crazy_canuck
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- Aug 28, 2007
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- Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Hey guys and gals,
Thought I'd share my summer bike trip with you that a buddy Justin(he has a YZF1000) and I did from Edmonton Alberta to Yellowstone National Park and back in August.
Day 1-
We started off in Edmonton AB, went south on hwy 2 to leduc, west on hwy 39 and wouth on hwy 22 to Rocky Mountain House. From there we took Hwy 11 up to the Banff-Japser Parkway(Hwy93) and then south to Lake Louise. To finish off the day we hopped on the Trans-Canada (Hwy1) to Revelstoke BC.
Verdict for the day was fairly boring riding until you get past rocky and way too much traffic from there but nice scenery.
Day 2-
Started out early so that we could beat most of the traffic to the Shelter Bay-Galenda Bay Ferry, and no motorcycles are no longer allowed to skip in front of the other traffic. From there we headed north on Hwy 31 and it curves back around to the south and we ended up in Kaslo for lunch at a nice little cafe. Then it was on to Nelson on Hwy 3A, we were planning on just going to Salmo for the night but it was still early so we did the loop to Castlegar and then over to Salmo on Hwy 3 as the road appeared to be twisty on the map. It wasn't. Got in to Salmo and it was still early so we made our run to the boarder on Hwy 6 and after an hour and a half wait (thanks to an electronic music festival they had extra security and were going through things very thoroughly) we made it to Metaline Falls WA.
Verdict for the day was great roads and little traffic should not have wasted our time on the extra loop over to castlegar.
Day 3-
Went south on Hwy 31, Hwy20 to Newport then across to Sandpoint on Hwy2. We took Hwy 95 to Coeur D'Alene and found one of the best roads of the trip just east of there Hwy 97, took us 2 hours with a break to do just this section of road.
Then south to St. Maries on Hwy 3, Hwy 6 to Harvard, Hwy 9 to Deary (nearly got caught by a cop as we were doing ~130km/hr at this point) and finally Hwy 8 to Moscow. We chose this destination pretty much just to be able to say we went to Moscow on our bike trip. Here we stopped for the night met some guy from washington that nearly got us arrested for drinking in public and apparently it is pronounced 'mos-co' not like the russian capital, so thank you to the cop who corrected me on that and for not arresting us.
Verdict for the day was mostly excellent riding and very little traffic after Coure D'Alene. You definitely need to do Hwy 97 if you live close by.
Day 4-
Headed back on Hwy 8 and 99 to Kendrick, across on the P-1 to Orofino, south on Hwy 12 and 13 to Grangeville. Hopped on hwy 95 to Riggins for lunch where we stopped at a bar that apparently was a daycare during the day??? Kept going south got on Hwy 55 and headed east on NF-24 just before banks where we ran into an accident where a car had gone off the road. Justin was running out of gas so we had to beg a gas station attendant to open up the pumps as he was leaving for the night (somewhere along the way) so that he could get gas. We ended up stopping close to Grimes Pass for the night and had some excellent grub. It was also at this point that Justin had his first poop in 3 days due to our lack of veggie intake so we started ordering salads instead of fries or chips.
Verdict for the day was don't stop in riggins unless you need gas and NF-24 was a sweet road as long as you don't get stuck behind people.
Day 5-
We headed out early shaking off the shivers as it was bloody cold in the mountains compared to the 104 degree weather that we had ridden through. Got on Hwy 21 and 75 east, then went north on Hwy93. Justin missed the turn off for Hwy 43 so we ended up going all the way to Sula. This was not bad because the ride up and down the pass was worth it. This was also the point where i went off the road trying to make a tight turn but I was able to keep the bike upright. Headed back south and then est on Hwy 43, south on 278 to Dillon (boring road.. very boring). North on hwy 41 to Twin Bridges and south on 287 to Enis (hehehehe, I said Enis. hehehe). kept on going south on 287 and stopped for the night around grayling where we met some nice bikers from texas that were doing a trip. We swapped stories and told them about the nice raods that we had done.
Verdict for the day Hwy 93 is a really nice road, pretty much everything we rode in montana was pretty boring and unfortunately we could not get the good views because of smoke from the forest fires.
Day 6-
So yes about now you are wondering, so these guys are going from Edmonton to yellowstone in 9 days and they are still no to yellowstone yet? Well Here was the longest day of riding.
