FJRiders.com

WARNING-amateur swill ahead

Travel accounts from professional journalists, specifically professional moto-journalists don’t inspire me. They interest me, make me wish I could do likewise, but they don’t inspire me. Congratulations to those that have combined the work, education and talent to make a living as a writer, rider, explorer, photographer. Your stuff will be, and should be better than my friends and mine. But, following adventures of people on bikes on loan from a manufacturer, in gear under review, on a magazine’s per diem, and on time that is or will be paid for doesn’t inspire me. It’s the amateur stuff that inspires me. Show me that special trip on a not so new machine, that you planned, prepared for, and executed all while being a productive member of society in a separate career, and that will make me wish I could do likewise AND make me think I CAN do likewise. That’s inspiration. Where do I find the kind of amateur swill that makes me want to get out and go? Places like FJRiders, of course.



The 1911’s do Reuben Run 7

And find a little more adventure than sought

But first, some “before” pix







The first 2 ½ to 3 days of this event are supposed to be uneventful. Eat up a lot of miles to get to the good stuff. The “extra”, minor though it may be, adventure starts right off the bat. Planning a mostly camping trip that starts on a three day weekend gets a little tricky. Many campgrounds demand a 2 or 3 night minimum. None of the first 3 nights stays are anywhere near my first choice spots.

We start out a little late, headed to Hardin Ridge State Park, a little south of Bloomington, Indiana. Shooting up I-26 we expect heavy traffic through Asheville, being the Saturday before Labor Day. Just before Hendersonville the gridlock starts so I bail off the slab. The plan is to use the Blue Ridge parkway to by-pass Asheville. We get over to the BRP and do just that, pleasantly, but not until we’ve navigated through the Hendersonville Apple Festival

Once we’ve cleared Asheville we run an anti-interstate route to get us around Knoxville that takes us through Hot Springs NC and Bean Station Tn, where we take the only picture on day one.



This may be the prettiest sky of the whole trip.

We roll into Hardin Ridge a little after dark and start looking for our campsite. After about three laps around the loop that our site is supposed to be on we dismount at the bathhouse to get out the flashlights and take a closer look at the campground map. The campsite numbers take an odd jump in numbers every time I think we’re getting close. As soon as we dismount we see the sign and trail. I’ve mistakenly booked a “walk-in” campsite. It’s about a ¼ mile hike to the site. It’s going to take a lot of trips to get all our stuff to the site. I walk down to check it out. I have a brainstorm on the way back. I unhitch the trailer and push it down the trail to the campsite. At least it’s secluded and quiet. It’s been a hot sticky day. Getting the gear to the campsite has been somewhat of a workout. After a late dinner and a shower we enjoy a hot sticky night on top of the sleeping bag.

We get an early start to day two, before the rangers catch us with a trailer at our campsite. We plan to spend night two at Indian Cave State Park in Nebraska. This day starts well enough. A lot of it looks like this




We enjoy lunch in Mark Twain’s shadow, Hannibal Mo





and then move on toward the night’s camp.

I’d been in touch with forum member Twisted Cricket, picking his brain about the area, when planning this night’s lodging. A week out he’s warned about the weather and GENEROUSLY offered an alternative in Omaha. And boy, did he call it. About half way across Missouri we run into the edge of the storms and start looking at the radar. There’s flash flood warning boxes on top of Indian Ridge SP and big yellow and red blobs between us and Omaha. On night two we camp out at a motel in Chillicothe Missouri.

We make it to night three’s stop smoothly and actually get the tent up and dinner on the stove before sunset, or at least as the sun sets.



The summer at home hasn’t been terribly hot but it has been super-extra humid. I’ve been sweating through my belt for months. Our first cool dry night of the trip, in Douglas Wyoming is REFRESHING. It’s like eating a four pound York Peppermint Patty. I think you can buy those things at Cracker Barrell. Tuesday morning breaks…..um…..brisk



On the way in Mrs1911 saw a Jackalope statue that she wants a picture of so as we leave Douglas we stop by to get one. It’s at a rail museum. We check out the place and learn that Douglas is the Jackalope capital of the world.






