Crossing into Canada

The Rockies are at their narrowest at Glacier National Park; about 35 miles wide. This meant travelling east of the Rockies across the great plain to get to Banff. We experienced the crossest crosswinds ever, with incredible gusts blasting us across the road and then into the gutter, quite scary and very tiring, we even had to slow down a bit! Strangely we saw more bikes today than any time this holiday, mostly Harleys which didn't seem to be affected by the crosswinds but then I suppose slow moving tractors wouldn't be. Crossing the border into Canada didn't take too long although they did cross examine us about a few things and then proceeded to give us tourist advice on where to go. They weren't bothered about the bike, insurance or anything like that. However, they did make the RV in front unload all his firewood and put it in a special container as a Dutch Elm disease prevention.

Not going to the sun

We were hoping to travel through Glacier National Park from west to east on a famous road called "The Going to the Sun Road" but it was closed in the middle due to snow drifts and avalanches and we could only travel the first 15 miles and then turn back. We then went to the east end and did the same from that end. One of the photos shows the poor state of the road leading to the east end which suddenly went from smooth Tarmac to potholed loose gravel. Bypassing the Going to the Sun road involved travelling through Essex (a very different place to the one near London with not a white stiletto in sight) but they did have a lodge called The Izaak Walton where we had lunch. It's a strange mix of hotel and museum as it was originally built to house rail workers in the winter and tourists in the summer. It is surrounded by what I took to be museum pieces of old rolling stock and engines only to find they had been converted to homes, presumably by railway enthusiasts. We passed what we took to be wild horses in the hills and stayed the night in a cabin/motel, quite comfortable despite looking like a garden shed!

Forest and Lakes

Leaving behind the Angus beef ranches we travelled into the forest and lakes of Northern Montana. There were many expensive looking lakeside homes in the forests that looked immaculate. Finished the day in Whitefish which has a town beach on the side of the lake. Whilst a few kids paddled around in the water it must be far too cold for swimming. Apparently it warms up a lot in July!
The roads are deserted once we get away from the towns and Montana sets it speed limits quite high at 75 in the country, and most treat this fairly informally! The satnav often says next turn in 60 miles or even more, so, with few junctions and fast, sweeping roads, we seem to get to our destinations quite quickly. Road surfaces and wild life are the only obvious considerations when making a bit of progress.
The roads are so quiet that you could almost feel lonely at times, three cars constitutes congestion and we frequently travel for 20 or 30 miles without seeing another vehicle.
Most other bikers are on Harleys, riding slow without helmets as few states require helmets. The next most popular bike seem to be BMW, we have only seen one or two sports bikes all holiday.
Montana is really beautiful and I can see why so many of the rich and famous own ranches out here.

Montana Massive

Left Yellowstone area, through the wide open, big sky state of Montana. Very green pastures surrounded by the snow capped peaks of the Rockies. Spent last night, Wednesday, in Helena which is the capital of Montana (for those, like me, whose geography is not brilliant). Helena is quite an impressive place , at least the old town area is, with large mansions dating back 100 years or more and a really neatly renovated pedestrian area called The Last Chance Gulch, site of the old gold diggings and panning. Also a very impressive Cathedral which must be a lot newer than you'd think. On a hill just behind the old town was the original fire watch tower, couldn't have been that effective as the old town was burnt down several times in the gold rush era.

New Bike

Shock horror, walked out the hotel to the bike this morning, Tuesday, to discover it had been given a nice new white paint job, closer inspection revealed it was white over with frost. A sluggish starter motor made me pleased I'd replaced the battery before starting this trip. A gentle start on the journey as we cautiously rode over or around wet frosty patches on the road, but a blue sky and quickly rising temperature soon dried things out for our ride up the Chief Joseph Highway and the Beartooth Highway to our next stopover at Cook City. Not sure a town of 100 people qualifies as a city and despite first impressions making me think of the film Deliverance, it's proving to be a very friendly and nice place. We had coffee in Cody just past Buffalo Bills Hotel. Some fantastic roads today, especially the Bear Tooth Highway past a place called Top of the World and it really felt like that.

Dancing with Wolves

What a difference a day makes, we set off early with clear blue skies and a positively balmy 15degC. Much more fun. Spotted three wolves in a valley, just a few dots on the tele zoom camera. Watched for several minutes as they slowly came nearer. Then suddenly they approached very close and had us dancing round the other side of the bike to escape. Further up the road a park ranger told us they were part of a pack that had killed and eaten most of either a bison or an elk the previous night.

Very Yellow Yellowstone

Sunday, even colder at -0.5degC as we rode around Yellowstone, passing through the steam from the Geysers helped a bit but the comfy warm leather sofas in Old Faithful Inn were a very welcome break from the snowstorm. The Inn is what they call old (ie over 100 years old) and is a truly amazing wooden building where everyone is welcome even if they are not lodging there. We sat on the second floor lounge area and watched the Geyser go off again. Below is a picture of the inside of the Inn with its 80ft high roof. Carried on visiting geysers, hot bubbling pools and steam venting out of holes in the ground. Apparently, several people have been scalded to death by these weird geological phenomena, often by walking on what appears firm ground but is just a thin crust around a bubbling sulphurous pool. To be honest, the sulphurous smell should have warned them to keep clear.
Then on to Yellowstone Canyon, more impressive to us than the Grand Canyon, and very YELLOW.