Day 10: Waterton Alberta to Missoula MT - Thru Glacier National Park !

Waterton Alberta to Missoula MT - Thru Glacier National Park ! 250 miles

Today was a "bucket list" ride on the Going to the Sun Road thru Glacier.  It did not disappoint !

However, I screwed up my GoPro, adjusting the setting for the video coverage, and trashed all of the video, which was extensive. I basically cut off the top end, and the videos mostly show the front of my bike and road directly ahead. I tried to salvage a few videos below, but to say i am disappointed is an understatement.

Since it started raining as soon as we arrived at the Prince of Wales hotel last night, we couldn't get a lot of pics, so we went out this morning and got some shots of the hotel and surrounding area.

The 100 year old hotel...which I believe is still using AOL dial up for their internet:



The hills surrounding the hotel:




The back of the hotel:


Lake Waterton:




As we crossed the border at Chief Mountain, MT, we saw the International Peace Park between the US & Canada:


And FINALLY - Glacier ! 

We entered thru the east side which is the ONLY way to go. As we exited in West Glacier, there had to be a 5 mile long line to get in. Only took about 10 mins to enter on the east side, and we did not need a reservation (folks coming in from the west did).


A series of pics from the pull outs at Glacier. It is hard to describe the beauty but also how absolutely terrifying it is to make the Going to the Sun Road, which at times has like 1 mile drops straight down, and no room for error driving thru the twisty cliffs.











Kate on the Going to the Sun Road:




Me, thinking my GoPro footage was gonna be AMAZING.... :-( :



Kate - at the top of Logans Pass, 6,646 ft up, and 6000 ft down if you don't pay attention:






Kate on top of the world !


Me on top of the world:


And proof that we actually both rode this route together !



After we left the park, we had a wonderful lunch at Freda's in West Glacier, and then broke speed limits to get tpo Missoula, MT, our stop for the evening. We took advantage of the hot tub at the hotel (ahhhhhh....), and then walked across the street to Big Sky Brewing Company, who brew one of my FAVORITES - Moose Drool Brown Ale.





Here are the only videos that even given any kind of sense of what was ahead of me.




This second one is 3+ minutes - grab a coffee and watch lol.





Here is our route for the day - broken into 2 maps: Thru Glacier, and then from West Glacier to Missoula.



Tomorrow we head to Boise ID.






Comments

  1. Jennifer BryceAugust 6, 2024 at 9:19 AM

    Oh my gosh, Alyce, so sorry to hear about your GoPro footage! Still, the photographs are absolutely stunning. This land is really magnificent. I also want to add that I am really enjoying your music choices on your GoPro videos too. Thanks for turning me onto the song “bluebird”!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Day 1: San Francisco to Eureka, CA

Image
San Francisco to Eureka, CA - 309 Miles The day started kind of chilly and drizzly as we headed north over the Golden Gate Bridge. Welcome to summer in the City - Karl the Fog is ever present. After a quick gas stop in Mill Valley, we rode as fast as we could up 101 north to make it to Cloverdale, where we hopped on 128 West toward the coast. This 60 mile stretch of spectacular twisties cuts through Alexander Valley, a wine region that produces some fantastic small batch wines, and redwoods that are hundreds of years old. Kate and I soaking in the super fresh air in the redwood forrest: 128 terminates on Highway 1 in Albion & Mendocino; the coastal cliffs are just gorgeous and the wildflowers are bursting with color. Here are some shots from the cliffs close to Mendocino.... Alice (poser): Kate (Serious Biker Chick): Coastal Beauty: ....and 2 other kinds of "coastal beauties" lol Highway 1 stops hugging the coast a little north of Rockport, where it turns northeast toward...
Read more

Moto Ride 2024: California Invades Canada !

Image
Look Out Canada, Here We Come ! This year's ride will take us from San Francisco all the way up coastal California, Oregon, and Washington, on our way to crossing the border north of Seattle into Canada.  We will be hugging the Canadian Rockies, making our way through several of Canada's National Parks.  On the way back home, we will (finally - tried last year and failed) ride thru Glacier, taking the Going to the Sun Road thru the park. Montana & Idaho are also on the route. A new twist to the ride this year is our Moto Club Name. Kate and I decided we needed an identity and logo this year. After several attempts (with and without tequila) to name our small but mighty group, we landed on "Daughters of Defiance", with the logo below. What will we be defying ? You will have to wait for the daily reports to find that out ;-). One last thing - there is ALWAYS SOMETHING that goes haywire before a trip. This time is was the intercoms in our helmets - they just went won...
Read more

Day 12: Boise ID to Alturas CA

Image
Boise ID to Alturas CA - 394 Miles After a crazy long day yesterday, we were looking forward to  shorter day, and gaining back an hour as we entered the Pacific Time Zone. Here is the morning view from our hotel in downtown Boise (the Grove): After a quick 50 miles on the freeway north, we broke off to Highway 20 west, which starts out VERY DULL. Of course, we had to stop for several one lane traffic controls (the amount of road construction in Idaho, Oregon, and California is insane). Here are a few shots from a stop on Hwy 20: We didn't stop to get a lot of pics on Hwy 20, but the video footage is AMAZING. Unfortunately, the wireless was not reliable or fast enough for me to upload the videos, so I will try again tomorrow. From Hwy 20, we got onto 395 south in Oregon. The first 100 miles were pure monotony. One straight line of 80 mph in 80 degree dry heat. Ew. It got a little interesting when we hugged Lake Abert: After another hour on 395, we finally crossed back into Californi...
Read more