Ribbon of blue - 13 August 2012

Although there were no "must see" sights on the itinerary for today, it was nevertheless quite a scenic trip.  As we are in the mountains rather than the plains there are no direct roads west from Whitefish, MT to our next stop in Newport, WA so the day was spent zig-zagging up towards and away from the Canadian border following a ribbon of blue rivers and hydro lakes through forests of firs, pines and spruce.

The first hydro lake was on the Kootenai River creating Koocanusa Lake which went for miles and miles. We only followed a portion of the USA part as the lake reaches way back into Canada, hence the name - no doubt.  Not far downstream from the dam was an unexpected highlight, the Kootenai Falls, which though neither especially high or wide are quite spectacular with the various rock ledges that the water cascades over and around.

Just after crossing into Idaho, we left the Kootenai River and dropped south through the forest (without any water) to pick up the Pend Orielle River which we followed until it became Lake Pend Orielle, another hydro lake.

We followed the shoreline up and over the top, crossing Pack River and Priest River to the delightful town of Sandpoint where they claim to have the world's longest retail bridge.  It is constructed out of huge tree trunks and is quite a delightful space.

The difference between this and the "real" retail bridges such as Rialto and Ponte Vecchio is that the street has entirely disappeared and it was originally built as an ordinary bridge and the shops were an entrepreneurial experiment when the bridge fell into disuse.

All too soon, but only after the best value ice-cream in the USA at Clark Fork, Idaho had been and gone and we were in Washington State and the Pacific Northwest.

308 miles today, total trip 5238. States: Montana, Idaho, Washington.

Coming back from the sun road - 12 August 2012

The day had a very early false start when the alarm sounded at 0200. A meteorite shower was occurring and the sky was partly cloudy when we turned in. We were told 0200 would be the best time and since there is almost zero light pollution in this part of Montana we decided it was worth a wake-up call.  We saw total overcast and went back to bed, to wake to a cloudless sky in the morning. Nature can be cruel sometimes!

In the trip planing we had decided to follow the Wise Men's example and return by a different route and I was sure that I had read the West to East was the best way to make the trip over Going-to-the-Sun Road.  In endeavouring to confirm that detail I found so many comments that suggested both ways were good and since the day dawned cloudless we decided to enjoy the views along Going-to-the-Sun Road in the opposite direction.

As before there were plenty of stops for photos and a walk to Sun Point and the Barring Falls.  All in all a slow, relaxing and fantastically scenic day.

After checking in at Whitefish we set off to see the town which has had the main shopping street remodelled, reasonably recently by the look of it. It is really very quaint and well done making it a most appealing looking town.

After attempting to access the lake and finding our way blocked by a fee required State Park, we stumbled upon the town beach which was free and enjoyed a refreshing dip in this surprisingly warm glacial lake followed by picnic dinner in a gazebo overlooking the lake.

97 Miles today, total trip 4930. States: Montana.

Going-to-the-Sun-Road - 11 August 2012

This romantically named road was carved out of the mountainsides in the 1930s and is now a National Civil Engineering Landmark, a National Historic Landmark and is on the Register of Historic Places, the only road in the US with all three designations.

The name comes from 2939m high Going-to-the-Sun Mountain which dominates the central part of the drive.

Apparently referred to as the Mt Everest of routes for motorcyclists, it is not really a patch on the alpine passes of Europe for driving fun, but a great drive, nevertheless.

There are ample pull-off places for photography stops but only one major carpark at Logan Pass.  The info says that the carpark is full by 10:30 and that was certainly our experience. Within 15 minutes of our arrival, there was not a park to be had and 2 hours later when we were about to leave the

"vultures" were circling ready to pounce on anyone looking like they were heading for a vehicle.  I considered offering our park on eBay but there was no 3G signal, scuppering a fantastic money-making proposition.

It is only 50 miles from end to end but photo stops and walks extend the trip to fill the bulk of the day quite easily.  To round off the day we drove north from St Mary to the booming metropolis of Babb (Pop. 1 horse) and then up to Many Glacier where we went bear hunting and if we had been lucky enough to capture a shot of

Goldilocks we could have completed the set as we were privileged enough to see a big old daddy grizzly and a mother black bear with a cub. Because we spent too long snapping the grizzly we missed the spectacle of a moose ambling over the road and swimming across the lake to the other side.  When we arrived the moose was still distinguishable on the far shore, about a kilometre away..