Left early 7am went into yellowstone and spent about 3 hours there and saw old faithful go off (yes I know that is sacrilege). Headed out on Hwy 191 which had construction on it boooooooooooooooo! so that slowed us up. Cut across on hwy 85 to I-90 to make up time, then north on Hwy 297 and 12 to Helena. This was where we experienced our first bit of rain. Went north on I-15 and turned off to catch hwy 279 which was a very nice road. North on 200 and we made the mistake of going north on 287 as we hit construction and we got calcium carbonate all over the bikes as they had just sprayed it on the road. :banghead:Kept going north to Choteau and by this point we were looking for a place to stay but everything was full in every town! So we just kept on going north on Hwy 89. about 50km outside of browning (never a good place to stop and if you do bring a gun) Justin's gas light comes on so we barely coast into browning for gas passing a half burnt down motel and found a dog drinking antifreeze in the parking lot. We definitely did not want to stay there so we kept going for fear for our bikes getting stolen, vandalized or burnt to the ground like that hotel. Got in to St Mary and there was just one room available and since it only had one bed Justin declined and we made a reservation for Duck Lake Moutain Lodge which is more like a hostel than a lodge. We locked up the bikes and had dreams about them being stolen (Justin's dream) or burnt to the ground (my dream).
Verdict for the day- oh so tired and tooooooo much construction for a 15 hr day.
Day 7-
Got up early, found the bikes to be in one piece, headed back to St Mary's and up the 'going to the sun' highway where yep you guessed it more construction. Nice scenery, when we could see through the smoke. Took Hwy 2, 40 and 93 up to the boarder where they did not even ask for ID! :thumbup: Yes we were sure to take advantage of the cheap US gas before getting over the boarder. It was nice to be back into familiar territory that is for sure. Took Hwy 93/3 & Hwy 93/95 up to Invermere where my family has a cabin.
Day 8 -
We rested, drank beer.
Day 9 -
We were off again up Hwy 93 speeding past traffic until.. can you guess.. no not construction thank goodness just rain. stopped to put on the rain gear and then we were off to canmore for lunch on Hwy 1. After lunch cut north on Hwy 22 through Cochrane and Cremona and then east on Hwy 580 to carstairs as the usually have the cheapest gas. From there hit Hwy 2 north to Edmonton.
Verdict for the day was too much traffic and straight roads. Plus Hwy2 is full of insane drivers that would like to run you over.
Hope you enjoyed my little tale of adventure.
Thought I'd share my summer bike trip with you that a buddy Justin(he has a YZF1000) and I did from Edmonton Alberta to Yellowstone National Park and back in August.
Day 1-
We started off in Edmonton AB, went south on hwy 2 to leduc, west on hwy 39 and wouth on hwy 22 to Rocky Mountain House. From there we took Hwy 11 up to the Banff-Japser Parkway(Hwy93) and then south to Lake Louise. To finish off the day we hopped on the Trans-Canada (Hwy1) to Revelstoke BC.
Verdict for the day was fairly boring riding until you get past rocky and way too much traffic from there but nice scenery.
Day 2-
Started out early so that we could beat most of the traffic to the Shelter Bay-Galenda Bay Ferry, and no motorcycles are no longer allowed to skip in front of the other traffic. From there we headed north on Hwy 31 and it curves back around to the south and we ended up in Kaslo for lunch at a nice little cafe. Then it was on to Nelson on Hwy 3A, we were planning on just going to Salmo for the night but it was still early so we did the loop to Castlegar and then over to Salmo on Hwy 3 as the road appeared to be twisty on the map. It wasn't. Got in to Salmo and it was still early so we made our run to the boarder on Hwy 6 and after an hour and a half wait (thanks to an electronic music festival they had extra security and were going through things very thoroughly) we made it to Metaline Falls WA.
Verdict for the day was great roads and little traffic should not have wasted our time on the extra loop over to castlegar.
Day 3-
Went south on Hwy 31, Hwy20 to Newport then across to Sandpoint on Hwy2. We took Hwy 95 to Coeur D'Alene and found one of the best roads of the trip just east of there Hwy 97, took us 2 hours with a break to do just this section of road.
Then south to St. Maries on Hwy 3, Hwy 6 to Harvard, Hwy 9 to Deary (nearly got caught by a cop as we were doing ~130km/hr at this point) and finally Hwy 8 to Moscow. We chose this destination pretty much just to be able to say we went to Moscow on our bike trip. Here we stopped for the night met some guy from washington that nearly got us arrested for drinking in public and apparently it is pronounced 'mos-co' not like the russian capital, so thank you to the cop who corrected me on that and for not arresting us.Verdict for the day was mostly excellent riding and very little traffic after Coure D'Alene. You definitely need to do Hwy 97 if you live close by.
