Glacier Bike Trip (Montana, British Columbia, Alberta and back to Montana) -
August 2005 |
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The four of us at the start of the trip...
from left to right... Charles, Ivona, CA and Terri. We met CA and
Ivona in Oregon last summer, and our plans for this
trip aligned perfectly (CA and Ivona live in Vancouver). |
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Montana pastureland... scenery like
this greeted us on the first few miles of riding. |
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The route from Whitefish took us on
alternate (secondary) roads that were incredibly scenic and had almost
zero traffic. A great way to start the trip. The weather was
impressively warm (read that hot!) as temperatures neared 100 degreess. |
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Our experience with secondary roads on the
second day of riding was not very successful. Road construction
forced us to backtrack (our bikes got full of tar), and as a result, we
didn't cover much in distance this day. |
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Old Montana homesteads... we periodically
saw these on the road as we headed north. |
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Crossing into British Columbia
(Canada). We didn't realize that passports are now required (before
only a valid drivers license was needed)... but because the law is new,
they let us through - with a stern warning to bring a passport next time. |
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CA, Ivona and Terri continuing north on Hwy
93. Shortly from here, the route heads east towards Fernie and
Crowsnest Pass. |
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One of a group of three Big Horn Sheep we
saw near the road as we continued heading east towards Fernie. |
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The route here was very pleasant - with only
a gentle river grade climb as we headed towards Fernie.
However, there was a constant headwind that slowed our pace a
little. Still, the scenery was breathtaking. |
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Yes... this is the "World's
Largest Truck". Enormous! |
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We followed this river towards Crowsnest
Pass - which would take us over the Continental Divide and eventually into
the High Plains. |
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Scenery as we near Crowsnest Pass... If you
look closely on the road below, you can see Terri on her bike... it gives
you an idea of how enormous these mountains are! |
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Terri, Ivona and CA at Crowsnest Past... We
were fortunate to have absolutely spectacular weather during this
crossing... the next day it was cold and raining (and some snow just above
the pass). |
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Crowsnest Pass itself... you go through a
narrow valley with two lakes right next to the road, and towering
mountains all around. Spectacular! |
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Crowsnest Mountain... we're now in Alberta
and entering the High Plains. |
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I call this photo "Windmills, Rain and
Hay"... it's a good mood photo to show what this day was like
(cold but beautiful!). The snow level was only 2,000' above us. |
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Ivona hams it up with some metal figures on
the side of the road. She really knows how to liven a scene! |
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Yep... you definitely have to watch out for
the wild animals... ;-) |
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I love this photo... CA is on the road
climbing out of the plains. It really captures the moment of the
ride. |
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Last view of the Plains before we head back
into the Rockies. This is another photo I really love as the colors
seem so alive. |
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Near Twin Buttes... We camped next to here,
and all night we heard Coyotes howl... it was a very interesting chorus to
listen to... In the morning we had frost on our tent... quite a
change from a few days before when we had 100 degree weather! |
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Heading from the High Plains towards
Waterton National Park (Alberta). As you can see the cold morning
gave way to sunny weather... one of the finest days on the trip. |
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Old horse-drawn wagons just before Waterton
Park. An era gone by... |
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I think this is my favorite photograph from
the trip. It truly captures the moment. CA and Ivona are
resting at Waterton National Park. The mountains are beautiful
beyond words... |
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Charles, CA, Ivona and Terri at Waterton
National Park... one of the few photos of all of us together. |
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Actually I was waiting for the horses to
pass, but ended up taking a photo anyway... and surprise... I really liked
how it came out! This was taken next to our campground. |
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We took a boat trip across the lake.
The trip itself was terrific... unfortunately the smoke from the wildfires
nearby started to obscure the view of the lake and mountains... still it
was a beautiful ride... the US (Montana) side of the lake is very remote
and quiet. |
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As we left Waterton National Park, we passed
a small herd of Deer... they were so large, I initially thought they might
be Elk... |
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Prince of Wales Hotel in Waterton National
Park. I took this photo as we were leaving the park... kind of sad
to leave ... but I hope to return there someday. |
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The ride from Waterton National Park
(Alberta) to St. Mary (Montana) was a long ride with several major
climbs. We also had a bit of heat on this day. In the photo,
Ivona and CA take a break from the riding. |
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St. Mary Lake as the morning fog was
lifting. I had hoped that we would get an early start to the
ride on the "Going to the Sun Highway", but the fog prevented us
from doing so. So we waited a few hours, and eventually as we started to climb,
the fog burned off. |
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I had picked up a bicycle mascot at Waterton...
CA gave him the name "Monty Moose" and it kind of stuck.
He certainly seems happy with the ride. |
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St Mary Lake... beautiful beyond
words... The Going to the Sun Highway that we're traveling on, can
be seen on the right side of the Lake. |
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A great group photo taken by a tourist
(using CA's camera). St. Mary Lake is in the background. |
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CA took this photo of me riding along the
shoreline of St Mary Lake. As you can see, this "Highway"
is incredibly scenic... bicycling at it's best! |
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This will give a better idea of what it was
like to ride along the lake shore... I think we could have spent a full
day exploring just this section... there was a lot to see and enjoy here. |
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The view as we were climbing up towards
Logan Pass on the Going to the Sun Highway. This photo is relatively
near the pass itself. |
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We passed a series of waterfalls near the
top of Logan Pass. I managed to capture this one of Ivona pedaling
past one of these. |
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Ivona and CA passing numerous mountains as
the climb nears the top. |
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This was taken at Logan Pass looking east in
the direction we rode from. |
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We made it! Logan Pass is truly a
spectacular place to see - and experience... but a lot more was yet to
come! |
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The downward descent from Logan Pass.
This is one of the most exciting rides I've done... you can see the road
carved into the mountain side here... and we had over 3,300' of descending
to do (with fully loaded bikes). |
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The road as it crosses a waterfall on the
descent... I think the name of the waterfall is Bird Woman Falls... but
I'll have to look that up (so don't quote me on this!). |
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CA took this marvelous photo of Ivona
overlooking the scenery that we were passing on the descent. The
photo does a fantastic job of capturing what it was like to see such
beauty. |
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This will give you a good idea of what it
was like to ride down from the pass. There is very little
shoulder here... the good news is that cars are limited to 25mph speed
limit... so for descents, we were able to go as fast as the cars. |
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CA and Ivona nearing Avalanche Creek.
If you look closely up (way up!) on the mountain, you can see the road we
descended on. |
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Another photo I really love... good mood
photo... this was one of many waterfalls we saw as we followed the river
towards Lake McDonald. |
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Start of the last day of the ride... Terri,
CA, Ivona, and Charles (left to right). Lake McDonald is in the
background. As you can see, it had been raining quite a bit. |
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Some fawns we saw as we were leaving Lake
McDonald. |
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Last few miles before returning to Whitefish
(our starting point)... the weather had cleared up as we left the
mountains, and we were treated to a very quiet back road as we neared
completion of the ride. |
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Celebrating the successful completion of the
trip. From left to right... Terri, CA, Ivona and Charles. From
the photos, you can see this was an amazingly spectacular trip... one
that I'd love to do all over again! |
