Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center

We toured the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center in Washburn, just north of Bismarck North Dakota. This is near the site of Fort Mandan where Lewis and Clark spent their first winter. We are becoming experts on these two explorers having visited the interpretive center at the mouth of the Columbia River on the Pacific Ocean (2008), and having traveled along the Clearwater and Snake  Rivers earlier in this trip in Idaho. Today's Center filled in the details on the trip up the Missouri River and their meeting with Sacagawca without whose assistance they never would have made the trip to the Pacific. Dave got cold in the Center but a dead bison helped him out (though at a 20 lb weight) and Bev dressed for the discovery trip....Jefferson had insisted it be a military operation.

Fracking in the Bracken Formation

We stopped overnight in Williston, North Dakota.  It is the North Dakota hub for all the fracking activity in the Bracken formation.....remember Lac Megantic? This is where all the explosive oil originated.....and Bev is adding that there at 20 men for every woman in Williston (they are all loaded and they drink too much).  Dave adds that there are 20 pickups for every car!!
We followed Rte 1804 along the north shore of the Missouri River; this is also the main supply route to the fracking operations which are about every 1/4 mile along the road.  Each of the wells consisted of numerous tanks for holding the liquids they inject into the formation, a walking arm pump that pumps the oil out of the ground and into a network of pipelines that parallel the highway and finally a flare to burn off the hydrogen sulfide gas.  It is this hydrogen sulfide gas that is mixed with the oil that is thought to make the bracken crude so explosive.

The Fort Peck Dam and Reservoir

The Peck Dam project was built in the 1930s as one of FDR's New Deal Make Work projects. It is the largest hydraulically filled dam in the world and the second largest dam in the US.  The trouble is that the size of it makes it difficult to see the whole thing....it is 250 ft high, 4900 ft wide at the base, and 50 feet wide at the top.  We were travelling along the top of it for awhile without realizing it.

We managed to go on an excellent tour of the 185 megawatt power plant (free!) hosted by the US Army Corps of Engineers who built and meticulously operate the plant.  Unfortunately since 911 we were not allowed to take pictures of anything but we were allowed to touch the rotating shaft that connects the turbine to the generator.  The power houses are dominated by gigantic surge tanks that are about 10 stories tall.

The spillway, about 5 miles from the dam, is far more impressive than the dam as it is made entirely out of concrete and is about a mile long.  They were repairing the spillway, hence you'll not see any water pouring through it in the picture below.

The Tunnels of Moose Jaw and Flying Bike Parts

We left our hotel on the outskirts of Swift Current and then had difficulty finding the actual town. We cruised through the historic downtown, though it didn't seem very historic....we left for Moose Jaw. There we took a tour of the Tunnels...which explained how a small Saskatchewan Town earned the nickname "Little Chicago".  Public enemy #1, Al Capone, had his goons, his guns, his gals and his secret world in the underground Tunnels of Moose Jaw.  All this happened because there was a railroad from Chicago to Moose Jaw and during prohibition Capone manufactured whiskey used stills in the basement of Moose Jaw buildings and used the town as a hide out when things got too hot in Chicago....alas, they would not allow pictures.  It was an interesting tour because the guides were in period costume and acted their parts.  We the guests were to assume the roles of bootleggers who had come to buy Al's production booze.

We headed south from Moose Jaw on Hwy 2 toward the US Montana border...the road was great with no traffic until we reached Assiniboia when all road hell broke loose.  The road was full of great pot holes....there was a sign which we should have taken more seriously..it warned vehicles to travel slowly. Dave hit a monster pot hole at about 80 km (he WAS going slow) and the impact caused the plastic piece covering his right speaker to fly into the air.  He stopped the bike and went back to search for the missing piece of fairing; while he was slowly pacing the side of the road with his head down any vehicles passing stopped to enquire what the problem was...now, you have to realize that there was only one vehicle about every 5 minutes!! One person even offered to help with the search. People in Saskatchewan are very nice, unfortunately that can't be said about all their roads.  With no luck finding the missing pieced, they soldiered along the road to the border.  The road now offered wide rows of loose gravel which was great navigating fun.

We arrived at the border at 5:45 only 15 minutes before it was due to close for the night.  Had we been too late, the road would have been closed off and we would then have to retrace our steps along that awful road. Being the only vehicles at this rather desolate crossing, we approached the customs office at about 20 km per hour. We were promptly chastised by the customs official for speeding and were told we had to circle back and approach through the sensors at only 3 miles per hour.....driving a bike at that speed is trickey!!  Eventually we were admitted.

