The Americas 2013

Although I spent last night at a small roadside motel I had a surprisingly good nights sleep and was up by 6am and on the road by 7. My ride today was on the Stewart Cassiar highway, the first of the 6 Canadian/Alaskan highways that I am determined to ride. Contrary to some of the reports that I read, the road was easy and even the dirt stretches that I encountered were a walk in the park for the BMW and I.

The first 550km of the Stewart Cassier Highway…

The common reference to this particular road is that it traverses some of the most beautiful parts of Canadian British Columbia and although it was freezing and it rained for much of the day, the vistas didn’t dissapoint. Early into the ride I encountered 3 black bears and a jackal but still no moose notwithstanding a gazillion warning signs!

These long wooden bridges are treachorously slippery when wet….

I am spending the night at a small town called Dease Lake and fortunately its a one horse town because I want to do nothing more than go to bed!!

Another fine hotel for the night!!!…

I woke up with the mother of all hangovers this morning (courtesy of the Basset family) so the idea of an early departure to New Hazelton got shelved in favour of some myprodols, a litre of water and another hour of sleep followed by some greasy fried eggs, toast and coffee!!

Days ride…

Finally hit the road by 9am for a shortish 440km run through more beautiful British Columbia and finally got to my destination by about 2pm. It was a short afternoon and early evening thereafter.

The start of the dirt roads….

So I left Jax in Banff this morning to head up to Prince George on my own. Although it was a long 665km ride, it took me through Banff and Jasper national parks which were spectacular! Driving through the Canadian Rockies amongst the snow capped mountains, glaciers, lakes and rivers has proven to be one of the best drives so far.

Our days ride…

I am spending the night at the Ramada inn and had an awesome dinner and too much wine with a South African couple, Vaughn and Debbie Basset who have lived in Canada for the last few years. Tomorrow I head up to the southern point of the Stewart-Cassier highway.

Today was a day spent at rest exploring Banff and walking around some of the trails. We are staying at the Fairmont Banff springs which is a 120 year old scottish Barronial castle built in the forests of Banff and is incredible to say the least!!

Jax and I have agreed to split for 2 weeks because the roads in northern Canada and Alaska are going to get evermore challenging, partly because there are some that are famous (or infamous dependant on your views) and I am determined to ride them because this is a once in a lifetime opportunity, and because the daily mileage is about to get long because this is such a vast country to traverse! Jax is getting tired of the riding everyday because she sits at the back and her view is limited to the back of my helmet or to the right and left of her which is becoming monotonous and tiring! As a result, she will be staying in Banff for a few more days and then heading to Anchorage on Friday where she will hang out and wait for me to get there after completing these various crazy roads!!

The highways that I want to ride in British Columbia, the Yukon and Alaska are as follows:

The Stewart Cassiar highway which runs through the Canadian rockies from New Hazelton to the Yukon and is partially paved and partially gravel. It also runs through some of the most beautiful part of British Columbia as well as the ghost town of Cassiar which will be pretty cool to see. Difficulty: Moderate according to the reports.

The Klondike highway which runs through the Yukon between Whitehorse and Dawson City is completely paved. Difficulty: Easy but isolated according to the reports.

The Dempster highway is a one way road that runs from Dawson city up to Inuvik in the Arctic circle through the Yukon and is entirely gravel. Difficulty: One of the most Difficult according to the reports.

The Top of the World highway which runs from Dawson City, crosses the Canadian, Alaskan border and continues to the town of Chicken and ends in Tok. It is entirely gravel although the Canadian part of it is well maintained, the US side, less so. Difficulty: Moderate to difficult according to the reports.

The Alaska highway which runs through British Columbia and the Yukon up into Alaska is completely paved. Difficulty: Easy according to the reports.

The Dalton highway is a one way road which runs from Coldfoot to Prudhoe Bay (the northernmost point accessible by road in the Americas) in Alaska and is entirely gravel. Difficulty: One of the most Difficult according to the reports.

I am leaving Banff tomorrow and will have to ride for 2 long days before getting to the south end of the Stewart Cassiar. Stay tuned because the riding is about to become real interesting!!!

We left Waterton Park at 8am; we wanted to ride the red rock canyon road before leaving Waterton because we have been ensured by residents of the town that if we are to see bears anywhere, this is the place!! Red rock Canyon is a 15km road that runs into the mountains and the bears have apparently claimed it as their own highway, and we weren’t disappointed!! In the space of a few minutes once we were on the road, we saw a female black bear with two little cubs, followed a few minutes later by a large male Grizzly. In both cases they were very relaxed and foraging on the side of the road.

