Bob's Late Spring Adventure Redone

[runnerhiker]

Great trip report Bob.

[BobAin'tStoppin']

Here is what I did this June, starting with the meet up of the mystery RS riders group in Eureka Springs, Arkansas:

HOME TO EUREKA SPRINGS:

Leaving home on June 6th at my usual 0600 time I generally stop for breakfast after a hundred miles or so.  My route is to be mostly all two lane.  Starting point is Central Massachusetts below Worcester. 

All packed and heading out:
   


Amazing that there is almost no traffic on the smaller roads I’m using. I have a number of half hours alone!  Entered PA here (Cochecton, NY):
   

The Delaware river is just to the left, so George Washington and I have the crossing in common. 
   

Arrived at the Bing motel in Loyalsock, PA  Top, PAat 4:30. Small room but nice and clean. 

Day two has me stopping for breakfast just outside State College, PA at a really nice coffee shop/cafe.  Cinnamon roll pancakes were the special.  Really good!


To Be Continued

[BobAin'tStoppin']

Crossed the Ohio river at 2:30 for the first of three times!
   

For day three I had scheduled 490 miles on all two lane, but felt the need to make some speed.  So I ducked a bit south and into Kentucky to take the bluegrass parkway and the western Kentucky parkway. Both posted at 70.  I crossed the Ohio river again (three times yesterday and once today). Then a couple more big rivers before finally hitting the Mississippi and entering Missouri. Now at cape girardeau for the night.
   

   

It's really difficult to get a picture of the Mississippi river!  The bridge approaches are really long.  But this is the bridge:
   

Day four should get me to Eureka Springs.  This means fun roads and they did deliver except for one case.  Planning a trip on the computer sometimes has you in the wrong place. Today it was a turn onto Green Mountain road. Sounds nice doesn’t it?  So I make the turn and the gps tells me it’s 2.3 miles to the next turn onto Creek road. But Green Mountain is dirt with loose stone on top. The stones feel like marbles under the wheels. But I’m ok if it’s only 2.3 miles. Get to Creek road and things are getting serious. It’s two tire tracks with three foot grass In the middle.   Don’t know when it last saw a car.  I keep on keepin on as they say. Finally had to stop and re-evaluate.  Here is the pic at that point, looking back:
   

About 100 feet further on there was an abandoned house and the road ended.  As usual, I didn’t take a pic of the worst part.   So back track and do a go around to get back on the route.  For the rest of the day, all turns are checked for dirt or paved.  All goes well.

TO be continued.

[BobAin'tStoppin']

Eureka Reunion:
Crossing in to Arkansas I'm on route 125
   

and within a quarter mile arrive at the ferry to take me across Bull Shoals lake:
   

In the Ozarks now so all roads are fun riding.  Arriving at the motel there are other bikes to check out and people to chat with:
   

The first day here is a rest day for me, but several unknown suspects went out to ride in the 93 degree heat.  (note: I couldn't insert the video. Click or copy the link and put it in your browser and it should work).
https://photos.smugmug.com/Travel/2022-A...4-1280.mp4

At sunrise I climbed the fire tower across the road for an overview of the surrounding country.  After getting trapped in the turnstile entry I did manage to escape, but the clouds prevented the perfect shots I was hoping for.  Here is a sample:
   

   

[BobAin'tStoppin']

   

Next day had me joining a group to see the Golden Gate Bridge, and Beaver Dam.  I don't know these people, but they have been known to hang out on the forum:
   

   

[BobAin'tStoppin']

Our final event was breakfast at the War Eagle Mill to honor attendees past and present.  Good food and good company:
   

   

   

There is a working grist mill apparatus on the first level of this building:
   

Next installment I'll head north for Canada and the Rocky mountains.

