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Published: July 28th 2012
Day 111……21/07/2012 Today is another of those please please let it be bright and sunny, just for today, I will take a month of rain when I get home if the person that listens will fix it, mind you it will probably still be raining at home then anyway. Today we will ride the 160 mile park road from Jasper to Banff, a road that is up there as one of the wonders of biker heaven. Unfortunately I did not get my weather request in early enough and the day is cloudy and grey, but who knows it may get better. We set off around nine that morning and headed south, stopping at the various viewpoints along the way to take some photo’s, and Lynne putting another layer of clothing on at each, it had got a little chillier as we climbed higher into the mountains. The views were still very impressive despite it all being pretty much one colour. We stopped at Lake Louise a very busy place with the tourists, and took the usual tourist photos, now I am starting to get photos from the internet to show how these places should look without the cloudy backdrop, but
I have not used any on this blog. We got to Banff at around lunch time, and as expected it was heaving with people, we saw the waterfalls, and famous Banff Springs hotel, a visit to Main street shops, and then we made our way to Calgary for our night stop at what looked to be a fairly nice campground.
Day 112……22/07/2012 Well the campground was sort of OK, it was a little noisy due to being close to the freeway but we did manage to get a few hours sleep. Our route today took us south and around 150 miles to reach the US border. The sun was out in all its glory today, and we were very glad to see it believe you me, because today we will pass through Glacier National Park, a truly spectacular region of northern Montana, it was a park that I had tried to get through in 2006, but was denied it due to it still being closed by snow. We rode south through Alberta, with the Rocky Mountains on our left side, they run north, south for over 3000 miles like a wall of stone, and beautiful they were all
Lake Louise
This lake should be the most beautiful shade of green-blue.lit by the bright sunshine. As we crossed the border back into the US and Montana State number 25, we had a little over 20 miles to ride until we reached the entrance to the Glacier National Park. This place seemed to be a Mecca for motorcyclists, as there were literally hundreds out today, and the famous “Going to the Sun” road was their aim. I really cannot begin to describe this place, of all the places I have seen, this surely must be one of the most beautiful, blue green lakes with the reflections of the surrounding mountains mirrored on their dead calm surfaces, waterfalls tumbling from high above fuelled by the melting snow, and of course the deep blue sky adding that all important contrast to this fantastic spectacle. For over fifty miles of motorcycling Nirvana we rode, along cliff side passes, and under waterfalls that tumbled down shear faces and sprayed the roads, which brought squeals of shock as the ice cold water made contact with my pillion, such fun. Finally, and with a little disappointment the ride was over, but what a ride it had been. We made our stop in the Northern Montana town of
Kalispell, and would probably stay here tomorrow as well to catch up on the washing, and to give the circulation in Lynne’s backside time to recover from what has truly been an epic ride from Alaska the most northern state in the union through Canada and back to here.
Day 113……23/07/2012 We were a few days ahead of schedule so the plan is to check out the town of Kalispell, do some washing and generally take a short break in the proceedings.
With just over a week before our friends Andy and Lyn fly out to meet up with us in Seattle, we will have to rein in the miles a little for fear of getting there far too early. So for the first time we have the opportunity to reflect back on where we have been and what we’ve seen, oh and have a few beers in the little bar opposite the motel.
Day 114……24/07/2012 Another chill out day was called for today, and the plan is to ride the hundred miles around the nearby Flathead lake, the road that hugs the shore line had been recommended to us as a nice
route to spend half a day. We made a lunch stop in the town of Polson at the halfway point and sat taking in the sun at a nice café overlooking the lake. The return leg around the lake took us passed what seemed to be the Huckleberry capitol of the world, we must try some to see what they are like. The day was finished off with a superb steak at a nearby restaurant.
Day 115……25/07/2012 Where to go today that is the question, we have a little time in hand so we will take our time on the ride today and take in as much of this beautiful Montanan countryside as possible. We worked our way west through the tree covered hills, and passed many farms both large and small. This state is one of the prettiest that we have ridden through, but we have to admit it has the advantage of the current run of sunshine that we are having, unlike the grey skies of Alaska and the Yukon whose beauty was disappointingly a little jaded. A little over one hundred miles later we were in the small town of Libby, which claimed the title
City of Eagles, not that we saw any real ones, but definitely saw some fabulous metal fabrications. We walked out that afternoon to see what Main street Libby had to offer, and we were surprised at the charm of the place, a really good atmosphere, with lots of character in its period buildings from the Fifty’s, almost a town trapped in time. We were given a friendly welcome everywhere we went and also some good advice on some places to visit tomorrow.
Day 116……26/07/2012 We moved on from the small town of Libby, and visited the nearby dam that had been recommended to us, and then on to the route that took us to the Kutenai Falls. The ride was brilliant as we followed the river for miles in the early morning sunshine. Montana is a beautiful State with tree covered mountains and great sweeping roads. The falls were pretty impressive, and there was also a suspended swing bridge that gave Lynne the jitters halfway across, well I can’t help it if I have a bit of natural spring in my step that got the bridge going, it’s not as if she fell or anything. The
day grew warmer as we headed West into the Idaho panhandle state number 26, it got so hot in fact that mid afternoon the temperature got a little unbearable as we sat for a short while at some resurfacing works, so we headed for the nearest town of Sandpoint and found a nice room, with the thought that this looks like a nice little town we will have a rest day tomorrow and explore a little, on foot of course.
Day 117……27/07/2012 Our chill out day started with a bit of a lie in until 0930, then up and showered, then a leisurely stroll into the downtown area for breakfast. The town of Sandpoint had a terrific beach that was situated on the lakeside, the sand looked inviting but we were not sure about the temperature of the water, so a swim was out of the question. The morning was however becoming ever hotter and very humid, so some sort of refuge needed to be found out of the sun, well after the obligatory shopping experience we spied, sorry I spied a little “Micro Brewery” on Main Street, this seemed just the ticket. Lynne took a liking to
Glacier National Park, Montana
I really did take this with a little compact camera a Huckleberry pale ale little number, I however went with a much more deliberated choice of the ale selection which involved careful consideration of all that they had to offer. OK I went from left to right. We were also able to catch the recorded Olympic first round football match between Great Britain and Senegal, well there’s ninety minutes of my life that I will never get back, and Ryan Giggs oh please, he did not even sing the National Anthem, why, because he’s Welsh, and if the Queen still had a sister alive he would probably try to hit on her as well as his team mates wife, sorry for the rant but it does annoy me when they don’t sing.
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Jealous Pete
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WOW
AND THEN JUST WOW.