Day 25 - Whitefish, MT to Livingston, MT

Walt and I got up a little early this morning so we went to explore a little in the ritzy area of Whitefish. Seems like this community got discovered 15 years ago and has gone upscale. Don was last here at that time and he said it was a tiny little town. It is much larger now and the area Walt and rode through has million dollar plus homes, nice views, and a golf course nearby.

Today was a pretty long distance ride but other things came up that made it a long day in time too. We started out taking the road along the east side of the lake as the waitress last night recommended. It is a pretty two lane road as she described. We had to take it slow because of some trucks in front of us. Then at the end of this segment we hit more highway construction and delays. Once we got to the end of the lake we reverted back to our original plan, which was pretty nice anyway.

When we got to Missoula we found an accommodating oil change place that sold us some oil for our motorcycles and we all did an oil change in the parking lot! It's been 6000 miles and we have to take care of our bikes!

Next stop was over to Starbucks for a quick refresher. Then out on the road again.

Our ride today took us from western Montana to eastern Montana just north of Yellowstone. The landscape changes a lot along that ride. Near Whitefish it was mountainous and pine forest. There is a ski resort on one of the mountains here. Then in the middle of Montana it becomes more grassland and large valleys. Most of the trees disappear.

The speed limit here is 75mph so we should be able to cover the distance pretty well (when we're moving). We leave Starbucks shortly after noon (1pm?) and it is getting a little warmer. We've all reduced the number of layers we're wearing today to get ready for some heat. Then..... my bike's temperature warning light turns on. Ugh. It is out by the time I get to the next exit and I had slowed down. Unfortunately Don and I get split from Walt. So we hung around for a while waiting for Walt to circle back and find us. In the meantime thunderstorms are forming and we see lightning and hear thunder. We take more time to put all of the rain gear back on!

It is good that we're geared up for rain. We hit it soon and ride through it for 30 minutes or so. No problems though. We had some practice getting our gear working just right. Once we're out of the rain and have neared our destination it is getting warm again. We stopped in Bozeman for dinner and removed some clothes again.

We're finally at Livingston shortly after 6pm. Time to unpack, do laundry, check in, and relax a little.

I'm looking forward to our ride through Yellowstone tomorrow. Hopefully it won't be too crowded. Maybe we'll get through the interesting parts before the afternoon thunderstorms hit again.

Day 24 - Canmore, AB to Whitefish, MT

There is blue sky this morning but is pretty cold in Canmore. When starting the bikes my bike and Don's bike struggle some. I get mine started after 3 or 4 attempts. We're just about to push Don's bike to start but he gets it started with a limp and then takes it easy until it is warmed up. This should be the last of the cold weather we have on the trip. We're heading south now.

We pass through Calgary and can see the Olympic park beside the highway. All of the ski jumps look like of the skier overshoots they will cross the freeway!

As we head south from Calgary we are now into open range land. Lots of cattle country up here. In one spot we pass a herd of Bison. I guess they raise those here too.

Shortly after that we cross back into the US. It is good to be back in the states. Just crossing the border makes home seem closer.

We next pass east to west through Glacier National Park. It is very interesting to compare Glacier with the Jasper and Banff area we just rode through yesterday. The Canadian parks have an excellent highspeed highways (the Icefields Parkway) going down the middle. The towns of Jasper and Banff and inside the parks and are large tourist towns with kind of a "Swiss" cleanliness. Very clean and organized for the tourist. Many shop and hotels.

In contrast, Glacier is more "raw" and western. We are riding across the park on a narrow two land road (lots of cars through) that climbs the pass along steep mountains and with sheer drops of several hundred feet!

We crossed the continental divide at the top. We're now back into the Western half of the continent. This is the third time we have crossed a continental divide. The first one was in Alaska which was a north/south divide in the Alaska Range near Fairbanks. Next we cross from west to east across the northern rockies. This crossing from east back to west should be the last one.

We stopped in Whitefish and got a recommendation for an excellent restaurant. Shaker's Steak and Ale. We had a nice dinner and the waitress was extremely helpful. She has suggest a more scenic and less crowded way for us to get to Livingston tomorrow. Same destination just a better route then interstate highways.

Waterfall 

Glacier National Park 

More Glacier National Park 

East side of Glacier National Park 

Canmore 

Day 23 - Hinton, AB to Canmore, AB

We dried out well overnight and had a pretty good rest. Looking at the sky and remembering yesterday we geared up for the worst even though we could see some blue sky on the horizon. Is that blue sky going our direction or will that be the last we see of it today?