[BobAin'tStoppin']

Going North:
The Canada trip has been three years in the waiting.  Original date was thwarted with the advent of Covid and closed borders.  This year, finally, the Canadian border is opened and I had the green light.  The idea is to revisit Lake Louise, hike above the lake into the mountains and get the perfect photograph of the rockies.  Let's see what happens:

Leaving Eureka, I head north and west.  Out the door with first light and into the Kansas flat farm country.  Through Wichita with Glen Campbell ringing in my head.  I end up in the town of Dighton, KS population 960 and get a room at the Heritage Hotel.  The place is old and could use some attention, but I get a good sleep, and that's what counts.:
   

Looking around the town there is a grain storage place, so I have a look and talk to a guy working there.  As you know these things are all over the farm country.  But we easterners are pretty ignorant about this stuff.  This place has a capacity of 16 point something million bushels of grain.  That's hard for me to wrap my head around.  How much grain is needed to feed the country and maybe a bit of the whole world?
   

The next morning and two hours into the ride I cross into Colorado
   

But not the fun part of the state.  More flat!
   

Past Colorado Springs the mountains begin as I head north on route 9, over Wilkerson pass at about 9000 feet. End of the day brings the Hotel Eastin in Kremling, CO.  Another old place, built originally in 1906, this hotel is nicely kept.  The room has no a/c but there is a sink.  Bathroom is down the hall.  With over night temperatures scheduled for the 30's it's just a matter of opening the window for a comfortable night.  Check it out:
   

[BobAin'tStoppin']

The lobby:
   

The next morning the hotel is supposed to have breakfast in the lobby at 0500.  I wait around til 6 but there is zero activity.  So off again for a coffee shop I found on the web.  Fist thing is to cross into Montana, and then Wyoming where things are now green.  On route 308 near Bear Creek, I find the Smith Mine disaster site:
   

   

Next episode is breakfast and a lot of water.  For a h int, we're just east of Yellowstone at this point.

[BobAin'tStoppin']

So I'm seeing the mine site at maybe 0900 hours and breakfast is the next event a few miles along the road.  The Coffee Factory Roasters had attracted my attention on the internet.  It's in Red Lodge, MT with Rock Creek running through it.  Here is the obligatory pic of the coffee house:
   

The guy in the picture has a pretty new GS and we had a chat.  The bridge I crossed to get into town had just been opened the day before.  We're just east of Yellowstone and the flooding involves this area also.  He said they lost five bridges and a lot of houses (I heard him say 115 houses, but pretty sure I heard him wrong).  He directed me to 9th street to see what he was talking about.  But first, let me say the coffee was just decent. and also the cinnamon roll.  Here is the damage.
   

   

Pretty impressive and obviously a major hit to the residents in this area.

The rest of the day was travel to Choteau, MT where I stayed in the Gunther motel for the night.  So far I have avoided rain on this trip except for the first day.  Riding into Choteau, this is the sky.  The dark you see at the horizon is a pretty big storm system.  I just got a sprinkle before arriving at the motel and it rained over night.
   

On To Canada:
Finally it's time to cross into Canada.  Getting to the border takes me just south of Glacier NP, where i cross west via route 2.  At North Browning route 2 goes left and the Museum of the Plains Indian is there.  Highly recommended, but I didn't stop as I've seen it before.  But this is the start of my favorite scenery, and a primary reason that I ride am MCycle.
   

[BobAin'tStoppin']

The Flathead River
   

From route 2 it's a short jump up route 93 to the border at Roosville.  The only real question the Canadian border agent had for me was 'Do you have a gun with you?'  I guess this says something about the news coming from the US of late.  In case any of you don't know, don't even think about taking a weapon into Canada.

The day  finished up with a ride up route 95 to Golden, BC.  Mary's motel is the go to for MCycle types.  Looks like there about 150 rooms here.  Mine is #163.  But there are very few customers at the moment it seems.  My mountain adventures start the next day (June 19th).  To be Continued . . .

