Into The Lower 48

Days 25 - 26

Refreshed and ready for the road again, we left Christina Lake and headed East. We enjoyed our first ferry of the trip to cross a lake and rode what was apparently voted the best motorbike ride in British Columbia. It was pretty nice, once we'd got past all the RVs (it was a Canadian bank holiday)!

The following day we crossed back into the USA (or “the lower 48” as Alaskans like to call it) and Glacier National Park via Canada's Waterton Park. The parks promised beautiful views and nice riding but mostly we just saw the inside of a cloud (and no silver lining). It was cold and very wet – to the point where we were almost ready to hole up in a motel for the rest of the day after crossing the border, until we found out that the weather could be even worse the following day. So we decided to push on and take the Going To The Sun highway across Glacier National Park (after putting on practically all of our remaining clothes and drinking copious amounts of hot chocolate). The first half of the road – the climb – was entirely in cloud and drizzle, such that at the worst point we could only see about five metres in front of us on the winding mountain road! But the road lived up to its name and when we came over the high pass we broke out of the weather – looking back you could see the cloud spilling out and dispersing behind us. And in front we could see the hanging valleys, weeping walls and glaciers that we'd read about, and most importantly, blue skies! It was dry that night, so no wimping out in a motel for us – instead camping in the same site as a number of other bikers who all wanted a piece of our story and to tell us all the must-see sights along our way!

Days 27-28

After that cold episode we were very pleased to have pleasantly mild weather as we headed to Yellowstone, admiring Montana's big skies and mountain views along the way. We made an essential pit stop to book the bikes in for a service and sort out a spare part for the stove. The bikes are also proving to draw more and more attention, such that we have to have at least one or two chats every time we get off. It's all good, though – we're picking up loads of hints and tips, and are certainly mixing with the locals!

Later stages of the drive to Yellowstone had us riding through some old Western “ghost towns” left over from the mining era. We also had our first authentic pancake breakfast in a classic diner complete with man at the bar in cowboy boots and hat, and a pretty blonde waitress called Candy.