Day 4-
Headed back on Hwy 8 and 99 to Kendrick, across on the P-1 to Orofino, south on Hwy 12 and 13 to Grangeville. Hopped on hwy 95 to Riggins for lunch where we stopped at a bar that apparently was a daycare during the day??? Kept going south got on Hwy 55 and headed east on NF-24 just before banks where we ran into an accident where a car had gone off the road. Justin was running out of gas so we had to beg a gas station attendant to open up the pumps as he was leaving for the night (somewhere along the way) so that he could get gas. We ended up stopping close to Grimes Pass for the night and had some excellent grub. It was also at this point that Justin had his first poop in 3 days due to our lack of veggie intake so we started ordering salads instead of fries or chips.
Verdict for the day was don't stop in riggins unless you need gas and NF-24 was a sweet road as long as you don't get stuck behind people.
Day 5-
We headed out early shaking off the shivers as it was bloody cold in the mountains compared to the 104 degree weather that we had ridden through. Got on Hwy 21 and 75 east, then went north on Hwy93. Justin missed the turn off for Hwy 43 so we ended up going all the way to Sula. This was not bad because the ride up and down the pass was worth it. This was also the point where i went off the road trying to make a tight turn but I was able to keep the bike upright. Headed back south and then est on Hwy 43, south on 278 to Dillon (boring road.. very boring). North on hwy 41 to Twin Bridges and south on 287 to Enis (hehehehe, I said Enis. hehehe). kept on going south on 287 and stopped for the night around grayling where we met some nice bikers from texas that were doing a trip. We swapped stories and told them about the nice raods that we had done.
Verdict for the day Hwy 93 is a really nice road, pretty much everything we rode in montana was pretty boring and unfortunately we could not get the good views because of smoke from the forest fires.
Day 6-
So yes about now you are wondering, so these guys are going from Edmonton to yellowstone in 9 days and they are still no to yellowstone yet? Well Here was the longest day of riding.
Left early 7am went into yellowstone and spent about 3 hours there and saw old faithful go off (yes I know that is sacrilege). Headed out on Hwy 191 which had construction on it boooooooooooooooo! so that slowed us up. Cut across on hwy 85 to I-90 to make up time, then north on Hwy 297 and 12 to Helena. This was where we experienced our first bit of rain. Went north on I-15 and turned off to catch hwy 279 which was a very nice road. North on 200 and we made the mistake of going north on 287 as we hit construction and we got calcium carbonate all over the bikes as they had just sprayed it on the road. :banghead:Kept going north to Choteau and by this point we were looking for a place to stay but everything was full in every town! So we just kept on going north on Hwy 89. about 50km outside of browning (never a good place to stop and if you do bring a gun) Justin's gas light comes on so we barely coast into browning for gas passing a half burnt down motel and found a dog drinking antifreeze in the parking lot. We definitely did not want to stay there so we kept going for fear for our bikes getting stolen, vandalized or burnt to the ground like that hotel. Got in to St Mary and there was just one room available and since it only had one bed Justin declined and we made a reservation for Duck Lake Moutain Lodge which is more like a hostel than a lodge. We locked up the bikes and had dreams about them being stolen (Justin's dream) or burnt to the ground (my dream).
Verdict for the day- oh so tired and tooooooo much construction for a 15 hr day.
Day 7-
Got up early, found the bikes to be in one piece, headed back to St Mary's and up the 'going to the sun' highway where yep you guessed it more construction. Nice scenery, when we could see through the smoke. Took Hwy 2, 40 and 93 up to the boarder where they did not even ask for ID! :thumbup: Yes we were sure to take advantage of the cheap US gas before getting over the boarder. It was nice to be back into familiar territory that is for sure. Took Hwy 93/3 & Hwy 93/95 up to Invermere where my family has a cabin.
Day 8 -
We rested, drank beer.
Day 9 -
We were off again up Hwy 93 speeding past traffic until.. can you guess.. no not construction thank goodness just rain. stopped to put on the rain gear and then we were off to canmore for lunch on Hwy 1. After lunch cut north on Hwy 22 through Cochrane and Cremona and then east on Hwy 580 to carstairs as the usually have the cheapest gas. From there hit Hwy 2 north to Edmonton.
Verdict for the day was too much traffic and straight roads. Plus Hwy2 is full of insane drivers that would like to run you over.
Hope you enjoyed my little tale of adventure.
