Day 11: Columbia Falls, Montana

Today's viewing pleasure owes a thank you to Megan and Michael Taylor, friends and colleagues from work. Both independently and fervently said that if we ended up here we must ride the Going to the Sun road. Clearly they both had fond memories of the place.
I'm assuming those fond memories are due to the natural beauty of the area rather than any steamy romantic getaway that I wouldn't mention here in the interests of keeping things professional. Whatever the case, thanks guys. It was most surely worth a days diversion off the great divide ride.
We had braced ourselves for the labour weekend crowds and were in the correct mindset for sharing the place with others. Under different circumstances I really would like to be here camping for a few days but today will do. For every photo you see there could be 20 more as spectacular.
Enjoy.
In keeping with my little theme of random comment over the last few days I'd like to talk about the Harley set today. The first thing is that one mustn't generalise as there is a whole population of Harley riders out there. In fact last night we spent a very pleasant hour chatting to 2 couples staying in our motel and they were clearly both nice and good company. Especially when they started pouring beer into my very empty stomache-but that's another story.
No, the Harley riders I want to talk about are the bandanna'd moustachioed variety. The lengths that this bunch will go to for "tough" fashion is pretty extreme. If you saw my helmet visor at the end of the day, dripping with insect entrails and god knows what else, you would have to wonder why you would go out there with only a pair of sunglasses and a giant moustache. It just can't be nice and anyway, those bugs hurt at 70 miles/hour!
And don't get me going about the fact that the roadworks here have signs advising motorcyclists to take alternate routes. Are you serious?
Never mind, each to their own. Given how poncy Dave and myself look in our matching adventure riding gear I do need to be careful about casting aspersions.
The travel gods were kind to us today. We took a chance on not booking a motel tonight. Given that we are at the gateway to a National park we could have regretted that as there is absolutely no accomodation to be had here. Lucky for us then that we popped in at our favoured super 8 at the right time to pick up a cancellation.
We do have to share a bed again but seeing as Dave only spends about an hour in it that shouldn't be too hard.
Today was our first documented crossing of the continental divide.
Alright, enough babble. Check out this truly stunning landscape.

Day 10: Whitefish, Montana

A day of 2 halves. Both of us were grumpy this morning which was not helped by the fact that we only had decaff coffee and no breakfast. We then rode off down the East side of the Rockies aiming for the US entry port of Roosville. There was actually some stunning rural/agricultural scenery but we weren't into it due to cold temperatures and rain. The huge shelf of the Rockies accompanied us pretty much to the border and with shafts of light coming through the rain it was at times very beautiful. Being drenched in spray from large trucks that were difficult to overtake didn't help us cheer up though.
Once we crossed the border we immediately hooked into the Great Divide Ride and things perked up nicely. We rode into the Whitefish mountains and enjoyed an afternoon of lovely dual sport riding. It had rained and the forest was fresh and cool and the trail was just technical enough to be fun. It is labour weekend here and so the campsites are full of campers with the smell if woodsmoke in the air.
We met a lovely lady who is supporting her husband in riding the trail on a bicycle. Good chat.
The road was closed due to a washed out bridge so we had to ride over some sleepers to get to the other side. I'm glad we made the effort.
Not that many photos today as camera was stashed deep in rain gear.
A lovely afternoon was had.
Tomorrow we will ride the Going to the sun road in glacier national park. Sadly it will be busy with the weekend crowds but that's the way it goes.
Yesterday I spoke of why I ride a bike, I reminded myself of that in the freezing rain this morning. Living in the moment.
I remember our friend Tom telling us to get rid of the GPS last year, seeing it as a stifling tool that inhibits the spirit of exploration. For someone like me it acts almost as the exact opposite. Yes we define our path rather than follow any road but it allows me to enjoy the ride with the reassurance that I am not lost and even when exploring I know that little pink line will take me home (so long as the bridge hasn't washed away, or tree fallen across the road!). That lets me enjoy the ride more and that has to be a good thing. Tom, I do carry maps and a compass for when the batteries go flat though.

Day 9: Radium hot springs, BC

I think I'll let the photos describe today's ride from Jasper, through Lake Louise, Banff and finally into Radium hot springs( we ended up here to avoid the extortionate costs of Banff). We started at a chilly 8 degrees Celsius and ended at 30 degrees. Misty drizzle through into sun and then convection showers. It was beautiful and atmospheric beyond words with the most amazing array of clouds and light playing on the mountains. The lakes are really that colour!
I thought of Jennie a lot today. An artists dream.
Tomorrow we intend to leave Canada via the port of Roosville. We need to have a good look at how the great devide ride links with both the Glacier National Park and Yellowstone and put together a hybrid route of sorts as it would be a pity to miss out on the scenic wonder of the national parks.

Today we spent a lot of time alone with our thoughts, which is as it should be when you are encompassed by mother natures grandeur. Why ride a motorbike? For me it's certainly not because it's cool or daring. I think it comes down to the fact that you are so much more engaged with the world around you. If its cold you feel it. You smell the wood smell or the foulness of a passing stock truck. You experience the texture of the passing landscape in a way that is simply not possible in the sanitised confines of a car. It is not comfortable or convenient but certainly exhilarating. Why wouldn't you ride a bike I guess?
To explore the back country on an adventure bike is such a privilege.
Then you add the fun of challenge. Can I ride that root infested hill or cross that river, knowing that the consequence of a mistake can mean a long walk or a night out (unless you are with Dave - he just fixes things).
Why wouldn't you?
Thank you all for coming on this journey with us. Enjoy.

