The Badlands

Badlands National Park again reinforced for me the power of water. Out of the rolling hills is carved a canyon on a smaller scale than the Grand Canyon. A slight difference in elevation, a nearby river, thousands of years of rain, snow, and wind have carved this amazing landscape.

The layer cake of of sedimentary rocks (many created from runoff from the Rockies) has been carved into a striped family of forms; spires, towers, and valleys. The alternating white and rust horizontal bands from the ground show where the now individual pieces were once connected. As far as the eye can see these horizontal bands link undulating mounds. Looking down from above these alternating colors make the Badlands look like a topographic map.

Another 1,000 miles down

I broke 14,000 miles as I drove from Glacier National Park (Montana) to Teddy Roosevelt NP (North Dakota) and then on to Badlands NP. Most of this thousand was covered as part of my Iron Butt ride. After the mountains in Montana I spent the rest of the time in gently rolling hills, most without trees.

Montana and Glacier National Park

I stayed with a BMWMOA guy named Wayne in Montana. I happened to be around over a weekend, so I was able to go on a ride with Wayne and his friends Bill and Mary.

We started by visiting a dam just outside of Kalispell. It's always amazing to see these feats of engineering. I stood looking down the dry side wondering how they picked this exact spot to stop this river and store its flows. A rock accidentally fell down the side and skidded until it hit the stone a few hundred feet below. In the water management course I took in college I learned that tall narrow canyons are best for dams because the lakes that fill them have small surface areas in comparison to their volumes. The big drop down brought this fact back to mind.

Afterwards we went to Glacier NP for a drive up the road that bisects the park. Unfortunetly we couldn't do the whole loop because the road above had been damaged. The glacial lake beside the lower part of the road provided a great reflection of the mountains above. We stopped beside the river that feeds the lake to check out a waterfall and some rapids. There was serious evidence of highwater in the bridge that had been badly damaged aparently by several whole trees.

Outside the park about 15 miles down a dirt road we stopped at a commune named Poleridge which is known for its bakery. It reminded me a little of Christiania in Denmark. We ate these sandwhiches which had the meat baked inside. They certainly were tasty. Sitting in a valley carved by glaciers with jagged peaks in the distance on all sides again reminded me how much I love mountains. The temperature was great and the subtle wind that rustled the leaves tried to lure me to sleep. But I resisted and enjoyed the return trip back down the gravel path.

The next important question was dinner, so I volunteered for an "away game," as Rett calls cooking in someone else's kitchen. The last big meal I made was in since Seattle and I was ready to do it again. I used Zach's favorite Montreal Chicken and whipped up a BBQ special. In the store I found a perfectly ripe Tuscan melon and made the Italian classic, proscuitto e melone. It was great to jump right into a new dynamic. I really had a good time.

The Longest Day

1000 miles in a day

Yesterday I decided to try the shortest qualifying Iron Butt ride, 1,000 miles in 24 hours. I left Kalispell, Montana at 5:30 in the morning and arrived at Wall, South Dakota at just before 1am. I was definitely ready to stop. I spent 16 hours riding. By the time I arrived, I was totally whipped.

The scenery along the way was really great. I started just before sun up in a light rain that lasted until I got out of the mountains in Glacier National Park. I rode just under 600 miles of US 2 across Montana, about 200 miles on US 85 South through North Dakota to South Dakota, and then finished on I-90 in total darkness. The moon was not out making the interstate seem like a giant black tunnel. I’m glad to have ridden a thousand miles in a day, but I don’t plan on making it a regular affair.

Clouds

Another 1,000 miles down

After crossing the border into Idaho I crossed the 13,000 mile threshold. From Prince George to Idaho I drove through British Columbia and part of western Alberta. There were barely any straight sections of road as the hill and mountains deformed the terrain.

At on point on the Trans Canadian 1 from Banff to Vancouver I drove under a very large new bridge. This bridge obviously made the road much straighter and easier to drive. It was at least 100 feet high towering above the narrow river valley below. I would have taken a picture if not for the signs saying "Do Not Stop" (right before one that said "Prepare to Stop"). After looking up at this brand new advancemenr I glanced down to see the remnants of the old road, smaller than the one I was on. When I saw this I imagined my grandparents on their honeymoon in 1949 traveling the same route, certainly on the smaller old road. I wonder if they looked up to see the construction of my section and thought, next time this'll be a faster and easier road. Because that's certainly what I thought as I gazed up at the 3rd visible incarnation of this road. I've had the thought all over, I wonder how this looked 60 years ago. I imagine the trees and mountains are indistinguishable whereas the buildings, towns, and roads have certainly aged. While progress may seem like a continuum, change happens in steps, sometimes in leaps, others at a snails pace. I hope that my pictures and stories will give me a basis to compare the change when I do this again.

