Banff / Waterton Park / Bigfork 17 / 08 / 2010

We Left Banff at approx 7.30pm and it was clear and quite cold , about 100kms and we were riding some more fantastic scenery. Climbing up to about 2400mts between these Hugh mountains . It is hard to explain how the Rocky's seem, but my best way is that they give you the feeling that they have strength , power and boldness , and that they are looking down on you like gods .

After about 200kms we are on the gravel and the back roads, no cars nobody but us and it was great until a bloody great big gravel dump truck came screaming down on us at full speed , dust , stones and me saying to Ruth F##k I wonder where he dumped his load . A couple of other smaller trucks came the other way as well , but other than that is was only us and nature .

About another 50kms on we spot a sign Grader next 10kms again i say "oh no" !! . Yes about 2 kms later we came around a corner ,and here is all that metal dumped by that truck and a grader right in the middle of the road . Well with no time at all it was on with the brakes and wobble wobble and the front wheel is straight into all the loose gravel and you right we had our first "OFFIE" yes we went down , right in front of the grader ( no damage it was more of a fall over , but still we went down so it was an OFFIE) (what a piss off ) . Up we get I look at the Grader driver (a young Fella ) and want to go and kick his arse and he looks at me saying what da F##k are you doin here ! We get the bike up and bid our fair wells . The road from here on in gets worse with a very had base and about an inch of stones on it( So it was like marbles on glass) . Needless to say we had a very slow trip for the next 40kms or so (but no more OOFFIES).

Next stop was " Head Smashed in Buffalo Jump" not far from Ford McLeod and a very interesting Place .

Before the white man came the Indians never had horses (well I wonder where the Pinto horse came from ) . So for the previous 6,500years what they did was round up a heard of Buffalo's and made them jump off the cliff (It stopped when they got horses and guns). It is a very well set up affair for the tourist and as I say very interesting , we stayed about 2 hrs .

Waterton Park (and it cost $15.50 to go in ) was just beautiful beyond all I had seen , it was a very small town surrounded with mountains , a beautiful Lake, bugger all people and miles from anywhere, a place I could go back to . In town Deer were every where (the photo was just out side of Motel ) and quite tame .

Then today we set off about 10am for the "Road to the Sun" over Logan Pass (2,600mts we got to) and we are now back in the USA . Again just stunning is all I can say, Just Stunning , the only complaint was that there was so many people (I think nobody works over here and they are all on Holiday) and there were heaps of bikes on the road 99% Harley's (no helmets and even one guy with no shirt and a big fat guts ) . But I must say that all the Harley's guys a very friendly (even though we are on a Rice Rocket) and come over a have a chat and always wave out on the road . We walked up to the pass which was about a two hrs walk , all on board walk and we saw Mountain Goats (big white ones ) and Mountain Sheep , Ground Squirrels and Deer .

So tonight we are in Bigfork Montana , which is a tourist place by a big lake (very nice )

Photos

The first 3 are off Waterton Park and the next are through Logan Pass the last is at the top of the Pass

Tomorrow is a big day 500kms to Livingston and I hope to get a new front tyre there ,if not it may have to wait till Cody .

Hey Ekke its great to have you interested in our trip , the camera is a "Sanyo Full HD 2000 Xacti" It is dual camera and Video . Bloody Great just point a shoot and quite cheap ( Have a look on da net)

The Icefields Parkway( 286kms) 15/08/2010

We stayed an extra day in Jasper as it was raining all the way through the Icefeilds Parkway to Banff . As we had heard the drive through to Banff was purported to be the best scenic drive in the world we decided to wait for better weather the next day (and I wanted to get my $78.00 worth ).

Well that was one of the best decisions we have made thus far, as we got up to clear skies . We were on the road by 7.30am , first stop , Mount Edith Cavell 3,300mts high., What a ride up to see Angle Glacier , the views unbelievable . When we got up there we had a 45 minute walk up to the Glacier and then back on the road to Athabasca Falls . From then on what I can only describe as WOW , WOW , WOW and more WOW !!! . The best in the world would have to be an understatement, it is visual over load , glaciers , lakes and mountains to the max and the road perfect (well may be perfect, if they could get those bloody camper vans off the road or get them to speed up a bit , well a lot really) .

By the time we got to Banff we were mental tired from all the "LOOK AND THAT" and "NO LOOK AT THAT WOW!!" .

Banff is a very pretty town with heaps of tourist , we arrived on Saturday afternoon and it was bedlam. Cars and people everywhere (it is very my much like Queenstown NZ x3) . We walked up Tunnel Mountain this afternoon , took about 3hrs . We have run into a few Kiwis here, some working some just travelling .

The bike (or Rice Rocket as they call them over here ) is going great no problems now .

Tomorrow we are off to Waterton Park (approx 400km) it is on the US border. We had planned to go through Radium and stay at Fort Steel, but that way is a tourist route (to many camper vans ) . So we are taking a back route over the mountains with heaps of metal roads (sounds more fun ),and it is about 200km shorter (I wonder how much faster or slower . That folks is for the future to know , and another adventure . I'm getting bored with no stress in my life , so tomorrow may fix that ?

Photos

All on the way to Banff and Banff, a Bird , the photo with the boat in it is Lake Louise and the Glacier that I am standing in front of is call Columbia Icefeild Glacier . It is as deep as the Eiffel Tower is high.

