Crossing into Montana, both the Waterton and Glacier National Parks meet and a world first was created, an International Peace park jointly administered by both Canada and USA. Two countries, two provinces, one state and the Blackfeet people share common boundaries and stewardship. The abrupt transition from prairie to sheltering mountains is one of the reasons why the area supports such large herds of sheep, elk, deer, and bears.
We travel on the outskirts of Glacier National Park and camp at the small township of St Mary, on the edge of the park. We take in the beautiful surroundings by riding the scenic road called ‘Going to the Sun’ which is the only road that traverses the park. Its a spectacular 80 km drive which bisects the heart of Glacier, following the shores of two large lakes and then hugs the cliffs below the Continental Divide. Its a bit narrow in places so vehicles have to be under 7m to do the drive. We ride both ways; the morning we ride east to west and its quite busy; but we ride back around 5pm west to east and its practically empty so would highly recommend riding later in the day. Its a real buzz though. We arrive back at our campsite and soak in the hot pool – which is a nice treat!
Here is a selection of photos from the ‘Going to the Sun’ ride.
We leave Glacier National Park and go south, heading towards another National Park – Yellowstone! We ride through Montana, and although we leave the immediacy of the mountains, they are never far away in the distance.
The landscape changes to prairie like grasses but instead of being completely flat like the prairies, we ride up and down hills, around curves and we can see for miles and miles ahead so it comes as no surprise to learn that Montana is the 4th largest state in land area. Our half way stop is at Canyon Creek and that evening we admire the beautiful sunset.
We continue our journey toward Yellowstone National Park stopping for lunch at the local lunch bar in the small cowboy town of Ennis where the ‘safest’ food is eggs on toast. You know you’re in gun country when you find rows of guns for sale in the local camping store.
We arrive at the west entrance to Yellowstone late afternoon. Established in 1872, Yellowstone is USA’s oldest National Park and contains the worlds largest concentration of geysers and thousands of hot springs, fumaroles and mudpots. Although Old Faithful is one of the most well known geysers in the park, here is a look at a couple of others.
Bridge Bay where we are camping borders Lake Yellowstone, which is largest high elevation lake in North America (above 7000ft) covering 286 square miles. The temperature drops to 0degC overnight and we resort to putting on all our layers to try and keep warm. Brrr….!!
There are so many amazing sites to see; geysers, mudpots and thermal basins; Old Faithful, the most well known geyser and although not the biggest, its the most predictable one; the Mammoth Hot Springs terraces are like living sculptures, shaped by the volume of water, slope of the ground and objects in the waters path; the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone River with its multi-hue colors, resulting from the hydrothermal activity.
And of course, beware of ‘bison traffic jam’, the herds of bison that meander the grassy fields and own the roads, oblivious to cars or people.
What an amazing trip. Love reading your posts. You guys look fabulous!
Thanks Marty. Hope to catch up with you and bubs at some stage when we get back xx
Beautiful pictures guys. Man it is so great.
See you soon.
Ron
Hey Big Boy, we’ll see you next week. Can’t wait!
Certainly beautiful countryside, would be a pleasure to ride through and experience.
Mel says hi to both of you and Yogi & Booboo. Wouldnt want to meet one of those bison in the dark on the road!!
Also forgot to mention the reason Bunny broke his ankle was he had gone out to get a toothbrush as he was staying in Starship because his 3 month old daughter had fallen out of her car seat and hit her head. Baby has recovered okay, Bunny still in plaster.
Curry’s booked!
Ha,ha, yes, we’re doing our best to avoid the bison on the road!! Now in Minnesota… we loved the Black Hills area and Badlands of Sth Dakota (next blog👍). We’re meeting up with b-in law Ron next week to finish up riding around Lake Superior, then sadly….😩 We’ll be on our way back to TO. Looking forward to a good curry though.. unfortunately, not much Indian food was to be had on this trip (apart from the RTE packets – but don’t tell Bunny🤣) Love to Mel and whanau… See you guys soon!
Looks like you are having a whole bunch of fun guys.
I enjoy reading reading your posts and following your travels.Have fun stay safe
Thanks Brian, we’re having a great time and seeing some amazing sites. See you next month!