Travels with Charlie

I’m reading an excellent book by John Steinbeck, "Travels with Charlie" that my friend Jeremiah got for me at the famous Powell’s in Portland. It’s a story of the writer deciding at 58 to travel solo around the country in a truck with a camping topper to really see the country in his stories. I’m less than a third of the way through, yet I’ve observed many of the same phenomenon he witnessed 45 years ago, including the shrinking of small towns and the growth of big cities.

I even met one of the character types that he met in a diner. The waitress he desrcibes as one "who can drain off energy and joy, can suck pleasure dry and get no sustenance from it. Such people spread a greyness in the air about them" (47).

Yesterday just before the sun set under a low cloudy ceiling I crossed the empty border from Canada into Idaho. As I pulled up to the window a man came to the only open booth waving for me to stop. It turns out I’d coasted through the first of two stop signs one car length apart. After not seeing any cars in either direction for a few minutes, I guess I figured I’d just roll up to the window and get the crossing over with. For some reason I always get nervous at borders because the border officers have so much power at their disposal, they can hold and search you, make your crossing very difficult. And there’s not much you can say. After appologizing several times to an unaccepting shaking head, I pulled out my passport and handed it to the Irish grinch. He thumbed through it more carefully than I’ve ever experienced. He skipped the Russian and French visas, and asked about my many stamps from England and the Chunnel. Then he picked up the Irish ones and asked before I could answer his previous question, what I’d done there. I said instictively I’d gone to Ballynahinch to visit my grandparents. To which he quickly responded "County Gallway, ok." He said the Sweenies are part owners, which totally surprised me. Not only did he know of this small lake area but he also knew the names of some of the owners. I asked if he was Irish and received a curt "yeah". I thought this commonality between us would crack the frigid facade. The tone of his last utterance should have contradicted my assumption, but it didn’t, I tried to ask another question as he rapidly closed the window and waved me on. He went back and sat at the computer that he was blankly starring into as I pulled up. Mind you, no cars had come or gone in either direction during this exchange, so there was no rush.

Jasper and Banff National Parks

Starting in Jasper, AB I drove south through the icefields, glacial lakes, and beautiful mountains of these national parks. Here was another long stretch without services, although because its a park there were view points, lodges, and even a big visitors center at the Columbia Icefields.

Just outside of Jasper I saw a strange looking log bobbing higher than usual. A moment later I realized it was a moose. I was afraid it had fallen and was being swept down the rushing chai tea colored river. But it hopped out of the water on a little island, ran upstream, and then jumped in again and swam to the other side. It was not a graceful swimmer, but it easily made it across.

The rivers through the park were also above their normal levels, several actually making use of their floodplains. I stopped counting waterfalls after about 25. With the current rain and high temperatures the runoff is going strong. I only saw a few still sections of blue glacial water, otherwise the flows were all turbulent and sediment laden.

After hearing my grandparents talk about them so much I wanted to stop at Lake Louise and Banff. Being short on time and bundled in rain gear, I stopped for a quick picture in each. Lake Louise is a beautiful clear glacial lake. There’s even a tall hotel that overlooks it. In the parking lot I saw 2 GSs and a couple of Goldwings. It was easy to spot the owners by the lake in their motorcycle gear. One guy was trying to balance his camera and set the timer. I offerred to take their photo and asked where they were going. A couple were going all the way to Prudoe Bay while the others were going to turn back a little sooner. On the way back they’re going to catch a 2 day ferry back to Seattle. It definitely sounds like a fun ride.

Vanderhoof

Vanderhoof

I thought this was a funny sign, the geographical center of British Columbia. I guess everybody wants to have their own speciality.

Rain

The last two days I've driven more than 100 miles in the rain but in the moments when the clouds let up I've had some amazing vistas making the whole mess worthwhile.

Watching the news today has confirmed my intuition about the high water levels I've seen. Several of the cities I stayed in on the way to and from Alaska including Smithers and Prince George are under evacuation warnings. The morning news shows high water all over BC. They've even restricted truck travel on one road.