Husband and wife cowboy team!!

After this it was a relatively straight forward run to Banff but for the 90km detour because of a collapsed bridge that resulted in us having to double back and change our route. We got into Banff at about 3pm and are settling in for 2 nights of R & R.

Days ride…

The following pictures were taken once already inside the Banff national park…

Crossing into a new country, regardless of which, is always an exciting event, today however, there was more than one cause for excitement because not only did we cross into Canada, but we got to ride the famous “going to the sun” road through Glacier national park as well as Waterton park on the Canadian side where we are spending the night.

Our days ride…

The “Going to the sun” road proved to be everything we could have hoped for, and then some. I have attached numerous photos to best illustrate what we saw however, photos will never do it justice. On the road up we saw a bear and mountain goats that are protected in the park and must live a glorious life amongst this incredible setting.

We crossed into Canada at a tiny border crossing in the national park called “Chief Mountain” which was fantastic because there were no queues and the border patrol guys were fantastic and informative. We were in and out of there within 5 minutes!!

We are spending the night at the town of Waterton park which is on the lake and surrounded by mountains and wildlife. A long lunch with a great bottle of Champagne capped off the day!!

Waterton Park Lake..

We left “nowhereville” (Rexburg) this morning fairly early because we had a 600km run to Missoula, Montana. The ride today was another of the “20 most scenic” along the salmon river so although the most scenic route, certainly not the shortest. As always however, the additional mileage was worth it and we even stopped for a skinny dip in the river because as usual, the weather has been sweltering!!

Our days ride…

Little dip in the salmon river…

On route through a town called Arco, we came across their annual “atomic day” parade which is a celebration of the fact that this was the first town to ever be fully nuclear powered and has been used as a test and training site for submarine crew since 1952.

Atomic day parade in Arco…

We got into Missoula around 4pm, settled in and had an early dinner. Tomorrow we cross into Canada.

We had another incredible day and we are fast reaching the conclusion that the USA is thus far proving to be at least as far up the top of the list from an interesting and beautiful perspective, as Patagonia, Chile, and Wyoming and Utah in particular have forever captured our hearts!!

On route to Yellowstone from Jackson, Wyoming!

We left Jackson, Wyoming late this morning after a lazy breakfast in this gorgeous little town. We bumped into other bikers and spent ages chatting about the trip as well as suggested routes North and other interesting US and Canadian rides.

Our days ride…

The ride today was only a 340km loop into Teton and Yellowstone national parks in order to see Old Faithful, (the geyser) as well as the incredible scenery through the parks. Old Faithful, although well known as a predictable geyser that blows 15,000 to 30,000 Litres of boiling water, 30 to 50 metres high, for up to 1m, 30s every 1h30 (give or take 10 minutes), is actually part of the Yellowstone super Volcano that when it last blew was apparently 10 times the force of the Mount St Helens explosion back in 1980. It is expected to erupt again in about 10,000 years and will create an ash cloud half the size of the US!!

A Harley gang and other equally descriptive road signs!!!

After the park, we had an early dinner in Yellowstone, then took a slow ride down to Rexburg (AKA Nowhereville) where we are spending the night. Tomorrow we ride to Missoula in Montana, and then Sunday we cross into Canada!!

Old Faithful spewing his load!!

Cute Little Chipmunk at Yellowstone.          

Pools of Different colours caused by algae’s resulting from the minerals and the boiling waters!!

Today we rode 470km from Salt Lake City to Jackson, Wyoming. The ride through the Northern part of Utah into Wyoming was awesome as we got in another of the “20 most scenic drives” routes and the ride north just continues to be so incredible that 470km just fly by…..much like we were doing when we got pulled over, again!!! Fortunately the state trooper that pulled us over was super cool and ended up chatting to us about our trip for 15 minutes before sending us on our way!!

Days ride…

Cool old Cadillac…

We are spending the night in a great little place called the white buffalo club in Jackson and have decided on an early night. Tomorrow, Yellowstone park and the “old faithful” geyser!

Beautiful Wyoming…

We spent the day in Salt Lake city whilst the bike got tyres and brakes changed so we had an opportunity to look around and see the sights. We caught the red bus around the city which gave us a great insight into the history and beautiful architecture and monuments.

The Mormon temple…

The city is largely made up of Mormons, (which are not the same as Amish) however, having many children is a pastime as it is not uncommon to find families with 7 to 10 children. Salt lake city was a great place to spend 2 nights though because its a large city with a small town feel so we got in a movie and a couple of great restaurants!