2016 Ride to Glacier National Park
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| Montana August 2016 |
The 2016 NoWhereRide took us to Glacier National Park, Montana.
This was the second attempt at going to Glacier. During the first
ride near Glacier we ended up following the Louis and Clark Trail into Oregon.
That year we rode the entire Oregon Coast from north to south - what an awesome detour! This year we met in Missoula. We did some
white water rafting, experienced the Testy Festy and took in the sites of the
huge mountains of Montana.
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| Tour Bus at Glacier Nat Park |
Bill rode west from northern Virginia toward Missoula. Wanting
to travel quickly I rode over the mountains of Cumberland and got into the toll
road. That toll road stretched from Maryland, thru Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana
and into Illinois. The toll road was nice in that most of the travelers stayed
to the right except to pass - the rule or etiquette that most drivers in
northern Virginia do not follow. The toll way had petroleum stands and
restaurants also known as “Oasis” which allowed me to stay on the toll way
without taking exits for petro or food. I was rolling on the smooth surface of
the toll road and feeling really good about the ride. I didn't stop for sites
because I've been thru the area many times.
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| Entering Glacier Nat Park 2016 |
When I arrived in Indiana, I paid another toll. This toll caught
my attention because the amount due was $17.75. That was the birth year of our
Marine Corps! I stopped at an Oasis to fuel the bike and stretch my
legs. I had been riding fairly fast on some of those long straight
roads across Ohio. I drank a bottle of water and walked in a circle around the
bike. I was amazed how the air-cooled motor performed at high speeds for hours
and hours in the heat. As I walked
around the bike, I was looking for fluid leaks and noted all the bugs that will
be tough to wash later. My ride bell was still attached to the bike.
I had that bell since 2001 on my Softail Deuce that was destroyed in a garage
fire - I kept the bell thinking how lucky I've been riding over the
years.
Earlier that year, I had participated in a new motorcycle rider
safety course that was being designed for the Marine Corps. I've taken MSF
Courses every other year for the past 17 years and this new course was a blast!
I learned so much about riding and gained some new techniques to control the
motorcycle. My bike had just passed a state safety inspection just weeks before
the bike trip. I felt like I was more prepared for this bike trip more than any
other trip. Then as I continued to walk around my bike, I spotted it - the bald
rear tire! Brad will tell you that each
year something always happens to my bike…maybe there is some truth to it. I usually replace tires – not by choice but
by necessity because the tires get slick quick!
My engine gaskets blew one year causing a few day delay for repairs.
I've been known to ride until the tires are bald, seriously
smooth, and then going just a little further before I get a new one. Not a good
idea since the bike uses tread to stop, accelerate, turn and keep me alive.
Brad and I were riding in the rain along some switchback roads near Maine one
year. I applied the brakes and slid thru
a turn. Fortunately the bike remained upright. It got my attention
and pucker factor up. The next morning I got a new tire.
So, I continue to ride but not as fast as I have been earlier
that day. Now it is getting dark as I
stop for gas in Chicago. The bike appears to be sitting low in the
back and higher in the front. I am
determining where to stop for a new tire. I’ve experienced many Harley shops that
require appointments and it really puts me off, especially when I ride to unfamiliar
towns and need services such as a tire repair or blown seals. I spent a few years living in Illinois so I
was a little familiar with the motorcycle shop offerings. I knew just the shop
that would accommodate my bike without an appointment, Tom Workman’s Harley
Davidson. Tom has a family operated Harley Davidson Dealership in
Rock Falls, Illinois. They have worked on my 2006 Street Glide many
times. So I decided to ride about 3 hours further on this bald tire.
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| Bill, How much further did you plan to GO? |
I spent the night in Tampico, Illinois, birthplace of Ronald
Reagan. I arrived at Workman Harley Davidson in Rock Falls just as they opened
for business. My customer information
was still in their database. The staff
treated me like family. Once the rear
tire was off the bike, the mechanic brought it out to show me. He didn't know how the tire was holding air! The rubber was gone exposing the fabric woven
threads. I am lucky the tire didn't blow
out in the middle of the night as I rolled down the I-92 toll-way with those
cable type guardrails. So I got a new tire and brakes. Turns out my rear brake
pads had no surface area left - perhaps no rear brakes kept me from hitting the
brakes and rupturing the tire? Glad I
took that safety course that gave me confidence in using the front brake more
forcefully!