Heading into the park the weather is holding. We get just a few light sprinkles and that is it for the rain. However, it gets colder and colder. As we ride through the park looking at the scenery I can see that a few hundred feet higher snow has dusted the trees and there is a fresh powdering on the mountains.

Without the full sunlight we don't get the best effect of seeing the color of the glacier waters here.

As we head towards the Columbia Ice Fields it is looking opaque in front of us. Maybe well be heading into more rain? Nope, this time we get SNOW! When we first get into it Walt waves his arm in a triumphant wave. Our first time of riding in snow. (Like I said yesterday, we normally wouldn't choose these conditions.) Actually, the snow is brief, we pass through it in 5 to 10 minutes and it is not enough to stick and it melts when it hits us. It is fun though. We'd rather ride in a light snow than a cold rain.

Near Banff 

Lake Louise 

Columbia Ice Fields 

More Jasper 

Jasper Area 

Day 22 - Fort St. John, BC to Hinton, AB

Well, today added the adventure part to the entire trip. Part of this trip was being willing to make it through whatever happens. We have a schedule and we don't have a choice of changing if we ride or not. We ride. Rain or shine.

The day started off cloudy enough that we were all suited up for rain from the beginning. The first hundred miles or so went just fine but it was cold. The scenery has changed here to farm/ranch land that is lush and green. The first city along the way we stopped at for gas was Grand Prairie. That should describe the scenery pretty well.

The exciting thing about Grand Prairie is that just across from the gas station was a Starbucks. Ahhhhh. Time for a break. We get some coffee and tea and have a little snack. Walt opts for the flax seed thingy. (Sounds to healthy for me.) Don has a slice of carrot loaf stuff and I go for the cinnamon loaf. It is quite enjoyable. The morning hasn't been long or too cold but Starbucks just seems like a necessary part of motorcycle ride. We need to find more of them!

Heading south from Grand Prairie we take the shorter route that is more designated for trucks carrying hazardous materials! We didn't run into any of those. It seems to pass mostly through logging lands. Just after we start we see a sign that says next services 178 km. Not much is out here. We've got about 200 miles to cover between Grand Prairie and Hinton where we stop for the night.

Shortly after leaving Grand Prairie we hit rain. Our luck has run out. This is cold rain. Coming down pretty hard. In spots we're running up into low clouds/fog that limits our visibility to 100 yards. There is nothing to do but keep going. Now we get to see how well our clothing protects us. The best description I can give you about this is that it feels like riding in a January rainstorm in California. It is gray and cold. We're climbing in altitude as we go back into the foothills of the Canadian Rockies.

After an hour and a half we get the services that was 178 km away. We get some gas and Don and I decide it is time to alter clothing layers. We each add another one to fight the cold.

We head out again and have 90 more miles of this to fight through....

My helmet keeps fogging on the right side. I have a couple of options. Live with it and the reduced visibility, open my helmet and start getting wet inside but see better, or change back and forth between the options as the negatives dictate. All in all I'm in pretty good shape. All the practice runs has taught me to get the gear snapped, zipped, tucked in ways that keep me pretty dry and warm. Except for my feet. They are the coldest now. Also, I found that my jeans hang out a little from my rain pants. That allows the rain to wick back up to the top of my boot. Have to fix that in the future.

Walt and Don hit spots where the water was deep enough on the road that their wheels hydroplaned.

The worst water problem I had was a big truck passing us in the other direction. They sprayed enough water as they passed to cause whiteout of spray.

We made it to Hinton safely. First thing to get was something hot to drink. Got something to eat then headed to our rooms for the night to hang up things to dry and make plans for how to better handle this situation in the future.

We would never choose to go out for a three hour ride in this weather at home. But because we're on an adventure we just have to do a few things we would not otherwise do. And we did!

I hope the weather is better tomorrow or we'll miss out on the beautiful sights around Banff.

Mile 0 

Start of the Alaska Highway 

Day 21 - Muncho Lake, BC to Fort St. John, BC

Today was a day of just covering the miles. Almost 400 today. We passed over the northern Rockies and down the foothills on the other side. Once we were out of the foothills we were just in rolling hills and flatlands all the way to Fort St. John.

Imaging traveling I-5 from the Bay Area to Los Angeles but with forest lining the highway all of the way. That pretty much describes what today was about.

One of the curious mental pastimes I worked on today was trying to estimate the number of trees up here. It's way more then billions and probably in trillions... Just in British Columbia/Yukon it is more than 1,000 miles by 1,000 miles. That's a million square miles. How many trees per square mile? Some of the estimates I was making while riding came up with numbers approaching hundreds of thousands to a million. (Could be way off but it kept me thinking as I was passing all of them.) Estimating is much easier than counting each one!