We headed to Glasgow Montana.  As to be expected the US road was far superior to the disaster on the Canadian side....BUT unfortunately Bev had underestimated the trip by about 100 km and so both bikes arrive on fumes with fuel lights flashing.

It was a loooong 500 km day.......time for cold beer and hot dinner.

Hoodoos and Hard Riding

We set out from Drumheller and after a short ride through the famous Alberta Badlands, arrived at the Hoodoos.  Now the name Hoodoos arise from the West African Hausa language for evil magic, AKA "voodoo"...and Bev taught high school in Nigeria though never got involved in voodoo, though she did eat fried termites.

We continued south on hwy 56 and lo and behold our old friend "the rain" returned.  It wasn't bad until we hit Hwy 1, the Trans-Canada, and the winds that had been at our backs (which were not noticeable) became nasty vicious cross winds.  We could barely see and slowed down to about 80 km/hr. In desperate need of a break we pulled off at the first of two exits for the tirst town we came to -  Bassano, We drove past a hotel and a gas station with expectations of soon arriving at the town and a restaurant.  Unfortunately Bassano only consists of that gas station and hotel!!!  We continued back on to the highway and headed back to Bassono where we pulled off at the gas station.  Dave stopped at the entrance; it was mushy gravel and he was contemplating on whether to proceed. Bev was cold and needed a warm beverage ans a washroom break.....she hesitated for a second and then turned her bike right at 90 degrees and headed across the muck to the concrete that surrounded the pumps.  Dave had no choice but to follow.  Shortly after their arrival, a large bus full of of NATO soldiers from CFB Suffield appeared. They created a coffee lineup and the men's washroom was backed up.  Bev had a quick pee.
From Bassano we continued on to Medicine Hat where the rain finally stopped. We pressed on through the Cypress Hills, and when we arrived in Swift Current (about 500 km from Drumheller) the sun finally appeared.

Drumheller Royal Tyrrell Dinosaur Museum

After spending a restful three days enjoying Edith and Dave's hospitality, we set off for Drumheller. The skies threatened a bit but the sun won the war.  It's amazing how straight the roads are and how little traffic there is. The Royal Tyrrell Dinosaur Museum, located just out of Drumheller, is internationally known and extremely informative on the different paleontological time periods regarding the richness of prehistoric life in Alberta for both animals and plants.  It was a delight walking through, and we recommend a visit to all adults and children.

Forest Fires and Animals

We left Jasper and headed to Edmonton to visit Dave's sister Edith and her husband Dave for a few days of rest (sorry we ignored the blog for a while but we did get both bikes successfully serviced).  Along the way we saw a "prescribed" wild fire on the side of the mountain.  Essentially they light a fire low on the mountain and then let it burn itself out at the top.  It looked bad to us, the flames were 30 feet high; a helicopter was flying around the circumference.  The plume looked like a mushroom cloud!
With all the smoke and ash in the air (and on our bikes!) the animals decided to seek safer pastures.

Waterfalls along the Icefields Parkway

We were lazy last night so you'll see three posts below.
We stopped to see Sunwapta Falls and Athabasca Falls while enjoying the Parkway.

Sunwapta

Athabasca

The Icefields Parkway

We left Left Louise towards Jasper along the Icefields Parkway.  This road truly has the most magnificent scenery in all of North America.  If you haven't driven it, do plan on doing so.  Given the roads we have travelled that is NO small compliment.  Words nor pictures capture its beauty and magnificence.
We pulled into an a cutoff that overlooked the road we had just travelled....so beautiful, until we had to pull out....the pulloff was not paved which was fine, but the exit inbetween cars a bus and wandering tourists was treacherous....it had boulders, sand and deep (1 ft) holes....we had to gun it and hope no car was coming around the bend.  Phew.....made it with hearts beating fast. NO one wants to drop their loaded bike in front of a big crowd, some of which were taking our pictures!!

Lake Louise

We got up and drove up the road to see the famous Lake Louise. Starting off on a short hike reminded Bev that she'd had enough of snow!!! We wandered around the Lake near the famous Chateau Lake Louise enjoying the crystal turquoise water surrounding by gorgeous mountains. We even managed to get in a few photos among the busloads of international tourists who mob the place continuously.

Crossing the Rockies with an oil leak and no Josh

We left New Denver BC and headed north through the Selkirk Mountains.  It was a gently winding road through the mountains - nothing hairy and hardly an traffic.

We had breakfast at Nakusp and continued on to the ferry at Shelter Bay.

