Waterproof has an expiration time

Can't say much of Canmore to Shelby Montana. Did not see much and I did not feel much. It was 57 and raining hard until the last hour of a 5 hour ride.

I can say:
When my mirrors catch rain in the wind or spray from a car they drip on my gloves.
When the front tire hits a big puddle or runs in the troughs of the high way full of water I feel it on my boots.
When I crack my shield to keep it from fogging the rain get in my eyes.

My boots, gloves, jacket and pants are all sold on the premise of being waterproof. I guess it should be listed like a fire rating as to just how long it is waterproof. Too bad my socks, underwear and t-shirt were not waterproof to help when the outer gear failed.

On the bright side I can assure you our borders are secure. The mature lady at the crossing asked sternly. "Are you importing any fruits or vegetables?" No "Are you importing any ammo, guns or explosives?" No "'tobacco?" DAMN! I forgot to buy Cubans!

Hey we are in Shelby Montana tonight. Had prime rib at The Sports Inn, $22 for 26 ozs and a great room at Best Western> Even hit the hot tub trying to recapture some body heat.

No pictures as we don't own a waterproof camera...or any waterproof motorcycle gear apparently!

Just to keep it interesting check some of the Jasper southbound pictures before the heaven erupted 2 days ago.

Jasper to Canmore

Let me tell ya going south bound down Icefields Parkway is much more visually exciting than northbound. Our original plan was to only travel southbound but a few adjustments had us on it twice. Going south is the best.

The bad of this day was rain. We got down the Parkway about 2 hours before it hit and it hit hard. Along with the rain was cold, our high was only 61 for the day. Being wet and running between 50 and 70 mph all day made for a crappy ride. Plus after the first 2 hours most of the view was in a fog.

We ran a whole tank down before the first stop so that's about 3 hours nonstop, just trying to make time. Plus we had a nice lodge room at the Blackstone in Canmore. Did you know Canmore hosted the winter Olympics in 1988? Very alpine town and home to many of the Canadian ski teams. Since it was still raining we seen very little of the town. Too bad.

The evening in Jasper was nice, town is touristy but nice.

The big attraction for today was the Jasper Tramway. The gondola goes up to 7500 feet, which was above the clouds on our day. Great ride up the mountain. Check the pictures.

$8 dollar a gallon for gas

Yep, I paid $8 a gallon for gas on the Ice fields Parkway between Banff and Jasper. I had to there was not enough in the tank to get me to Jasper and the Canadian government has a monopoly of fuel on the parkway.

So yesterday was Golden BC to Jasper AB, it was to be the gem of the ride but its ending up being another road with mountains flanking it. Its a tourist trap, the road sucks and there are more people clogging up the place than I care to be around. If you can come by all means do so but its not an adventure its a drive.

Jasper is nice its clean, lots of shops and food. The hotel is over $200 an night for an older place that would be less than $100 anywhere else But hey that's the fun of it. Check Jasper off the list.

Prior to Jasper we did some off the beaten path bit in Yoho. A guy ay the Yamaha shop in Golden gave us a few cannot miss to do side trips. So in Yoho we go to see a spiral train tunnel and walked up to the bottom of the 2nd tallest waterfall in Canada. The tunnel would have been better if a train had been around but not luck. The waterfall was big and if you wanted you could walk right into it.

We also walked up to a glacier, in Jasper.

I maybe jaded to the point of not enjoying the Icefield parkway like I should. WE have seen glaciers and mountains every day without the commercial side getting in the way. Its a great road for seeing mountains.

On a bad note I got had a talking to my a Mounty from the RMCP. I thought she was just stopping to talk Pens hockey but he was rude after I took her picture.

Keslo to Golden..wow

Arriving in Golden today, made me miss Keslo. I know the best day of the trip is gone. Riding to Keslo along Kootenay Lake was great, no traffic, curves with mountains on both sides. The lake was crystal clear and smooth as silk, wish I could have been on it for a ride.

Then when in Keslo we had a great dinner, and talked with neighbors all night at the motel, a few were other riders. The tow was not a tourist spot it was a lost world. Smaller than Scenery Hill it was squeezed in a peninsula on the lake, less than 500 people call it home. It as special as Silverton Colorado, Mexican Hat Utah and Red Lodge Montana have been in the pass, I want to stay in Keslo.

But we are in Golden, which is a normal town. Blah.