(P.S. we're back in contact via internet so the previous 3 days or so have been posted now and has pictures for you to view. Enjoy!)

Searching for wildlife 

Day 20 - Muncho Lake, BC

Today was a sightseeing day at Muncho Lake. We rode south to the exit of the park and then a little past.

We were searching for some wildlife and had some success too. The first sighting was two Stone sheep. They are similar to the Dall sheep we saw in Alaska but are brown not white. They blend into the color of the mountains here very well. There was no place to stop and get a picture and they were scampering into the forest as we went by. Next we came upon a big moose. Again, as soon we got there it scampered into the forest so there was no picture taken.

We turned around at Toad River and headed back to the lodge at Muncho Lake. The plan was to stop some and get some pictures of the area and hope the moose were still hanging around where we saw them the first time. Perhaps it was a favorite place for them to eat something. Success. Although we did not see the same bull moose we saw going down we saw two females and they were standing still long enough for Walt to get pictures.

Plans for the rest of the day are to just relax, nap, and do whatever. Although this is a Provincial Park it really is more of a preserve probably. There is not much to do for activities if you don't fish. I may search out some trails alongside the lake if that is possible. (Depends on the bugs!)

We'll probably start early tomorrow morning. It is about 400 miles to Fort St. John tomorrow.

Sightseeing plane 

Easy fishin' 

Moose 

Folded Mountain 

Muncho Lake 

Northern Rockies Lodge 

Day 19 - Teslin, AK to Muncho Lake, BC

Home, home on the range
Where the deer and the buffalo play...



Today was another one of those days where it really felt like two different days.

Morning started by getting geared up for rain before we head out. It has rained on us a little the last couple days and today might be the day we actually hit rain. The sky looks like it could rain.

After riding for an hour we pulled over for a rest stop. It has not rained yet and it doesn't look any different that it did starting out. What we do notice is that it is colder than when we started. So Don and I opt to add another layer of clothing to keep warm. Walt never seems to get cold so he just watches us with our preparations.

It pays to be meticulous and methodical in preparing for a ride. I still don't have that all down because I haven't ridden enough times to figure out exactly what needs to be done to make the riding gear work perfectly. I got all of the snaps, zippers, and flaps closed up this time but for the next hour or so I have very cold wrists. I hadn't figured out yet how to get my rain jacket and gloves to work best together to avoid an air gap. So, I have another hour thinking about how cold my wrists are.

At the next rest stop we're in pretty good shape but it is still cold out here. The wind chill factor must be pretty stout. I'm guessing that the temperature is in the low to mid 40's and at 65-70 miles per hour that probably feels like the 30's. To give you a little idea about the temperature we took our gloves off at this rest stop and placed our hands directly on Walt and Don's engines. Not too hot! Just nice hand warmers!

At this temperature I don't find there is much on my mind except riding and figuring out what I'm going to alter at the next stop! Good thing the scenery hasn't changed any from yesterday to today.

Just over half way through our day the gray skies break up and change to mostly blue with clouds and it warms up. I take off my rain gear. The landscape is changing. We've left the Yukon now and are heading into British Columbia. The forests are more full and lush and there is more grassy land along the highway.

At one point Don's spots a bear at the edge of the forest next to the highway. By the time we turn around and search for it to get a picture it is gone. Shortly after that we get a major treat. Buffalo are sunning, dusting, grazing, and sleeping alongside the highway. First we see a group of two. That was all I expected to see. Then we see a single buffalo. Then the big find. We see a group of about a dozen buffalo and maybe six calves! (I'd trade a bear sighting for these buffalo anytime.)

Now the cold of the morning is fading away. Things are beautiful, warm, and fun again! It is almost another day.

We hit another stretch of highway construction. It is several miles long but in pretty good shape. (I think I've earned my beginners certificate for dirt and gravel roads.)

We are now heading into the northern Canadian Rockies. The mountains here look different than Alaskan mountains. More like what we're used to in the Sierra Nevadas. The final ride into Mucho Lake Provincial Park is quite enjoyable.

I'm feeling refreshed again. We're going to have a day off from riding and spend it here at Muncho Lake. I'm looking forward to the next phase of the trip which is down the Canadian Rockies, Glacier National Park, Yellowstone, and Grand Teton.

It's been a great day.

Sign forest 

Buffalo with calves 

Buffalo 

Muncho Lake