What more can be said? In the last five days I have ridden the triumvirate of the Northern Rocky Mountains. If you love bare rock that dares to scrape the underbelly of the stratosphere there are few places in North America that can compare to the Icefields Parkway in Alberta, the Going to the Sun Road of Glacier and the highest paved pass in Montana and Wyoming, the Beartooth Pass at 10,947'. It has been epic! This ride is considered by many to be the most scenic, or certainly top 5, rides in the U.S. It came as little surprise that I saw almost as many cyclists today as motorists. The ride surprised me, even with my pre-expectations, by its variety. We started just a few miles out of Red Lodge with small rock outcroppings along a straight stretch of highway; typical scenery for this area. As the road began to climb in earnest so did the WOW level. Switchbacks? Check! Waterfalls? Check! Sky scraping mountain peaks? Check! High mountain lakes? Check! Snowpack in mid-July? Check! T...
Once you attain Wisdom there's no use going any further. In this case, if I was a good writer I would have left well enough alone and ended the blog yesterday. I am not a good writer however, so I felt obligated to bring the reader home with me, even though today's journey was over ground we have often tread upon. From Wisdom I headed virtually due west. One more stop before leaving Montana though was a National Historic Site, the Big Hole Battlefield. I had read and heard some of the details of the incident that precipitated the flight of the Nez Perce from the Whitebird (Id.) battle site, the opening battle of the Nez Perce War. I have heard of the 1170 mile "fighting retreat" that Chief Joseph had taken his people on, eventually resulting in his surrender only a short distance shy of freedom at the Canadian border. His words of surrender are powerful, "I will fight forever no more". What I had not heard was the story of the massacre at Big Hole that left ...
Some people pay big bucks for adventure; an African Safari, hiking to Machu Picchu. Me, I just stumble through life and let adventure find me. It's free, and you never know what's next! I had shared my plan with you already. Spend an extra night in Teslin, then move down the road 300 miles to a cabin I found on-line in Dease Lake, B.C. Look at me, using the technology, hey? I found a nice little log cabin for the incredibly low price of $66 US! My concern was whether or not the 12.7 miles outside of Dease Lake was paved. I looked and found no details on this booking other than one room, one bed, book now! So I did. I sure hope it is a paved road. I received an instant confirmation with a welcome letter from the owners, Jon and Jodi, thanking me and letting me know all the details. I scanned it quickly, saw the directions, but saw nothing about dirt vs. paved. So I skipped over the rest of it because, only one day in advance, there was no refund for cancellations. Be...
Sleep is over-rated. signed, a night shift worker for many years = ]
ReplyDeleteWell, how are you going to see the Aurura Borealis like that? Ugg, looks like I will have to go in the cold winter time.
ReplyDelete