I wake at 6:00 AM in the Glacier Campground to the sound of rain on the tent. Thinking
that it will not get any better any time soon, I drop the tent and pack up,
while the rain get worse. I decide to go
to the onsite breakfast building to check it out. I am expecting a bowl of eggs
and some toast. Instead, the food is incredible. This might have been the best
food on the whole trip.
I am the first one at the breakfast table, and then Bill and
Melinda (fabricated) from Seattle arrive. Melinda is ready to start her PHD in
cancer research. They are from Seattle and think nothing of the rain other than
wishing that they had brought their bike riding rain gear. They are riding up
and down the highway in Glacier. Melinda is originally from Chicago and enjoys Seattle. Melinda tells me that they were 6 hours late
getting to Glacier because their train hit a semi-truck. She says the conductor
told her that this was the worst accident he had seen in his 20 years on the
train. Melinda was pretty bummed out about having to wait 6 hours on the train.
I hit the road and immediately get into the West gate of the park. There was
no line. I just drive up to the ranger
and show him my annual pass. Done deal, unlike Yellowstone where you can catch
a movie while you wait in line.
It was just beautiful. You immediately see the lake and the
towering mountains with snow. I twisted up the slope where I had been last
October. Last October I flew into Kalispell to interview a project manager.
Part of the interview with her was that she had to take me for a small hike in
Glacier. We could only go as far as Logan Pass before the gates were closed.
There was just so much to see as I rode up the mountain. At
one point I stopped with another car and filmed the scene unfolding before our
eyes. As we were standing there a mountain of a cloud came straight up and
covered the entire landscape. I could not believe what I was seeing, and
neither could the young couple that had stopped with me.
There are some points in your life that you share with
others what you will never forget. This was one of them. I did not know the couple,
but I am sure they will never forget what we all saw, even though it was just
for a brief moment in our lives.
I get to Logan Pass where I park to check on the visitors
center. The center was built about 1966. My family and I were in Glacier about
1966, but I do not recall seeing the center.
The center is jam packed with tourist from all over the world. There was
a big guy on a Goldwing that had been with me at several points during our
accent. He now had a hiking hat on and gave me a friendly wave from across the
road.
My favorite moment at the visitor center was when a young
ranger girl was talking to a bunch of kids. I heard her say “and the most
dangerous animal in the park is the squirrel in the parking lot. They look
cute, but then they can bite you hard.”
As a kid I remember chasing these same Glacier squirrels. I do not think
her talk will stop the kids in the least.
I continue down the other side of the mountain, and my time
at Glacier quickly comes to an end. I am out the East side in less than an
hour. What a wonderful experience, but way to short in time.
I then go south on the 89 and I am amazed at how quickly the
landscape turns into flat plains.
I keep moving for a couple of hours and see yet another well
farkled DL650 in front of me at a construction wait zone. I pull up right next
to him and tell him I love his bike. He has stickers from all over on his
panniers. This guy has obviously been around. We briefly talk, but then the construction
controller tells us to get going. I lead the way and we quickly get to a major
highway where I turn right. To my delight my new friend also turns right. I am
now so excited. I have a V-Strom riding buddy on my trip. I have visions of us
traveling across Montana together, two V-Stroms hand in hand.
We go about 5 miles and my partner suddenly signals me to
pull over with him. He is saying something about the battery and needing a jump,
but I am having a hard time understanding him due to his accent. I tell him that the rest area is just 1 mile
up the road, but he tells me that his bike is dead right now and he cannot make
the bike go. I help him jump the battery and it starts his bike, then when you
disconnect the jump, the bike stops. He fidgets with the bike for 20 minutes,
but I tell him that it is probably the generator that is dead.
Then I notice that he has Canadian Quebec license plate. I
say “You are French Canadian”, and he kind of responds with a “what’s it to
you?” I give him the “really, it is
cool” and tell him I love the city of Quebec and Montreal. I tell him he needs
to call for a tow, because there is nothing more that I, or he can do at this
point. I tell him my name is Alan, and
he says he has a friend by the name of Alan.
His name is Martin and he has been traveling for a month. I give him the
telephone number of a local parts company, wave goodbye to him and take off
leaving him to call the tow company, which I hope he does. So ends my V-Strom
riding partnership after 5 miles.
After a couple more hours, two motorcycle guys pull up
behind me at a road construction stop. One of the two guys then pulls up next
to me and tells me that he can see the cords popping out of my rear tire. I am
now totally terrified, because I knew the tire was not in the best shape, but I
had no idea it was that far gone. Here I am out in the middle of Montana and my
tire is gasping for its last breath. I
decide to ride very slowly to Billing Montana and try to get a new tire.
I arrive in Billing late in the day and check into the Best Western hotel. I will tackle the tire problem on Saturday morning after doing
some research on the internet for service options.
No comments:
Post a Comment