Day 8: Jasper, Alberta

I've been waiting to be blown away by the scenery in Canada and today it finally happened. Not that things have been that shabby till now but in general the words springing to mind have been along the lines of nice or pretty but not wow, blow your socks off. Today that changed. It was a long transport from Williams Lake to Jasper. Most of the day was through more nice pastoral scenery. In the latter part of the day we followed the Thompson River up to Valemount on the western side if the Rockies. This 200km long valley is certainly very beautiful but the road is busy and there are not many photo opportunities. Once we turned east from Valemount we headed into the Rockies themselves and suddenly the scenery changed from nice to drop dead gorgeous. I guess that's why it's a national park. We did a lot of stopping in the last 100km to Jasper and all of the photos today were taken along this section.
We saw our first bear today. Scampering across the road early in the day. No time to even stop before it was gone but still nice to see. I note that one should stay in your car if you see a bear in the national park - hmm. I might keep the bear spray a bit more handy now. Several people have told us the bears are in a protein gathering state now..
In life you get what you pay for and although beautiful, Jasper and I'm sure Banff are rediculously expensive. To ease the pain I am off to use every condiment and consumable I can find in this snotty little hotel. Daves already been into the dining room to uplift bowls etc so we can have some if our stale bran for breakfast as double price here still excludes breakfast. Bastards.
Anyway, enjoy the pics.

Day 7: Williams Lake, BC

One tends to have a few hours a day to think about things when you do long distance motorbike travel. A few of the things running through my mind today went along the lines of why, in general, do the self proclaimed custodians of our various lands trash the place so much? It seems like every first nations settlement here harbours a car and general junk yard. This is a pattern I've seen with virtually every indigenous population I've come across in America, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa, Australia etc. is it just that when the white man ruined your life style, and I'm very aware that in many cases we did, that you simply stopped caring about anything? No answers, just an observation. Personally though I would give more credence to the land custodian thing if you actually did look after it.
The other thing on my mind was how the hell Dave has managed to live as long as he has. Dave lives in a bizarre world of permanent exhaustion where the only thing that keeps him from falling asleep is a thrilling existence.
So today we are riding along through a large open range ranch, me leading. It was a nice flowing road but I'm aware that there are cows and deer hanging around so I figure 70km/hour is about right. Then I start hearing the yawning through the helmet coms. Turns out I'm going too slow and he is falling asleep so I graciously suggest he goes ahead. Thirty seconds later he comes flying past at significantly greater than 100km/hr in this huge power slide , corrects with this horrendous fishtail and disappears into the distance in a cloud of dust. All of this to stay awake! Or impress me. If its the latter it would take more than that to make me share a bed with him again.
I'm sure I had something more meaningful to say than that but my train of thought was interrupted by a fantastic supper at the nearby pub.
Today we rode 320km from Lillooet to Williams Lake, mostly on fast gravel roads. We pretty much followed the Fraser river north. This is a huge body if water that eventually ends in Vancouver 600km later. Today Dave only had 800ml of petrol in his tank at the end which means his rear wheel travelled 40km further than the rest of us. And he wonders where Ricky gets his hoon tendencies from?
The country is very dry high desert and not at all the verdant rainforest I had associated with BC.
The pictures today include the reaction ferry that crosses the Fraser at Big Bar. The ferry is attached to wires and uses the current to drive itself across.
The gratuitous naked Dave shots are after he was stung twice by a wasp. At least it woke him up. Apparently urine can soothe the pain so I offered to piss on him which would have made us both feel better. He declined.
Tomorrow we are heading to Jasper on sealed roads and then on the Iceland Parkway down to Banff.
Yesterday's efforts resulted in me undoing the good healing I had managed on my recently separated shoulder. That plus a sprained finger and a bashed knee made me think a couple of gentler days might be in order. It was worth it though.

Day 6: Lillooet, BC

Wow what a day. I'm still deciding whether I'm elated ( yes) or just plain shattered (yes). Today was our first off road day on the Trans Canada trail. This included an optional challenge section of 120km. In total we rode 320km which doesn't sound like much until you add the challenge bit in. We finally got into Lillooet at 8pm and rarely have I been so glad to see civilisation again!
Anyway the day started at a leisurely pace with a transport stage to Pemberton. We had to spend some quality time with the laptop there as the GPS wasn't working properly. Thank god we did or we'd still be out there now. Anyway we then rode on a pylon service road to and past Lake Anderton. The pics of Dave high above the water are taken there beautiful but pity about the power lines. We had lunch in a little First Nations ( not on the culinary stakes) restaurant.
We then headed north on the challenge diversion which for the first 80km was very straightforward. It then abruptly changed into the most difficult riding I have ever tackled on such a big bike.
Having just commented to each other that perhaps the Kiwi definition of challenge is different to the Canadian, we ( me more than Dave) were brought down a peg or 2 very quickly. It started with a boggy water crossing (past the point of no return from a fuel perspective) that had the water over my saddle. Thank god the air intake on the 990 is at the very top of the bike or it would have been a disaster. From there we had a series of very loose and steep rutted hill climbs and descents interspersed with more smaller bog holes. I dropped my bike twice but thankfully no major damage done.
Ego bruised more than the body.
Judy, if you are reading this I did exactly what we agreed I shouldn't and have paid the price!
Anyway we then rode out through a warren of ATV trails and eventually into Lillooet after an endless forestry service road. We had exactly 1 litre of petrol left each. My shattered nerves.
Dave of course was just thrilled and couldn't have been happier.
To be fair it was awesome riding.
Tomorrow is an easier and apparently a very scenic day.
A smattering of pics from today. I wish I could show you more images of this beautiful and remote country. The pictures were taken with little thought. I shall up my game.