These last two days can simply be described as amazing. When I was a kid we took road trips to Montana and Idaho, but I didn't remember how amazing the scenery is in those states. On the way up to the border we hit snow around Chief Mountain, but we were well prepared for the cold this time, and it didn't phase us. Instead, it became our ally. The mountains are immensely more beautiful and majestic when covered with snow, and contrast that with fields of green and autumn colours and you have an amazing landscape.
After eating a hearty breakfast and talking to an old guy whose retirement sounds like exactly the way I wpuld want to spend mine, wandering around the mountain forests taking video of grizzly bears, we hit the highway and made some serious miles, winding through the tight Montana highways that snake through the bottom of deep valleys and up over high passes that offer breathtaking vistas of the Montane wilderness.
Unfortunately the snow denied us our planned route through Logan Pass since the stretch after the pass was closed but we rode up there anyway and enjoyed the views. We took the southern route through Glacier NP, which was just an awesome. And it also offered a test of my motorcycle and a bit of a challenge when we couldn't find a gas station after my fuel light came on. With no other option, we pushed on, relying our 2 liter reserve bottle to take me the 55 miles to West Glacier. By 50 km of the fuel light being on I was sure at any moment my bike would die, but amazingly it went 86 km's on the last drops!
We arrived in Missoula at 10pm and quickly realized, after checking the forecast, that our plan of heading to Yellowstone wouldn't work out; the forecast was calling for rain, cold temperatures and possibly snow in the evening, and after two days of cold riding it did not sound appealing to get in a cold tent after another day of cold, and now wet riding. Which was s good call, because we did get rained on. Our route down highway 93, opting for Idaho Falls, rain us right into steady, cold rain. And we pushed through it like fucking chanps. And our call to opt for that route was a good one; the stretch of highway was one of the best motorcycle roads I've ever been on; crossing a high pass, winding through low, beautiful river valleys and ending up on a flat scrub plain that looked like something straight out of No Country for Old Men.
And after all of this awesome riding we ended up in a hotel with a hot tub and a pizza delivery guy that picked up a case of beer for us. Life is beautiful.
I know you would like me to back up some of these descriptions with pictures but unfortunately we haven't had a chance to download them to our hard drive, but fear not, we will get it done and have some pictures up soon.
After eating a hearty breakfast and talking to an old guy whose retirement sounds like exactly the way I wpuld want to spend mine, wandering around the mountain forests taking video of grizzly bears, we hit the highway and made some serious miles, winding through the tight Montana highways that snake through the bottom of deep valleys and up over high passes that offer breathtaking vistas of the Montane wilderness.
Unfortunately the snow denied us our planned route through Logan Pass since the stretch after the pass was closed but we rode up there anyway and enjoyed the views. We took the southern route through Glacier NP, which was just an awesome. And it also offered a test of my motorcycle and a bit of a challenge when we couldn't find a gas station after my fuel light came on. With no other option, we pushed on, relying our 2 liter reserve bottle to take me the 55 miles to West Glacier. By 50 km of the fuel light being on I was sure at any moment my bike would die, but amazingly it went 86 km's on the last drops!
We arrived in Missoula at 10pm and quickly realized, after checking the forecast, that our plan of heading to Yellowstone wouldn't work out; the forecast was calling for rain, cold temperatures and possibly snow in the evening, and after two days of cold riding it did not sound appealing to get in a cold tent after another day of cold, and now wet riding. Which was s good call, because we did get rained on. Our route down highway 93, opting for Idaho Falls, rain us right into steady, cold rain. And we pushed through it like fucking chanps. And our call to opt for that route was a good one; the stretch of highway was one of the best motorcycle roads I've ever been on; crossing a high pass, winding through low, beautiful river valleys and ending up on a flat scrub plain that looked like something straight out of No Country for Old Men.
And after all of this awesome riding we ended up in a hotel with a hot tub and a pizza delivery guy that picked up a case of beer for us. Life is beautiful.
I know you would like me to back up some of these descriptions with pictures but unfortunately we haven't had a chance to download them to our hard drive, but fear not, we will get it done and have some pictures up soon.
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