Prince George to Jasper 11/ 12/08/2010

After a morning of exploring Prince George (bugger all to see) while the bike is being fixed we were on our way (around 11.30am) for Jasper (approx 370kms) , with the bike all good now and the weather excellent for biking (what more could we ask for) . The road from Prince George was much to same as the road when we came into Prince George for the first 100kms , but then we were back in the Mountains and bugger all traffic (heaven ). About 50kms out of Jasper we see Mount Robson (but not quite the top) , it is the highest Mountain in Canada and I think in the Rockies 3,954m , quite spectacular . It was here that we discovered that we have lost another hour, so again we are going to be late into Jasper , and accommodation as we have been told is hard to find (school holidays), but after not to much trouble we have a room and not that expensive .

But before we get into Jasper we come across a toll gate (Park Fees) , we pull up and the man asks how long we are going to be in Jasper, and if we are going on to Banft . We say 4 days and he say that will be $78.44c, and Ruth says (with her eyes WHAT, HOW MUCH !!) and a think he had said $7.44c so I was happy. But could not understand why Ruth looked about to give the guy an ear full . She paid by C Card and we are away and she tells me the price , I just shake my head , what else could we do .

Anyway Jasper is very much like and the size of Wanaka NZ (small tourist town South Island NZ, very beautiful) with out the lake (instead it has a railway track ) . It is geared up for adventure sports and skiing in the winter and is very touristy . When we came in it was a bit of a shock, all the cars and people after being in such small untouristy towns .

We took the cable car up to the top of Mt Whistler (2,200m) again quite spectacular , it cost $60us but included breakfast so it will be Eggs and Baked Beans for Dinner tonight and for the next week after those bloody Park Fees $78.44c that's bloody highway robbery (pricks)

Tomorrow we are off to Banft (290kms) and one of the most Scenic Hiways in the world .

Photos

Mount Robson (well most of it ) , Jasper and around from top of Mt Whistler ,and Jasper town

Escape from Dease Lake /Stewart/Hyder/Smithers/Prince George10/08/10

Dease Lake to Stewart ( 390kms)

We ended up staying 3 nights in Dease Lake waiting for a tyre (a Harley at that ) and having it fitted . In the mean time we visited a Kiwi couple from Otorohanga, Jim and Sharon Reed they have been in D Lake for 18yrs flying Helos (and they knew some of my rellies from Otorohanga) , there was also a guy from NZ flying Helos in Watson Lake .

With a new tyre and a Service on the bike and the clutch seeming to be fixed (I gave it a good bleed), we were away and out of Dease Lake ( "happy as goats in a garden" , with all our troubles behind us ).

The ride to Stewart again was another spectacular ride with no traffic and at just a nice temperature , the last 50kms into Stewart on the Glacier Hiway was Mountainous even better with over 20 glacier formations overlooking the Hiway

Stewart and Hyder and the Bears

Having had a great ride to Stewart with no problems we were happy , we booked into a nice and cheap hotel (and the girl behind the counter was marring a Kiwi and living in Nelson) . So off to Hyder to see some bears and the Salmon Glacier ,( Hyder is about 3 kms from Stewart, and it is in Alaska so you have to cross the border into the USA). We were about 2 kms the other side of Hyder and it happened the clutch went and I had left the brake fluid and tools back in Stewart (so what now ) . I thought bugger me what now , so i say to Ruth you push me and we will jump start and I will go back and get the stuff . It worked well and off I went , but I had to stop at the border so up to the border and I chug to a halt . The border guard was a young girl, I show her my passport and then say well you will have to push me . She looks at me and says with a look of disbelief "what" and "why" and "no way" . But I explained that I was goin nowhere with out a push and I said it had to be a good fast push as well , so she says ok and away we go to no avail . Just then 2 cars pull up and she has to go a see to them . Anyway a guy pulled up took me back to our hotel and I was on my way back to pick up Ruth .

It was about 40kms up into the Mountains to see Salmon Glacier on a very steep and rough road and then down to see Bears at Fish Creek ,but there were none( but on the way back we spotted a black bear and 2 cubs on the road ). So we decided to come back in the morning early, and sure enough a big grizzly and a her cub turned up and did some fishing (it was fantastic to watch , and they had a great feed of salmon ) . This is not a Zoo this is real life , we watched for about an hour and then it is off to Smithers .

Stewart to Smithers (360kms) and on to Prince George ( 420kms)

With the Brake fluid now just about running out of the motor end somewhere I topped up the clutch and off we go . While we were in Dease Lake we run into a Lady (Jennifer Mulder ) from Smithers who's husband had just finished the run to Ushuaia in May . So she invited us to stay at there place in Smithers , we had a great meal and night at there place and lots of advice about South America ( thanks Jennifer)

The next day we checked with the Harley Shop in Smithers about the bike but they said Prince George is our best bet if we can make it , so on we go .

The ride to Prince George was a bit boring after such great rides over the last 5 weeks with a lot more traffic and now we are entering farm land apposed to forests .

On the way to Prince George I passed a guy on a BMW so he follow us the rest of the way, when we stopped he was a Kiwi Guy from Wanganui ( Bob Bourdon). We stayed at the same Motel and had a few beers and a good night out

The bike shop in Prince George has order the parts for the bike and we should get it fixed and be on our way tomorrow (11/08/10) to Jasper with (touch wood) a bike all fixed . Prince George has a population of 80,000 seems like a nice city and very sprawled out , today is warm at around 22c I would say and clear Sky's .

Photos

1. Black Bear and 2 Cubs

2 . Jenny from Smithers

3. Stewart

4. Hyder

5. Grizzles Bear and Cub Fishing

Then on the way into Stewart , on the Glacier Hiway