Banff Departure - Wet and Cold
When rain begins flowing off the front and back of your motorcycle helmet you can’t help but have a dampened riding spirit, but there is a saying in Alberta… “If you don’t like the weather, wait a minute.”
Well we waited several minutes, but the early morning departure out of Banff didn’t change the hard cold facts. It was 47 degrees and wet! Where did this damn winter weather come from? Indeed there were ominous black clouds circling around the town and after we fueled up and traveled 10 minutes down the road they busted loose. We were not caught unaware. Parking under an overpass we climbed into full rain gear. Yet, the steady downpour seemed to soak everything.
Frank Slide - Frank, Alberta
We determined our rain gear was worth every penny, but hardly a fashion statement as we fumbled around trying to get it all on. They are typically a bit musty smelly after being rolled up for months, heavy to wear and somewhat long, but they did the trick and kept us dry. The good news in all of this? After about 30 minutes and before we reached Radium Hot Springs the rain was history, the road had dried out and we spent time discussing wildlife (Coyote, Deer etc) seen in route through Kootenay National Park. Despite being named after a radioactive element the hot springs has none and is has the largest pool of 103 degree water in Canada. As cold as the day started it was most difficult not to check in and grab a few hours in the hot spring!
Border - Chief Mountain
Exiting Radium the posse split up. Part of the crew wanted to travel more miles and make it to the “Going to the Sun Road” in St. Mary, Montana. Others wanted to steer clear of any rain and elected to navigate toward a more southerly and warmer route to Cranbrook and then to Missoula, MT.
We were part of the “more miles” crew and the cold weather limited our sightseeing and photo stops, but a couple items stood out. First was the Frank Slide in Frank, Alberta. Frank is a coal mining town in the Crowsnest Pass. Back in the early 1900’s the east side of Turtle Mountain broke free and the slab of limestone rock covered 1.5 miles destroying most of the town and killing 76 people. It’s now a regional tourist attraction. The second was tucked away in the rugged mountains — the little town of Fernie, BC. It is fully encircled by the Rocky Mountains and has a ski resort (Fernie Alpine Resort) with the highest annual snowfall of any resort in the Canadian Rockies.
St. Mary Lodge and Resort - St. Mary, MT
We crossed the Elk River, home of the cutthroat trout and forged on toward Pincher Creek, Twin Butte and through the Waterton Lakes National Park. Finally we rolled into the U.S. border crossing at the tiny Chief Mountain Alberta/Montana outpost on Highway 6 (Alberta) and Highway 17 (Montana). After riding for hours in very remote, very wooded and very sparsely populated areas, one is reminded that you’re on the world’s longest undefended border. It’s a catchy yet increasingly imprecise term for the U.S.-Canada frontier. The northern border is mostly out of the spotlight. As authorities on both sides ratchet up efforts to curb bustling traffic in illegal drugs and guns it’s odd that the U.S.-Mexico border draws far more attention — and more American resources. But again I’ve wandered…
St. Mary Lodge Cabin
At about 6pm local we arrived at the Saint Mary Lodge on junction Hwy89 and the “Going to the Sun Road” which runs through Glacier National Park (Montana). It was a long riding day. Fortunately we’d made reservations weeks in advance and secured the remaining cabins vs. a replica Indian tepee. The place was fully booked! There was no cell phone service and the Hughes Net Satellite internet was malfunctioning… so, we were off the tweet grid! Side note: if you plan to go this route an alternative is to stay in Pincher Creek, Alberta where they had several motels and you won’t have to make reservations months in advance for the Park service lodge. Had we known this we would have avoided the rustic cabin adventure.
After grabbing some fairly good grub at the Snowgoose Grill we crashed with four TV channels looking forward to the next days ride through Glacier park.
The 107 to 47 Journey – Part One HERE; Part Two HERE; Part Four HERE.
The open road is just three weeks away!
Instead plans have been set for a week of saddle time/travel in the province of Alberta, Canada…few places on the planet have massive mountains as large as the National Parks of Jasper, Yoho and Banff. Our posse plans to take in the cathedral-like peaks and ancient blue-white glaciers then return home via Glacier National Park… an exquisite destination where the masses have been going since the day railcars were the only means of traveling. Clearly the Canadian exchange rate will increase the cost of the trip, but the Columbia Ice field and Hwy 93 between Jasper and Banff will make our trek worth it.
Northwest Harley Blog 