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| Fargo, North Dakota 2016 |
Fargo, North Dakota. I could have rode thru Iowa and used a
more direct route to Missoula but I enjoy the fact that I've rode in every
state except Alaska and Hawaii. I cannot
remember much about North Dakota. I know
I rode to the state line during a Sturgis rally while playing the ABCs of
Touring. So this time I decided to
detour north east thru Minnesota and across North Dakota. I ended up in Fargo and took a selfie to show
I was there.
On the western end of North Dakota I entered Theodore Roosevelt
National Park and the Badlands of North Dakota. They are a little greener than the Badlands of
South Dakota. I did not see as many
prairie dogs as you’d see in South Dakota. So while I snapped some photos. I was
walking along the cliffs overlooking the river to get a good photo. As I walk back to the motorcycle I note the
kids I saw playing in the parking lot were staring at me as I come walking thru
the grassy area. Then I notice the
"Beware of Rattlesnakes" sign. Thankfully I had on my
leather boots!
MISSOULA, MONTANA
In Missoula, Brad arrive a day ahead of me. He discovered the
downtown bars and Testy Festy. We decided to spend some time around
town, go see the festival and do some whitewater rafting. The white water rafting was the highlight of
our stay.
We hired a guide from Montana River Tours. We floated down the Alberton Gorge. Our tour guide was awesome. He told us some history of the river and
described the river at different water levels during the year. There was a family on the raft with us. The family had two middle school aged boys.
Brad told camping stories and talked about his culinary skills using a Dutch
Oven.
We were in a calm stretch of water and the dad and two boys
jumped into the river for a swim. Brad
was telling the mom about his favorate Dutch oven recipes. The dad had a GoPro on his helmet and Brad was
interested in getting some photos from the helmet cam. The discussion was interrupted as we had to
pull the boys back into the raft as we preparing for more
rapids. During another calm on the river, the mom yells over at
Brad, "Hey give me your email. I'll send you some photos and you can send
me recipes!" The dad was sitting in front of me on the raft. He turned to look at Brad; the guys face was
priceless- he immediately asked what had happened and what photos was his bride
offering to send to her new friend?!? We all got a good laugh out of
that moment!
Glacier National Park
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| Flathead Lake, MT 2016 |
After the white water rafting trip down the Alberton Gorge we
stopped in Missoula for dinner. As we ate, a group of about 14 bikers from
Portland, Oregon came into the restaurant. Turns out the group planned to ride thru
Glacier National Park too. They had the
trip all planned out to where breakfast, dinner and hotels they were staying
it. Sounded like a trip that took months
in the planning to make reservations and plan the route. We were warned that there would be no hotels
this time of year at Glacier. It didn't
bother Brad and I because part of the fun is finding a hotel. Besides we had sleeping bags and are no
strangers to sleeping under the stars.
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| Whitefish, MT 2016 |
We departed Missoula and rode toward Glacier National
Park. We rode around Flathead Lake. The water was a unique shade of blue that
captures your attention. We ended up at a
small railroad town called Whitefish. Whitefish had horse tie up parking
areas along the Main Street. Neat town. We saw the old locomotives, had lunch and
decided to stay the night and enter Glacier the next morning.
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| Glacier Nat Park 2016 |
There was a hand full of hotels in the town. Just as we signed for our room at the Pine
Lodge, a large group of bikes rolled into the hotel parking. It was the riders from Portland who we met in
Missoula the day prior. We lounged around the pool and went to
dinner and drinks with the group. The
group was staying in Whitefish as few days. They planned to ride from the
northeastern entrance of Glacier and back to the hotel. Brad and I rode east and was not returning to
Whitefish. We passed the group the next
day going opposite direction on the Going-To-The-Son-Road in the park.
While in Whitefish we met a former Navy Sailor. He was our bartender. We told him our plans for riding thru Glacier.
