As you travel south you notice changes. The pine forests are thinning out. Farmers' fields start to emerge. The landscape softens whilst the backdrop of the snow capped peaks of the Rockies remains. Montana has beautiful sweeping scenery but is somehow less impactful having witnessed the scale of the Canadian Rockies. I guess you have a different perspective if you're traveling north.
Bigfork was having their biggest event of the year. Its a holiday weekend and kayakers from all over have hit town for their annual jamboree. Bigfork has one of the early hydro-electro plants meaning the river is artificially narrowed to power the turbines and as a happy consequence a fast flowing white water channel is created. After watching many a bearded teenage capsize, I headed up river to avoid the crowds. Good merganser country (hooded that is).
In the moring, I was heading back into Idaho and Indian country (the road passes through a reserve). That means more tee pees, buffalo (or is it bison) & gun shops. It also means twisty roads. My squared off back tyre tells the sad tale of too many long, straight roads. Idaho has hairpin bends and I'm happy. It also has big flowing rivers - this is the Salmon.
The town of Salmon, Idaho is a one street, cowpoke town where there's a shop that repairs stetsons and chaps. It does have a fine micro brewery (Bertram's run by a south African) where I talked shite about IPAs (they had to brew them strong so they would survive transit to India) for a number of hours. By the river, I also found it has great moths (not sure what they are but they're as big as your hand).
Had a welcome break from sitting on a saddle all day & decide to sit on another saddle. Hired a mountain bike in Banff. Unfortunately for the DRS derriere, my choice of a hard tail wasn't wise. The tracks were rough and rocky. After 20K of spine pounding I was grateful to be back on the motorbike. Still great views (albeit sore arse).
To finish the day, I walked a mile or so up to the local Hoodoos - rock formations caused by erosion. I also followed a lone wolf for a while trying to get a good photo. We eyeballed each other a number of times. Not sure why but I felt there was a mutual respect.
Only remedy after all that was a soak so the next day I headed for Radium Hot Springs. There are many natural hot springs but this is one of the better known. Natural temperature in the water is 28C.
Today (Friday), I left Canada & entered the US via Idaho. I choose a quieter crossing point (Kingsgate). There was still an hour's wait before I was finger printed & photoed. At customs, there was a certain amount of looking at the passport, looking at me, repeat as the bright red biking head & gingery grey beard told another story.
Temperature today in Montana was 29C.
After the obligatory buggering around needed when paying a speeding ticket (find federal office, get postal order with cash, return), I set off. Today is my last day in BC. Before I entered Alberta, I passed Mt. Robson - the highest peak in the Canadian Rockies at just under 4K. metres.
I was heading for Jasper into the heart of the Rockies & was soon surrounded by 3K metres plus peaks in every direction. Quite a backdrop. There were other big things too.
The Grizzly makes the black bear look like a teddy. Its bigger, moves faster & has deader eyes. I was told by a Canadian that tourists (typically German - his words) get into trouble with Grizzlies every year. His advice was always have a German tourist between you and the bear. I did this.
The Icefields Parkway between Jasper and Banff takes you high. I'd imagine here the peaks are permanently snow covered.
Its a great road. No need to go fast here.
Today is a Canadian Bank Holiday (Victoria Day). The roads are quiet. Seems most people prefer to stay at home.I head off towards Prince George & the central Rocky Mountains. The road connects one lake after another (Moberly, Mackenzie, McLeod, Summit) through the endless pine forest. Stopped at a roadside waterfall;
and am joined by an onlooker.
To be fair, he is only interested in my cereal bar. Even so, I appreciate a bird that is happy to perch on my bike whilst I identify it (its a Stellar's Jay). Bird watching is fine but all that fannying about with bins trying to find them can be dull. This is how bird watching should be.
More stops & advice from friendly Canadians on where to go lulled me into a relaxed "on the road" outlook. After mile three hundred and something I was sat day dreaming, leaning on my bag (my back was starting to complain), one hand on the bars, the other scanning the sky for bird life when a car flashed me. I looked around for anything hanging off the bike & listened for ominous mechanical noises. All seemed fine. Ten minutes later a truck in a line of trucks puts its siren on and slows to make a U-turn. "Licence and registration...you were doing 130 in a 100" (Ks that is..). C$150 fine. With 25% discount that's £60. I blame the bird watching. Still on the bright side, its heart warming to think I have now been done for speeding in six countries over three continents. Takes dedication you know.
