Ride Report - Glacier and Canada Bound

Day 8 - July 6 - Madison (Yellowstone) to Townsend KOA

After several days of basic camping, I required some "posh" camping and so sought out a KOA for the luxuries of showers, laundry and wifi. We chose a circuitous route with spectacular Montana scenery and beautiful motorcycle roads like Highway 86 north out of Bozeman and Highway 12 into Townsend!

But before hitting the road, I like to get pics at notable signage and thought I'd have an opportunity to circle back for the 'welcome to yellowstone' pic as we were leaving the park. Alas being an incredibly popular vacation destination and a long weekend to boot, the lineups entering the park as we were leaving were loooong and so it would have taken ages to get to the pic... this will have to do..

While packing up at Madison Campground, my BC plates attracted a fellow rider and I was able to make some route recommendations for his up coming trip..

A little love for the local 'wildlife' in West Yellowstone at the breakfast stop...

a great motorcycle route - Highway 86...

I thought of my Mom when I saw this sign as her love of genealogy takes her to cemeteries all over. Beyond the sign and gate was a range pasture, no grave markers in sight. Who knows how old this cemetery is...

A colourful end to a great day of riding...

 

Day 9 - July 7 - Townsend KOA to Fish Creek Campground (Glacier)

The day would have us on fast (70 mph... although after 65 my DR650 thumper (single cylinder engine) becomes notably less comfortable) secondary roads with beautiful scenery and a fair bit of traffic to keep our attention.

*this* is what I mean... Entering Glacier...

 

Day 10 - July 8 - Fish Creek (Glacier) to Lethbridge via Waterton

More spectacular roads and inclimate weather made this a memorable day! After checking with in the local campsite bear, we rode the engineering marvel Going-to-the-Sun road through Glacier National Park and then north into Canada and Waterton Lakes National Park.

A note about bears, all the national park campgrounds we stayed at were commendable for their commitment to providing facilities to protect wildlife from excessive influence of human food - bear secure food storage and trash/recycling bins, active camper education, citations for non-compliance and sometimes even dishwashing stations within the washroom buildings. The bear we saw who frequented the Fish Creek Campground was happily grazing on local flora and fauna vs rooting campsites for easy pickings.

Check out all the twisties and switchbacks! At one point, the GPS showed the road virtually overlapping as the road climbed and switched back on itself. An engineering marvel, the construction of the 53 miles of twisting narrow road took completed in 1932. Going-to-the-Sun Road - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

(Thanks again Craig for all the great pics!)

 

 

One the many restored 1930s buses that bring tourists up and the Going-to-the-Sun road. What you can't get the perspective of from the pics is the sheer drops offs beyond the low rock wall!

 

After the park, we hightailed it for the Canadian border only to be greeted to my homeland with another storm.

A late lunch at the Bayshore in Waterton Lakes National Park and then a mostly dry ride to Lethbridge finished the day. This leg also concluded our riding time together. Craig's month long trip takes him east through the Canadian prairie and then back into the US to visit family and friends and then ultimately making his way back to New Mexico. My journey has me destined for an unexpected stop over in Calgary to have the DR's front fork seals fixed and new tires. For me it's a great opportunity to rest, blog! and catchup with my Calgary friends and family.

 

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