Saturday, July 27, 2013

The Rocky National Parks are pretty awe inspiring. I mean, we’re talking about world class parks here- UNESCO sites…which means that the United Nations has deemed them worthy of protection because they provide a benefit to all of mankind. All of mankind…and here I was about to ride through them on my motorcycle.

After a solid breakfast of eggs benedict I packed my things onto Silver, said good bye to Laura, and was on the highway heading west at around 10:30am. Morning riding is always the best riding and I was excited about riding through the Rockies.

The unfortunate timing of this episode was that I would be riding through the Banff and Kootenay National Parks on a Saturday. The highway was bumper to bumper full of campers and trailers and big trucks with boats. I cruised right through the park gate because I had no intention of stopping and therefore would not require a park pass. What I did do, however, was take advantage of a little gem of a road in between Banff and Lake Louise called the Bow Valley Parkway.

The parkway is a welcome relief from the congested highway #1. It is a little two-lane road cut into the forest and, while slower, offers some pretty great curves and twists. I didn’t mind the delay in time if it meant that I could enjoy this ride. After a half hour or so I could see Castle Mountain in the distance…this is where I would be taking a right turn to head west into Kootenay National Park.

Immediately after heading west I cut into the Rocky Mountains with a long ascent up the Vermilion Pass, which happens to be the Continental Divide and therefore the border between Alberta and British Columbia. I stopped at the summit of the pass (elevation of 5,510 feet) and thought about how hard it must have been for surveyors when they were determining the provincial border. They had to trek through the rough wilderness of the mountains and trace creeks back to their source in order to determine the locations of the continental divide. Sounds tedious but there are mineral and resource rights at stake…it’s not something you can do without perfect accuracy.

We stopped for a few pictures throughout the park but there were crowds of people at every stop. I had no urge to fight groups of little kids and seniors just to get a glimpse of a waterfall…even though I lovewaterfalls. The scenery is out of this world though…the Rocky Mountains are so huge. The bald rock faces…the snow peaks…the glaciers…the streams and valleys…it’s all so breathtaking.

I reached Radium at around 2pm and stopped for a short break where I looked back at the Rockies…they were now to the east of me and I was in the middle of the Rocky Mountain Trench. The Purcells were looming off to the west, but I would not be crossing them for a few days yet. Today I was heading south down the Trench to the United States.

I always find riding in the Trench to be a let down. It’s odd…because I’m tucked in between two massive mountain ranges and should be in the ‘zone’…but no matter what direction I came from I would have had to have ridden THROUGH one of those ranges…and after riding through mountains and over high passes hanging out in the Trench just doesn’t measure up. The other thing is that the highway itself is straight and wide, there are no curves or bends to breakthings up. Silver and I cruised all the way down the trench and by 5pm we were at Jaffray to fuel up and prepared to cross the border into Montana.

I had not ridden Silver in the United States since Ryan & Silver’s Excellent Adventure 2007, and even then it was only for an hour or so. We rode south of Creston into Idaho that day, but we were tired and turned back after only a little while. This would be our first overnighter.

Crossing the border was no problem, and within five minutes I decided to immerse myself into the American experience. I bought a 24 oz can of Pabst Blue Ribbon beer at a gas station, changed my GPS from kilometres to miles, put the CCR on my ipod, and rode Silver without a helmet for a few miles.

I didn’t go very far before I stopped and put the helmet back on…I just had to see what it was like.

Seems crazy to me that there are States that do not require a helmet. What the hell is the reason for that? Are there enough people out there who object enough to basic safety that these laws haven’t changed? Anyway, I do get the appeal…it is very exhilarating to ride with the wind flowing through your hair…but not enough to warrant a complete and total disregard for one’s own safety.

Anyway, I was damn tired at this point. It was well over 30 degrees outside since Radium and the sun had been beating down on me the entire afternoon. My face was even more burned than before. After a few hours I rolled into Kalispell and found my motel. Next to it was a Mexican restaurant, so I took advantage of that before walking back to my room and collapsing on the bed. Lights out early.

I needed the rest, because tomorrow I was going to the sun.