And then we continue west. As we get our first eyeful of the Grand Tetons smoke and haze from summer fires makes the scene just a tiny bit less breathtaking than I suspect it would be without the fires. It’s something we’ll be dealing with the whole trip-just adds a little adventure.



More to come

IN!

This will be good!

Yes it will. I'm in, for sure.

So the first three days were about big mile days past corn fields and cattle range to get to the good stuff. That done, we’ve got better than four days to meander through three parks on the way to RR7.

Tuesday we wander about Grand Teton a little, set up camp, and then hang out at the beach (Lake Jackson) as the sun goes down. Mrs1911 likes the beach better than anything.











Wednesday, it’s some more Tetons and then into Yellowstone.





















I put a little effort into getting a goodbye shot of Lake Jackson, but I forget to turn off the GoPro and the accidental shot comes out better. Hate it when that happens.

We bed down at Grant Village Campground, within sight of Yellowstone Lake. Seven of the next eleven days we’ll wake up in a tent with the temp at 40 or below. Ahhhhhh! After the MUGGY summer at home this is nice. A warm sleeping bag, with a warm SO, on a cool night, after a good days’ ride, is a great place to be. And a hard place to leave, but nature’s call and the promise off hot coffee motivate.

As I hang out to watch the sunset



Mrs1911 is distracted.





As Mrs1911 stays warm and comfy in the bag, I shiver as I snap sunrise pix.

















We catch some of Yellowstone that we missed last trip, like The Grand Canyon of Yellowstone.









And plenty of wildlife on the way out.

















The exit through Beartooth Pass is….. exhilarating.



So much so that half our party took the time to add another layer









We spend Thursday night in a cabin at KOA Livingston, right on the Yellowstone River.







It’s laundry day. Mrs1911 finds conversation in a young lady that has just come from Glacier NP. She’s been backpacking the area, solo. I can’t imagine how worried her parents are.

Friday afternoon finds us in Glacier. Though we ride through the valley of smoke, we still take pictures.

















Going-to-the-Sun-Road is closed at Logan Pass due to fire. This we knew a couple days out. The campgrounds on the east side of the park don’t take reservations at this time of year. St Mary Campground, right at the entrance to Glacier NP is full. The primitive camps deeper in the park have spots available. Little Miss Backpacker, back at the KOA, told Mrs1911 that the camps deep in the park were getting heavier than normal bear traffic because the fires to the west are driving them out. Doesn’t scare me but Mrs1911 says to move on. So KOA St Mary it is.



Overnight the wind has shifted and there is even rain in the area. As we leave St Mary we are treated to the clearest skies over mountains yet this trip.





And then we make a run for the border.

Awesome photos! Envious of your adventure to be sure. Watch out for them there bears....

Jaw-dropping, gob-smacking,...
...Wow!

Purrty stuff.

Boy this sure is nice. I'll ride northwest some day.

I hear Yellowstone is a fine line. You want to wait long enough in the year that the snow is gone, but you want to get there before the schools let out for the summer to avoid the major crowds.

Man, this sure is a lazy Thanksgiving Monday morning in Canada coffee sipping ride report.

I'm surprised you went to St. Mary's, next time, Many Glaciers Road campground.

bungie4 wrote: ↑Mon Oct 08, 2018 9:54 am Man, this sure is a lazy Thanksgiving Monday morning in Canada coffee sipping ride report.

I'm surprised you went to St. Mary's, next time, Many Glaciers Road campground.

Maybe the road closure had something to do with that?

Again...just wow.

Impressive photos documenting an impressive trip.

wheatonFJR wrote: ↑Mon Oct 08, 2018 10:19 am

bungie4 wrote: ↑Mon Oct 08, 2018 9:54 am Man, this sure is a lazy Thanksgiving Monday morning in Canada coffee sipping ride report.

I'm surprised you went to St. Mary's, next time, Many Glaciers Road campground.