The ride from Keslo to Golden..top 5 ever, maybe number one.
Thinking back:
1. My Minnesota 1000 winning ride
2. Beartooth Highway and stopping at the Top of the World store
3. Going to the Sun in Glacier USA (the first time)
4. Monterey WV doing the Void rally with Jenn (hate the rally!)
5. Ouray Colorado to Silverton Colorada

But I may need to push today to oh say number 3 on that list. It would be number two but I doubt Jenn will be able to get back here to spread my ashes here so we will keep Beartooth up there as #2.

Car, bike, motorcycle what ever, if you have a love for riding isolated roads, with scenery unmatched you need to go from PortHill Idaho to Golden BC. Glacier Park in Canada is indescribable. But I'll post a few pictures to help you see what I mean.

Virgin Ground - Kootenay Valley

Glacier was cool even the second time but when its all new its all cool.

We left Whitefish early, there was a chill in the air so stopping to add layers was the first stop. The second was the border crossing in Porthill Idaho, sort of reminiscent of those border crossings you see in the movies with a guy with a drop arm gate..it was small, and out of the way. The border agent for Canada was a women in a uniform... ya getting me?

After the crossing we worked towards rt 3a or 31a I don't recall but it snaked along the Kootneay Lake that it followed the shore for the first 40 miles. There is a lot more but the road turned to the lake and we ended up on a ferry. It was 300PM on my clock and we made the cut as they pulled the ramp behind us. No small ferry, it had a coffee shop and 4 sets of restrooms.

The ride from the ferry to Keslo was another great stretch as it winded along the shoreline for another 30 miles. Crystal, clear water and real goose egg rocks lined the shores. They lake lies between the Kootenay Rockies chain with 8K tall peaks along its shores.

Kelso and all the other lake towns are here for two reasons Timber and gold. They would float miles of timber down the lake pushed by stern wheel tugs and the hill had gold in them. The town of Keslo restored the last stern wheeler from the lake the retired in 1957, it went up and down the lake for the 59 years prior to its retirement. Its said if its made of iron it was halued in the SS Moyie.

This is the SS Moyie today.

This the view out the back of the Laundromat! Not kidding.

This the deck of the ferry.

Get the heck out of Eastern Montana

Day 2 Havre to Whitefish

We wanted to go through Glacier one more time in case we missed something the first time. Well its never as good as the first time, we hit loads of Labor day visits so traffic was slow to the point of stop and go on the west side...cause it was raining. So is was 63 degree and raining on slippery roads. I did not see much. But I'm sure the pictures will be great. Some day I'm going to spend more than 2 hours in that park, big mountains, clear streams and smells great.

For lunch we at Johnson's in St Marys by recommendation. Grimes they remembered you but said you had more hair in '94. Lunch was good and the placed I'm sure had not changed since you were there. Homemade bread..

Don't laugh but we stayed at Sleep Cheap Motel in White fish..it was like going home to Mom's and staying in your old bedroom. With the 30 year old furniture and the same sheets.

About 300 miles on the day. And a big mistake, my goal was no CHIAN food or rooms once on the bike. Well we were duped!
McKenzie River Pizza is a chain. But its pizza was great. Oh well once mistake.

A few pictures from the d

ay.

Its all about SCALE

Its all about scale.

Today, we did 116 miles in the truck and 467 on the bike. It did not look that far on the map.
Then I looked at the scale, it became clear the my trusty atlas make it look easy. The same distance on the Pennsylvania map is oh about 57% of the scale of Montana.


It was cool in Dickinson, ND when we got to the station, found the perfect place to unload and we were on the way by oh 1030am.


What can I say about Eastern Montana? Flat, straight roads, flat, windy, flat, hay, flat..


We ran into gas issues twice! Seems running 75-85mph has an affect of the gas mileage. No longer can I get 250 from a tank..160 was 6 miles into the 30 mile warning light which was going to be a 20 mile warning. I out 5.3 gallons in a 6.08 tank.

Ran into another Pa couple that were from down the road from Scenery Hill and actually had dinner in Scenery Hill last Saturday.


The Roosevelt Painted Desert in North Dakota is a good way to burn some time in western ND.

We seen this scene oh about 1000x...

We did blast by Flat Lake at Fort Peck. Check the poser.

Motel tonight El Toro Inn..not bad, very clean. Food at PJ's in was good but cheap.
Havre has more slot machines per person than most towns. The motel has a couple in the game room, the restaurant was in a casino that reminds me of the food court in the front of Hills, the convenience store had a half dozen.

Tomorrow the real fun starts..Glacier, Going to the Sun Highway, Logan Pass. White fish for the night. Maybe end the night with some Fat Tire Ale.

Happy Labor Day everyone..take some time to enjoy the fruits of your work.