The bears were totally oblivious to their furiously snapping adoring public as they occupied themselves working their way through their quota of 100,000 huckleberries per day that they eat during the summer to prepare for the winter hibernation.

107 miles today, total trip 4833  States: Montana

Glacier National Park - 10 August 2012

Almost due north of Missoula is Glacier (or Glayshah, as the locals call it) National Park and the skies got bluer and the hills got clearer as we got nearer. Leaving Missoula there was a distinct change in the scenery almost immediately as the foothills had a slight tinge of green about them rather than the very dry brown of yesterday.

The first feature of note was Flathead Lake, the shores of which are the source of Flathead cherries, and which is the biggest natural freshwater lake west of the Mississippi.  That is quite surprising as it is not really that large.

Following advice from the park Visitor Centre we took the free 12-seater shuttle bus up to the Avalanche Lake stop arriving about 1600 and set off on the 2.5m walk to Avalanche Lake.

Mindful of the time that the last shuttle left (1800) we romped past all the other walkers on the track - and there were plenty, stopped briefly to photograph and Elk (?) and got to the lake in time for a short rest and a few photos before making the downhill return trip.

Back at the shuttle bus stop at 1745 we were a little dismayed to see a queue of 24 people ahead of us.  Three shuttle buses arrived, already full and one actually added people to the queue.  It looked as though a situation was developing.  However, the bus organisers are obviously used to this problem and a 40-seater bus turned up to take us all back to base.

166 miles today, total trip 4726. States: Montana

Between fire and ice - 9 August 2012

"In a gorgeous locale surrounded by rolling green hills and pine forests and framed by snowcapped peaks, Bozeman is the coolest town in Montana"  Lonely Planet, USA

With a write-up like that why would you not detour to visit?   Reality was: In a fugg filled valley surrounded by mirky skies that completely obliterated any hills or forests that might exist, Bozeman was the most disappointing sight in Montana.

In fact, Montana all told has been disappointing.  We were promised exciting vistas and big skies but when the sky is full of smoke from local forest fires and the hills are burnt brown from the summer sun, the pallette is distictly uniformly boring drab.

However, before we got to Bozeman we had a delightful run up the Gallatin River valley where the hills were pine-clad and the river was crystal clear and the road was not too busy.  Although we started and ended in Montana, we briefly dipped back into Wyoming and back into Yellowstone National Park as we motored north.

Yesterday we crossed and re-crossed the Continental Divide as we motored the Grand Loop Road, but today we crossed it permanently and are now officially on the western, Pacific, side, just that little bit closer to home.

From Bozeman it was drab brown all the way to Missoula our stop between the fire of Yellowstone National Park and the ice of Glacier National Park and where we were introduced to Huckleberries in the form of Huckleberrry ice-cream.

310 miles today, total trip 4560. States Montana, Wyoming.

Yellowstone South Loop - 8 August 2012

Between the Park entrance and the loop road we saw two Golden Eagles down by the river, Even at that distance we could appreciate what huge birds these are. As we left the Park late in the afternoon,they were still there, still creating a traffic jam.

Heading south from Madison we took the Firehole Canyon Drive up beside the Firehole River, presumably along what used to be the main road. There were some attractive falls along the way to catch our attention and then it was on to the Lower Geyser Basin where the Clepsydra Geyser obliged with a display, not surprising as it is a fairly constant performer.

The Firehole Lake Drive is next, where the White Dome geyser played just as we arrived. Back on the main route our next stop was Midway Geyser Basin where one of the Yellowstone .jewels is to be found; the Grand Prismatic Spring. The colours here are quite stunning, just as well digital cameras have been invented otherwise the film cost would be ruinous!

The Biscuit Basin and Black Sand Basin provided a few more geothermal delights before we headed East to re-visit West Thumb in the sunshine rather than the rain we had on our last visit.

Passing Lake Village we entered the only section of the park roads that we had not covered and stopped at Mud Volcano where the star of the show was a lone buffalo right beside the road, less than two metres from the car, and it was possibly the same bison that came wandering up through the geothermal field that we were looking at later, nonchalantly crossing the boardwalk as it meandered off into the pines.

All the excitement at seeing a lone bison close-up pailed rather a few bends further on when there was an enormous traffic jam caused by bison crossing the road. There were hundreds in the valley as well providing a terrific spectacle for the hundreds of snapping cameras, smartphones, iPads and so forth. Eventually a Park Ranger had to arrive, lights flashing, to get the traffic moving again.

148 miles today, total trip 4250. States: Wyoming; Montana