Scenic byways through mountains and canyons

 What a day! We started from Columbus, MT just before 8am, hoping to beat as much of the predicted high temperatures as possible. We started on Montana Highway 78 heading south toward Red Lodge through cultivated fields with mountain backdrops.

In Red Lodge we turned onto US 212, in this next stretch known as the Beartooth Highway that twists through hairpin turns with sheer, rocky drops off the side as it winds it's way into Wyoming and over Beartooth Pass at 10,947' above the treeline. This is not only an absolutely beautiful drive, it's a ton of fun on a motorcycle.

Near the top of the pass we crossed from Montana into Wyoming.

We passed several high mountain lakes and then a group of motorcycles, one with a side car.

We started seeing signs warning about cows in the road, and around the next few curves came across several cows.

After descending Beartooth Pass we turned south onto Wyoming Highway 296, the Chief Joseph Scenic Byway.   The route winds through the Shoshone National Forest through the Absaroka Mountains. Although not as high elevation as the Beartooths, this route is just as beautiful with curving roads through the forested mountains and several ranches with open ranges - which meant more cows on the road.

We had been on the road for over 2 hours when we stopped at the Sunlight Creek bridge and overlook for a snack and bathroom break. This is the highest bridge in Wyoming over the deep Sunlight Creek canyon. - so far down that it's challenging to see the creek from the bridge.

We shed extra layers of motorcycle gear liners as we were now riding into lower elevations and warmer temperatures before we continued south on the Chief Joseph Scenic Byway, named for the Native American chief of the Nez Perce tribe who led his people through this area attempting to flee to Canada instead of being forced onto a reservation.

Wyoming 296 ends at Wyoming 120 where we turned east toward Cody. The terrain was now dusty, dry hills with occasional rocky outcroppings that meant the road was mostly straight with some curves around the higher hills.

We stopped in Cody, founded in 1896 by Buffalo Bill Cody who was impressed with the rich soil, scenery, hunting, and proximity to Yellowstone National Park (only 52 miles away). Continuing on toward Thermopolis, the BMW's odometer rolled over to 49000 miles; we've ridden over 3000 miles so far on this trip.

We've stayed in Thermopolis before, taking advantage of the Hot Springs state park but we still had about 40 miles to ride for the day. Instead of the hot springs, we stopped at a McDonald's so Mike could get a strawberry shake and we both drank ice water to try and cool off as the temperature was now 99-101 degrees. I dipped my shirt in water to try for some evaporative cooling - it helped a bit until the shirt dried.

We now turned onto a combined route with US 20 and Wyoming 789 for the final part of today's ride. The first few miles were the best - through Wind River Canyon where the rock walls rise 2500' above the 2-lane highway.

As we rode out of the canyon we passed Boysen Reservoir which stretches for miles along the highway.

We rode 297 miles today, ending at Riverton, Wyoming. We saw more motorcycles on the road today than we have during the entire past two weeks with so many riders out enjoying the scenic byways, twisting hairpin turns, curving and sweeping roads, and fabulous scenery.  We're anticipating hot temperatures for the next two days as we continue south toward Colorado - but that doesn't change our enthusiasm for what each day will bring on the BMW.

Montana wheat fields, prairies, and hills

This is the 12th day we've been on the motorcycle, with extra days in Moscow, Idaho for a rest day, and then in Bozeman, Montana to visit our son. The days quickly developed a rhythm: eat breakfast (sometimes after going for a run), load up the BMW, enjoy riding for 5+ hours, enjoy an air-conditioned hotel, hot shower, and hopefully find a great place for dinner. Eat-ride-sleep-repeat. We see something different every day, talk with interesting people, and enjoy time on the BMW eating up the miles.

We left Havre, MT just before 9am, riding south on US Route 87 through fields of wheat, barley and hay as far as we could see.

This area is part of the Golden Triangle in Montana that is a top producer of wheat in the country which explains why we rode through miles and miles of wheat fields the past two days.

After we passed the town of Big Sandy, the landscape changed dramatically from flat or barely rolling  fields to rugged uplands known as the Missouri Breaks where the road curved, climbed, and then descended.

In Fort Benton we turned east on Montana Highway 80 and crossed the Missouri River.

This area is part of the Lewis and Clark Trail, following the route the explorers took in 1804.  We were either riding on a straight road through fields and range land, or winding through more of the Breaks which made the ride really fun.

In Stanford we stopped for gas, a snack and cold drink and chatted with the friendly woman working at the counter, then continued south on US 87/Montana 200 East until we intersected with US 191 and continued south through a valley with the Little Belt Mountains to the west and Big Snowy Mountains to the east, giving us a preview of the twisty mountain roads coming up in the next few days of our trip. We even saw snowy patches on the mountains!

We stopped in Big Timber, once home to the largest woolen mill (and over 3000 sheep) in Montana, for lunch in a bakery/cafe on the main street and enjoyed the meal and air conditioning as the temperature was heading over 90 degrees.

The last 38 miles of today's 330 mile ride was east on I-90 along the Yellowstone River to Columbus, MT, our stop for the night. There just aren't any other paved road options going our direction in this part of the state and since the temperature continued to climb, we were happy to make good time for the last part of the day's ride.

Tomorrow we're looking forward to mountain passes and higher, hopefully cooler, elevations.

Straight roads through the prairie

 We started today in Cardston, Alberta and thought we had a plan to get to the Wild Horse border crossing to get back into the United States. Like other aspects of this trip, we had to regroup and be flexible mid-way through today's ride.