The sailor showed us some photos of a hidden lake. The lake looked like a postcard. He said it was a short hike and the site was
worth every step. I made a mental note
of the trailhead location and when we arrived at the trailhead - Brad took some
persuading but agreed to go for the hike. So off we go hiking with our biker leather jackets
and boots. This hike was the highlight
of visit to Glacier. The sites were
breathtaking.
During the hike Brad’s stomach growled like a bear! He must have been thinking of the huckleberry
pie we were going to get later that day.
We walked past a large family who had stopped along the trail to eat
sandwiches. Brad stood next to the dad
and warned him about the hungry bear in the area looking for a sandwich. The man’s eyes widen at the thought of a
bear. He asked Brad is we had seen any
bear. Brad rubbed his stomach and told
the guy he was hungry and was about to turn into a bear if he didn’t get a
sandwich. The guy immediately walked away
leaving Brad hungry. I guess the guy had
too many kids to feed and didn’t want to share with some strange man hiking a
trail wearing biker clothes. 
Further up the trail Brad strikes up a conversation with another
gentlemen. The conversation turned to
food and how we were going to stop at the “Café” for the best huckleberry pie
around. The gentlemen asked Brad if he
liked barbeque. Brad told the man that
he loved to eat but he does not like BBQ!
Turns out the gentlemen owned the Red Hot and Blue BBQ franchise. He was familiar with where Bill lives and he
still owned a house in the Washington DC area.
You never know who you’ll meet hiking in Montana!
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| Brad hiking to Hidden Lake 2016 |
My handy dandy camera stopped working during the hike. My cell phone has a camera but it was turned off
and buried at the bottom of my saddlebag on the bike. Luckily Brad had his phone to take some photos
on the hike.
During the hike we saw some white mountain goats, rams, and
something that looked like large squirrels. The squirrels stole a loaf of bread from a
family having a pic nic. Yes, the whole
loaf of bread! The animal perched
himself on an outcropping of rocks where we could see him handing out slices of
bread to his animal family.
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| HUCKLEBERRY PIE!!! |
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| Bill at Hidden Lake lookout 2016 |
After riding thru Glacier we had to stop at this house turned
into "Park Cafe" which boasted the best Huckleberry pie around. I ate my first bison burger and piece of
huckleberry pie that day. Both were
really tasty! We rode to the Canada
boarder and then headed south toward the Louis and Clark National Forest.
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| Top of the World 2016 |
We rode Bear Tooth Pass! Elevation
10,947 feet! The switchbacks and
overlooks made for a white-knuckle motorcycle ride! We stopped at the "Top of the World"
gas station and general store. Check out
the photo of the gas pump. The numbers
roll instead of digital display.
There was a brief decision point to choose between riding thru
Yellow Stone or the Chief Joseph Scenic Bi-way. We chose the scenic bi-way. The scenic ride offered some amazing views. Brad got to use his handy dandy air compressor
and tire plug kit. He helped a couple repair
a flat tire on tier BMW bike and get back on the road.
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| Brad can fix it! Chief Joseph ByWay 2016 |
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| Chief Joseph Scenic ByWay 2016 |
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| BearToothPass 2016 |
Brad and I plan no details of our trips. We avoid chain restaurants and prefer the
local diners. Often we bring our paper
road atlas into the diner and discuss where to go next. This year we got some directions thru Wyoming
from a gentleman who worked as a surveyor.
We rode east on the Chief Joseph Scenic Byway and ended up in Cody,
Wyoming. We spent the night there at a
hotel with a friendly cockatiel; it tried to take the sunglasses off Bill’s
head as we checked into the hotel.
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| Cody, Wyoming 2016 |
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| Brad getting ideas of where to ride. Wyoming 2016 |
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| Heavens Peak 8,897 feet |
Our ride together came to an end. Brad left Laramie riding west toward Utah and
Bill rode east toward Virginia. I had to
stop due to a severe thunderstorm. I was
drafting behind a tractor-trailer truck because visibility was a few feet! So I couldn’t see and the lighting across the
Iowa sky spooked me so I took shelter at a car dealership and got back on the
road when the rain lightened it.
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| Rain and lightning go away! Iowa 2017 |