Maybe the road closure had something to do with that?

Again...just wow.

Unless all park campgrounds were closed, look at a map. Apology accepted.

bungie4 wrote: ↑Mon Oct 08, 2018 12:02 pm Unless all park campgrounds were closed, look at a map. Apology accepted.

No apology given, you can accept what you want. Per your instructions, I looked at the map. Many Glaciers is on the west side of the Park on US 2. They were staying on the east side then going up to Canader.

ON with the awesome ride for the ages...

bungie4 wrote: ↑Mon Oct 08, 2018 9:54 am Man, this sure is a lazy Thanksgiving Monday morning in Canada coffee sipping ride report.

I'm surprised you went to St. Mary's, next time, Many Glaciers Road campground.

Many Glaciers was loaded in the Zumo. Getting there, and back out if full, would have to be done in the dark. We already had to brake for Mamma bear and a cub on the way up to Logan Pass, so as much as would have preferred a park campground (KOA St Mary = $$$), I took the commercial route.

Some, if not all of the campgrounds on the west side of Glacier were closed due to fire. My guess was that was causing the east side ones to fill up.

I had reservations about adding the Canada part of this trip. We’ve got some pretty darn good mountain, glacier, prairie, lake and river scenery here in the US. If Canada’s mountain scenery isn’t significantly different or better, would it be worth the added time and expense?

We roll up to the customs booth with no wait. The nice young lady at the window looks at our passports and asks a few questions. I’ve got a couple for her. What’s the Canadian equivalent of WalMart and where is it? Mrs1911 has been researching horror stories about crossing the border with dangerous contraband, like fresh fruit and OTC pain killers that are Rx only in Canada. So, we left home with only what we thought we needed to get us to the border as far as consumables go. We trashed what we hadn’t used up. The nice customs lady told us that when Canadians wanted to shop somewhere like WalMart, they went to……WalMart. Then she told us where the closest one was, in relation to Tim Horton’s

Our first day of moto in The Great White North treats us to a lot of Canadian agriculture. Fresh cut Alfalfa is one of our favorite smells.



Our first Canadian night is spent in Red Streak Campground, just outside Radium Hot Springs.



On our run back down to Radium HS for breakfast we run into a slight delay. There’s a traffic ram.



We don’t get too far into Banff NP before my question about whether the Canada leg of this trip is worthwhile is answered. IT IS-and how! The run up through Banff and Jasper on this day is a couple hundred kilometers of stunning wonder. The Canadian Rockies are Rocky Mountains at a whole new level.









Too bad We couldn’t find a scenic spot for lunch







After lunch: Athabasca Glacier





It’s just a little hike up to the glacier, says the sign, one kilometer with a thirty-three meter gain in elevation. I’ll blame the stopping to catch our breath on the riding gear and the altitude.

For perspective, note the people in the lower left corner



And our bike right down there next to the RV on the front row



See it now?



How about now?



Before mounting up I put my boot in runoff that will eventually end up in the Arctic Ocean.



I was close to leaving my mark in the Arctic Ocean by another means but Mrs1911 nixxed that (plus it was cold and I was pretty layered up).
After Athabasca it’s on to our camp for the next two nights, a cabin at the KOA right outside Jasper.

Whenever we talk about vacations, Mrs1911 always brings up the beach. Monday’s highlight is Maligne Lake, and a little wildlife.














Duck









Elk



KOA sunset, with rainbow





Tuesday we pack up and head back down through Jasper and Banff. The day starts out a little cold and wet.



The forecast for Wednesday calls for 10-20 centimeters of snow in the area. I’ll take “wet”. Gives us an excuse to start the day off at Tim Horton’s.

We do get a peek of blue sky.



And a Givi full of glacier





We stop by Lake Louise on the way out of the park.



And then it’s time to head south.

The whole Banff/Jasper folder:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/1519822 ... 181794/

Once you hit the Tetons, it's all familiar to me, but your photography is spectacular..... really enjoying this!!