[BobAin'tStoppin']

Golden BC:
Golden is a nice town with a number of restaurants, and two nice bakeries.  First night I tried a nearby pub.  Got a chicken sammich and pbr.  The bill was 30C.  No french fries with it or anything. This seemed too high to me.  Breakfast the next morning at the bakery was coffee and a ham & cheese croissant for about 10C.  Tourist town I guess.  But the town has a river running through it.  The Kicking Horse river is right next to the motel with a cool bridge:
   

The water is really moving under there!  My guess was over 15 mph.  No way you could control yourself in that current if you fell in.

The next morning it's time to see water falls.  Wapta falls is about a 40 minute drive away and I'm the first one in the parking lot.  As I'm packing up the bike an English couple arrive so we set out on the 2.5 km trail together.
   

Here is what you get at the end of the trail:
   

But there is the option to go down to the base of the falls for the rest of the view.  I go down but the English couple head back to the car.  It's a bit steep, but only about a 10 minute affair, and this yields a great view:
     

[BobAin'tStoppin']

The Canadian Rockies don't mess around when it comes to moving a lot of water!  But it is here that my left knee starts to really hurt.  Both of my knees have issues once and a while that last for a day or so and then clear up.  Right knee feels like a bone chip getting caught and then moving out of the way.  But this time it's the left that seems to be a muscle/tendon thing.  Maybe meniscus? Anyway, I'm limping a bit getting back to the bike.

The next stop is to be Takkakkaw Falls just a few km down the road.  The road being route 1, the TransCan.  The road up to the falls is nice until finding the barrier still in place.  So no seeing this one.  But you do get to see the confluence of the Kicking Horse and YoHo rivers.  It's hard to get a good pic here because the scene is very wide.  This is iPhone set to wide view.  Again, a lot of water.  One river green with glacier sediment, and the other clear water:
   

Also nearby is the Natural Bridge and Emerald Lake:
   

The water drops down a hole in the middle and goes under a rock overpass:
   

   

   

[BobAin'tStoppin']

Emerald Lake is just around the corner.  Both of these places were crowded with people, but I got a couple of good shots.  Emerald Lake is one of the famous ones up here, but there are a bunch of others too:
   

   

   

Now I'm having a hard time walking and it's back to the motel.  Dinner is at the other bakery where you can get a really good sammich and Sprite for 10C.  It becomes my go to for eats for the rest of my stay.  If you're ever in Golden, it's the Golden Bakery and Deli on 9 Ave.  Great baked stuff and real coffee!  The attractive ladies working there didn't hurt either.

The primary reason for this trip was to hike along Lake Louise, up to the tea house, and then up the mountain to get photos at the plain of 6 glaciers.  This hike would involve something like 10 or 12 kilometers and a good bit of up and down.  With my knee hurting particularly on level or down grades this did not look good.  Checking on the web for conditions on the trail, here is the report of a guy just a couple of days ago:

We hiked on June 17, 2022, made it to the glaciers!
But:
1. There is no parking at Lake Louise. The small parking lot fills very early in the morning and we had to take a park and ride option. Book the shuttle in advance, as there are designated time slots. At the park and ride lot, there is a huge line to book the shuttle. It can easily take 1-2 hours before you can get on the bus. 
2. The hike up to the tea house is ok, but watch out! At the fork to lake Agnes (at the upper trail), a grizzly bear with 3 cubs dominates the area. Make a lot of noise, as she tried to charge a couple of hikers! She just tries to protect her cubs while we are disturbing them. We respected the family and waited until they retrieved. 
3. There is still a substantial amount of snow, the trail is slushy and icy in parts. Spikes and poles are highly recommended! 
4. From the tea house and to the plain of 6 glaciers - lots of snow!!! There is one scary part where you have to cross a mountain on its edge and the snow is unstable. 
Overall, great views! Great hike a little later in the summer!