After a short drive, we arrived at Revelstoke for lunch (Bev's brother Mike has skied at Revelstoke -- the highest Canadian vertical well over 6000 feet...not for the faint hearted).  Bev noticed that her air intake was leaking oil and was very nervous.  She doesn't mind riding but if she thinks there is a problem that may dump her at the side of the road, she is NOT too cool at all.  Dave said all Harleys leak oil and not to worry about it....nooo, she said HERS never had leaked oil.  She called a Harley dealership in Kamloops but they said she could make it to Edmonton.  Just to check the oil level to ensure that there was enough.  OKKKK, she believed them.  She booked an Edmonton 104,000KM service, but had she had Josh's number (her excellent Toronto technician) she would have called him for reassurance.

We climbed out of Revelstoke and up over Roger's Pass, passing through a number of avalanche protection tunnels and some of the most rugged parts of the Rockies.  The view in ALL directions from the top of the pass was just magnificent.

We traveled down to Golden and continued on through Field and stopped for the night in Lake Louise. The highway leaving Golden included switch backs, high % grades and stunning scenery and steep drop-offs.  The Harley continued to chug on.....two days to go before reaching Edmonton to visit Dave's sister and brother-in-law Dave and the Harley dealership.

Idaho into the Kootenays, BC

We left Coeur d'Alene and headed north towards Creston, BC.  The magnificent Idaho scenery continued but the road went from a 4-lane to a 2-land with wide shoulders to a very narrow paved road as we reached the Canadian border. The customs official was really friendly, which frankly was a pleasant surprise.  She even had us drive the bikes up together at the border crossing, an act we have been told off about before!! We went up the east side of Kookenee Lake with the snow capped Purcel Range on the right and the equally magnificent snow capped Selkirk Range on the left. The roads were tight and twisty and the heat was ferocious. At Kootenay Bay we took the ferry across the lake. It is the longest free ferry in North America. After docking we headed north to Kaslo along the west side of the lake. At Kaslo, we headed across the Selkirk range on steep twisty roads and ended the day in New Denver.

Spokane and the Falls

SORRY if you are following this blog....sometimes we are unable to post, so you'll have to scroll down to find some earlier posts that you will have missed.
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We drove on from Lewiston to Spokane, our most westerly point in the US for this trip.  The GPS guided us to a rather skuzzy Day's Inn on the wrong side of the tracks. After checking in, we set out in search of a restaurant for dinner and passed numerous abandoned buildings before arriving in a very nice downtown. Bev got worried about the bikes.  Dave had the opportunity to eat a most delicious Steelhead trout, caught in the Salmon River. Our main reason for visiting Spokane was to see the Spokane Falls.  Just before we arrived at the Falls, someone had jumped off a bridge and the high angle fire rescue crew was busy raising a stretcher.
We took a cable car ride over the Falls and then wandered, and had lunch in a beautiful park with a 1909 original carousel. Bev chose the giraffe as it is a favorite of Paige's.
Now for some of you Canadians, you like to see Tim Horton's coffee to remind you of home....for us, it is the Canada goose.....and low and behold, who did we find posing behind the sculpture of a Canadian flag???

Lewiston and Clarkson

These cities, where the Clearwater River joins the Snake River, were obviously named after Lewis and Clark; they straddle both Idaho and Washington states respectively.  There is an excellent visitors' centre that presents details on their expedition from St. Louis to the Pacific Ocean and how they would never have succeeded without help from the First Nations (the Shoshone and Nez Perce tribes in particular).

We actually wanted to ride a jet boat down the deepest canyon in the US, on the Snake River in Hell's Canyon on the border of Idaho and Washington states.....BUT, another drawback of early spring motorcycling....the weather can be sketchy and with few tourists some things simply aren't running...so NO wild jet ride for us as they said only on Saturdays as not enough tourists to run it... damn it was only Tuesday and we weren't waiting!!

Idaho's Rivers

We think Idaho rates as one of the best - Bev thinks THE best - states for fantastic motorcycle rides. It is the rivers and the canyons that they have carved that makes the riding sooo great.  The rivers begin as small mountain streams and grow as they twist and tumble through the steep valleys and canyons that they have created over time. High in the mountains the canyons are covered with tall pines and as you descend the vegetatian changes to green lush......farming is not for the faint-hearted....you'd want a seat belt on!  The roads and sometimes rail lines hug the edges of these wild streams. We had the opportunity to ride Scenic Byways beside the Snake, Payette, Salmon and Clearwater rivers. Lewis & Clarke followed the Clearwater, and Snake to the Columbia and eventually the Pacific on their expedition of discovery.

Silver Mining around Wallace

We travelled into the Bitteroot Mountains the silver mining town of Wallace.  It is the only complete town in the US listed in the registry of historic places. The mine tour was really well done, so informative, explaining how they drilled into the rock, blasted it out a stope, and then raked the resulting "muck"into small rail cars.