieces of clothing with the event’s logos. MINIster of Promotion, LePew “We have arranged for fleece vests with the event logo embroidered on them. These will be available to participants only. For those who like to live vicariously, we will be offering t shirts with several event related designs.”

iBlue has the group driving south on Monday, to a point near Montreal. Tuesday, we head home our separate ways.

There is still space remaining if MINI owners would like to join the drive, and an open invitation is open to anyone involved in the MINI community. Several cars have space for those interested in joining in a navigator-only capacity. Participation is only limited by the number of rooms available at the Aubison Radisson Hotel in Radisson. The group has booked close to 40% of the hotel’s capacity to date. For additional information, please stop by the event’s website: www.davidrose.us/HudsonBayII.html or email HudsonBay@DavidRose.us

‘