Big country means big distances. I have already covered nearly two thousand miles. Ok on interesting roads but the Alaska highway didn't change much today & was straight (ish). So much so that when a vague corner arrives you have to remember what to do. Apart from friendly (looking) bears & bewildered moose, my only other companion was a lone wolf padding alongside the road. Its all relative though. I passed a guy in the middle of nowhere in hiking gear with a rucksack & a err... wheelbarrow. He waved as I passed. Shortly afterwards it started to rain.
Stopped in Buckinghorse River (which is a hundred miles from anyway) & got talking to Edwin who manages the campsite/store that is Buckinghorse River.
"Quiet spot." "Yep, that's the way I like it..." "Must see all types?" "Yep, had a guy last week that rolled up late in a blacked out pick up. Starting snooping around. I asked him what he wanted. He said "Got any women?". "No, this is a campsite". "Well those campers must have wives & daughters".
"What happens when you get trouble - do you call the police?". " Police are two hours that way and two hours that way.." pointing "..but I've got my pistol under the counter and (pause) I have a rifle with a laser sight. I never miss. I don't kill them. Just handcuff them." Right.
NB I stayed in a better than usual hotel yesterday. To counter this I am in a roadside motel tonight. The guys are outside my door drinking vodka in their trailer & a woman has just been picked up by the ambulance after over dosing in a room further down. Nice. Perhaps need to find the middle ground on the accommodation next time..
What's the difference between a buffalo & bison? I don't know but I do know neither should be on the road. I guffawed when I saw the neon sign stating "beware of bison on the highway". Next thing, this thing is nibbling at the road edge. Its beginning to annoy me the amount of random animals the Canadians see fit to let roam around their main roads. Today I had hands on experience of elk (solid looking and skittish), moose (tall as a horse but more stupid looking), foxes (bigger than uk with white tail) & bears - lots of bears.
To be fair, they all seemed to be pretty non-plussed with human attention. I'm told they're just out of hibernation, groggy but hungry. This explains their disregard as I roll up on the motorbike. After a few minutes, they make eye contact. I leave.
Decided not to go too far into the Yukon. The distances are eye watering. 600 mile round trip to Whitehorse. It was a 150 mile off road to Telegraph Creek too that I wimped out of (wrong tyres). I headed east & so will be more or less completing a circle of BC.I am now on the Alaska highway. It would be boring as the road is good & straightish for long stretches but the combination of mountain passes, rain & kamikaze elk kept me entertained. In the mountains, I came across a family of bison. The calves enjoyed randomly darting across the highway. There is no peace for a motorcyclist in Canada.
NB Alexander Keith's IPA is keeping me straight at the moment
After a day walking the ski slopes near Smithers it's good to be back out on the road. I had planned to do a nice circular walk to a crater lake but a mixture of very faint paths, the sense of direction of a goldfish & a scrappy photocopied map had me walking straight up the ski slope. Steep but wide which was good for bear ambushes I figured. Unfortunately,I could not stop climbing & by the time I reached the ski lift, I was walking in groin deep snow. It was only the inner marmot in me & a compass that got me back down.
On the road again & I had a day of firsts. The west side of BC is spectacular - 2000M plus snow capped peaks surround you. The lakes are thawing but still frozen. The rivers are swollen with melt water. And I was running out of gas. I have a 210 mile tank. I limped into Stewart on vapours with 201 on the clock. Earlier, distracted by my flashing fuel warning light, I looked up & there was a black bear looking at me from the side of the road. Like a gun fight, we looked at each other though squinted eyes & moved on. At Stewart, I decided to go to Alaska.
Hyder dates back to 1910 when the original gold miners set up camp. Was interrogated by Canadian customs on the way back across the border ("do you have any weapons to kill bears with ?). Back on the road & my first glacier.
NB I'm writing this at 9PM - roughly 3 hours before it gets dark around here.