This was not encouraging, and I had to make the hard choice of chickening out.  I got a refund of my last reservation night and then had only one day left for touristing.  This involved going west on route 1 over Rogers pass.  This is the road to Revelstoke, and perhaps has the best and highest mountains around.  The weather is heavy clouds and sprinkles here and there.  All the facilities on the road are yet to open for the season.  A couple pics:
   

   

[BobAin'tStoppin']

On the way back to town, but still up near the pass is Bear Creek Falls.  Here's the story:
   

The hike down hurts the knee, but coming back up was not too bad.  Beautiful falls, but you couldn't get a view of that upper section.  Again I'm the only one in the parking area, but several others arrived while I was down the trail.  Also got pretty wet as you can see:

   

   

   


This marks the end of my time in Golden. Next morning starts the long journey home.

[BobAin'tStoppin']

Golden To Mackinac Bridge (which is at Mackinaw City):
It's June 22 with clouds and and showers as I head east on the TransCan towards  Banff and Canmore.  There is construction on route 1 just east of Golden where they are making the road into four lanes.  The original two lane road was cut into the mountain slope with what must have been a lot of blasting.  The two new lanes will be beside the original but built up from the mountain side using long columns to support a bridge.  It's a massive project and you aren't allowed to stop on the road to watch, so no pictures for you.  They had steel beams to set that were a good 5 feet tall and very heavy gauge.  Also about a hundred feet long.  Five or six good sized cranes were on site.  One time as I went by they were getting ready to lift the beam.  Really wanted to stop and watch, but not possible.  

Anyway, passing the turn for Lake Louise and the overflow parking area, both were empty.  I didn't stop because of the rain though.  Turned off of the TransCan onto route highway 40, which one of the fun ones.  It had just opened for the season.  The rain was over once out of the mountains.  Just beautiful scenery:
   

   

Route 40 turns to dirt after a while, and would be great to continue on, but my plan is to turn onto the 541, which stays with pavement.  We may have talked a bit about route 501, which is scheduled to take me directly east not far above the US border.  I knew it was dirt up front . . . but.  As in Missouri, it turns out to be hard pack with marble stones on top.  This is doable as I've said before, but the GPS its telling me to turn in 160 KM.  Not sure I want to do that much!  I do fine in third gear until the stones get deep or the dirt gets soft.  Then the front wheel is trying to find a path, and the back wheel is fishtailing trying to follow.  Not fun.  It takes 50 km before there is an opportunity to turn off, and I hump back north to the TransCan.

Going through a small town I come upon this:
   

There was a third rig also (out of the frame).  And then the support columns:
   

Those blades were huge.

I ended up in the very small town of Irvine, Alberta, just short of the Saskatchewan border.  At the Irvine hotel it's like going back to cowboy movies when we were kids.  Up a winding stair to a dark hall with about 8 doors.  My room is #5 with a window, bed, small table, and two chairs.  Bathroom down the hall.  I'm the only guest at 50C.  It was clean and comfortable, with restaurant/bar on the first floor below.
   

[BobAin'tStoppin']

Next day I cross in to the states at the International Peace Garden.  Arriving there at 3:30 the lady is about to close up.  She says come back late July, or early August.  They just started planting that day and not much to see yet.  So it's over the border, where I get asked what I do for a living.  That's a tough question these days!  50 miles south gets me to Rugby, ND where there is nothing to report.  

At this point I have abandoned my carefully made gps routing.  I smell the barn, and it's interstate to home.  But only after crossing the Mackinac Bridge.  Riding the UP is really pretty, but no pictures.  You need to go there yourself.  I recommend you stay at the Lakeshore Motel in Iron River, MI.  Great spot right on the lake, but no food in walking distance.  I stopped at Subway on the way in and had my supper in the left blue chair.  Really nice.

   

Next morning it was3-1/2 hours to the bridge:
   

And that's the end of the fun.  It was down I-75 (posted at 75 mph) and 1185 mile to get home in two days.

Final word:  If you are going to the Canadian Rockies don't do it before early July.  They have big winters up there!

Thanks for watching :-)

[Duccrazydave]

Stunning pictures, Bob!

[Lee]

Bob, looking forward to your pictures from last month's Tennessee Ride In.