Today was all about riding through wide open land planted with wheat, hay and other crops.

Unlike riding through the mountains, today the roads were straight and the views endless, broken every now and then by very distant, shadowy mountain ranges and windmill farms.

The day started as planned, riding on Alberta highway 5 east, to 52 east, and then onto the 4-line divided highway 4 for a short period of time.

We then turned onto Alberta highway 501 east and for the first few miles everything went to plan.

Then all of a sudden the road went from paved asphalt to gravel/dirt - not a lot of fun when riding 65 mph. It was a short stretch of gravel and as we hit the next section of pavement we thought everything was OK - until we reached another gravel/dirt section.

We had no idea how long the gravel section would last so stopped, looked at our older Canadian map, and decided to use the Garmin GPS to guide us to our hotel in Havre, MT. That meant about 80 additional miles riding, and since any mile on the BMW is a great mile, we enjoyed the rest of the trip.

The Garmin took us on Alberta 879 north, then 61 east, part of the Red Coat Trail, an 800 mile route that approximates the path taken in 1874 by the North-West Mounted Police as they marched west to bring law and order to the Canadian West. We rode past several large windmill farms today, and in this wide-open country they look even more imposing.

We then turned onto Alberta highway 3 east, following a very slow moving truck loaded with hay bales for part of the way.

We stopped in Medicine Hat, named for the eagle tail feather headdress worn by Blackfoot medicine men. We had been on the BMW for almost 4 hours and needed both a gas station and lunch - and were thrilled to find the Rosewood Bistro and their menu using locally sourced food. The friendly waitress pointed out a gas station just around the corner, and we got back on the road ready for the next part of the day.

We rode on Trans Canada Highway 1  for a short period of time, long enough to see a very long train waiting at a grain elevator.

We then turned onto Alberta 41 heading south toward the Wild Horse border crossing. The next 68 miles to the border we saw only 2 other vehicles which surprised us since we expected more traffic crossing the border.

The prairie was broken up by rolling hills and stands of pine trees in the Cypress Hills Interprovincial Park

Once we passed through the park, it seemed like the straight road in front of us went on as far as we could see to the horizon.

It was windy all day, but now the wind got even stronger and at times we were buffeted by an especially strong gust. 

We crossed into the United States with just one car in front of us, and for the next 44 miles rode on Montana highway 232 into Havre - again seeing only 2 other vehicles.

The temperature rose into the high 80's, and between the wind and the heat we were ready for an air conditioned hotel room in Havre. Based on a suggestion from the hotel staff we ate dinner at the absolutely fantastic Bow and Marrow Steakhouse - by far the best meal we've had not only on this trip, but since we moved to Colorado 18 months ago. Meals on motorcycle trips are hit or miss, and we'll remember this meal for months. It's worth a stop in Havre just to eat here!

Canada!

 We finally made it into Canada!

It rained throughout the night and the forecast was for rain at least at the beginning of our ride, so we put on raingear. We were lucky - it only rained for a short period of time. We started the day riding west on US 2 out of Hungry Horse, MT.

We were surprised to see a sign on US 93N from Whitefish that we were in Tobacco Valley because we though tobacco was grown in the South. An explorer named this area when he passed through in 1808 and discovered the local Kootenai used a form of wild tobacco. No longer known for tobacco, but rather for logging, the name stuck.

As we rode into Eureka three deer crossed the road, and as we rode north out of town we saw a turkey crossing the road. A few miles further north we crossed into Canada at the Rooseville border crossing and continued north on British Columbia route 93.

We turned east on British Columbia Highway 3, riding along the Crowsnest River on a curving, sweeping valley through the Rocky Mountains.

We stopped in Sparwood for a quick snack and were delighted to see the world's largest truck - the Terex Titan, a 350 ton truck that was used in the local coal mining district. 

Sparwood is on the British Columbia/Alberta border, and we continued north on Crowsnest Pass across the Continental Divide.

Crowsnest Pass is considered a low elevation pass at only 4455' which is over 3000' lower than where we live in southwest Colorado - yet it feels much higher due to the rocky mountain peaks everywhere we could see. The skies continued to clear and made this a super fun ride.

We stopped at Frank Slide, the site of Canada's deadliest mountain slide in 1903 when 110 million tons of limestone broke away from Turtle Mountain and buried a large part of the Frank coal mining town.

As we continued east we left the mountains gave way to rolling prairies and the wind picked up. We weren't surprised to see dozens of windmills as we were buffeted by the strong winds.

We turned south on Alberta Highway 6 and stopped in Pincher Creek for lunch at the Hut Cafe. Meals are often hit or miss when we're on a motorcycle trip and the Hut Cafe offered a variety of delicious options.

As we rode south through the ranches and fields we saw the Rocky Mountains in front of us and to the west - a long string of craggy mountain peaks.

Our next stop was Waterton Lakes National Park which borders Glacier National Park to the south. When we planned this trip we thought we would visit Jasper and Banff first, ending our time in the Canadian Rockies here. Due to the devastating wildfire in Jasper last week we had to shift our plans and were thrilled to spend some time in the Waterton Lakes area on a smoke-free day.

We walked along the rocky beach and enjoyed learning about the area in the visitor center. We originally hoped to spend the night here but had to cancel the reservations earlier in the trip and now there were no rooms available. Instead we rode another 25 miles east to Cardston where we will spend the night. The 275 mile trip today is a highlight of the trip so far.