Friday, January 2, 2009

Glacier by Motorcycle - 2005

Glacier Park by Motorcycle
In 2005, as part of a summer trilogy combining kayaking and mountain biking, my wife and I made a 9 day trip visiting Glacier National Park, across the border to Waterton Peace Park and continued north to Banff and Jasper National Parks. Included in that was Lake Louise and stunning views of the Canadian Rockies, the Athabasca River and Glacier, all in Alberta, Canada.


Leaving WI.


The plan was for me to drive out and spend a 7-10 days mtn. biking along the way with some kayaking once I got into MT.
She flew into Missoula and we headed up to Whitefish. We parked the Jeep and headed out on the bike from there.
Going by motorcycle and camping was an added benefit. My wife and I really got to immerse ourselves in the experience.
We mostly camped while on the bike, but spent an evening in a lodge at the East Entrance to Glacier, a small town between Waterton and Banff called Longview, where we gassed up, ate, did laundry and slept above the bar where we had had a few beers earlier in the evening, all in one building.
Heading across MT.










Entering Glacier Park







Leaving first campsite. Lynn tried hiding some food in the bike, but after the Camp Ranger told us about bears, she came clean and she used the metal bear boxes.









Scenes along the way.




















































































































































Waterton Peace Park
















On the road to Banff. This road only opened a week before we got there.













As we got close to Banff, we somehow noticed our sleeping bags were no longer strapped to the top of the trunk. We had got into some high cross winds and they somehow got blow off.
We had to stop in Banff at a sporting goods store to pick up a couple.

We camped north of Lake Louise. We spent a few nights here and made day trips.

On day we went to Jasper, had something to eat and headed back. On route we crawled around the Athabasca Glacier and made many stops along the way to take in the scenery.





Far away.....




Up close....
























Getting in Lake Louise area and the Canadian Rockies.View from both ends of L. Louise.



































Heading up to Jasper.





Athabasca River and Glacier.






































Took Lynn to Calgary to fly out and I made my way to the BC side of the Mtns. and headed south to MT and Whitefish. Stopped at a natural hot springs/spa on long the way.