Everything in moderation, including moderation.
Hardin, MT -> Sturgis, SD (330 Miles)
Despite the strong winds and hail that pelted my tent all night, I was able to get a pretty good nights sleep. My first stop before heading to Sturgis was Little Bighorn Battlefield. I had only set aside 30 minutes to walk around and see the monument, but I wish I had side aside half of the day. I had to skip the informational video, museum and ranger talks, which all sounded really interesting.
If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music he fears, however measured or far away.
Missoula -> Hardin (390 Miles)
My stay in Missoula was short lived as I needed to fly back to San Francisco for a job interview. I was bummed that I had missed my cousin Pete in Missoula because he was on tour with his blue grass band The Lil Smokies. Even worse, he told me they were going to be performing in San Francisco, but I would already be headed back to Montana. On Sunday I was looking at my Facebook stream and saw a post from the Lil Smokies page that they were going to be playing at Amnesia in the Mission the night before I was set to leave.
Progress always involves risk; you can’t steal second base and keep your foot on first.
Hungry Horse, MT -> Missoula, MT via Glacier National Park (381 miles)
I got up early to beat the crowd into Glacier National Park. News on the street was that the Going-To-The-Sun Road was going to be open all the way through the park and there was going to be a surge of people heading in. I got to the gate as the sun was rising and there was already a line of 20 cars. Unfortunately, the park ranger at the toll booth informed me that the Going-To-The-Sun Road was still closed past Logan’s Pass. I was debating passing it up and heading to the other side of the park, but I figured I had enough time to do both.
If you do what you always did, you’ll get what you always got.
Lake Louise, BC -> Radium Hot Springs, BC (80 miles)
Radium Hot Springs, BC -> Lake Louise, BC -> Hungry Horse, MT (458 miles)
The weather report called for scattered thunderstorms all day around Banff and I still hadn’t gotten to see Lake Louise or Moraine Lake. I decided to book an Airbnb an hour and half south in Radium Hot Springs to hole up for the day and relax. I didn’t bother visiting the hot springs because it just looked like a recreational pool and I wasn’t too sore.
Experience is not what happens to you, it is what you do with what happens to you.
Dawson Creek -> Lake Louise (469 miles)
Now that I was in a “major” town (read: they have a Walmart) I was going to make sure I wouldn’t be miserable riding the rest of the trip. I stopped by Walmart and grabbed some new rain gear that wasn’t breathable so I knew it would keep me dry. I also bought some hand warmers and a rubber mallet. The two motorcyclist that were camping next to me also had tents that need to be staked down and said that gravel campgrounds were no match for a rubber mallet.
Liard Hot Springs -> Dawson Creek (471 miles)
It ended up raining all night again. When I woke up, I had to wait an hour for the rain to let up so I could pack my tent and head out for Dawson Creek. The forecast was cloudy skies and rain until I hit Fort Nelson. I lucked out and stayed dry for most of the morning while riding along Lake Muncho. I kind of wished I had camped next to the lake because it was absolutely beautiful. It had a deep aquamarine color and mountainous landscape surrounding it.
The quality of strength lined with tenderness is an unbeatable combination.
Takhini Hot Springs -> Liard Hot Springs (419 Miles)
It ended up raining all night, but luckily I got a small window the next morning where it dried up so I could pack up my tent. My tent was wet, but I’d be at my next destination with plenty of time for it dry out. The forecast for the day was more rain so I decided to ditch my leather gloves in favor of some winter work gloves I got from Bill’s dad. They weren’t the most stylish but they kept my hands dry.
The ultimate measure of a person is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.
Tok -> Takhini Hot Springs (509 miles)
I woke up around 5:30am, quickly packed my gear, and headed for Chicken via the Top of the World Highway. I had a long ride ahead of me and I wanted to spend a few hours in Dawson City. I had planned it so that at the end I would be rewarded with a dip in some hot springs to sooth my sore butt.
You have to leave the city of comfort and go into the wilderness of your intuition. What you’ll discover will be wonderful. What you’ll discover will be yourself.
I got a late start to the day because I had some business calls in the morning. I told myself not to worry about finding a job while on this trip, but a couple of opportunities kind of fell into my lap and I had to take advantage of them. I had one call left when I realized it was about to rain. I quickly packed my gear and left Anchorage as it was starting to shower. I was headed for Chicken, AK just north of Tok.
Bill and I wanted to camp at Wonder Lake in Denali National Park so we could wake up early and check out Mt. McKinley. We didn’t realize it would take 5.5 hours to bus 82 miles to the campsite. We got there too late and decided to take the shuttle the next morning. Unfortunately, the earliest shuttle at 5:15am was full so we bought tickets for the 6:15am and would should up early the next morning. We figured somebody would probably sleep in and miss the early bus. We showed up the next morning at 5:05am and were lucky enough to get on with no problems.
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