Day 4, Going to the Sun road, and on to Aunt Carols

Beautiful morning in East Glacier. Had breakfast at Two Medicines and was on the road by 8:00. 

I chose the scenic route from E. Glacier to the entrance to the Going to the Sun road. A lot of it was 25 mph, but the views were worth going slow for. 

 

When I pulled up to the entry point for the Going to the Sun road, the lady at the gate said "$25 please"... I was a little shocked it would cost that much for one guy on a motorcycle. Turns out it was worth every penny!

The scenery was spectacular to say the least. 

There was a fair amount of traffic on the road, it was a Saturday morning. i didn't have any trouble maintaining a reasonable pace....which was fairly slow because I was taking it all in

A couple of these pics were taken while I was riding. They look a little hazy due to the widnshield being in the way. Pardon the bugs on the windshield....

This last one is a panorama pic...but a truck went by while I was taking it. Kind of an interesting effect. 

There were some dark clouds brewing but it never rained a drop while I was there. 

If you don't want to deal with driving the Going to the Sun road, you can ride on one of these shuttles. They were all over the place and some have open tops you can look out of. Might be a good way to go. Driving some of the very narrow sections of road while trying to see the sights in a car would be almost impossible. Of course a bike is narrow enough that it wasn't an issue. Plus I had no windows....

All and all Going to the Sun was definitely worth the trip, and the $25. 

After exiting the park, I headed North on a loop through National Forest lands. 

Garmin GPS software showed the loop as paved all the way through...obviously it was wrong. Great pavement about 2/3 of the way, then about 15 miles of really crappy gravel road. No good on a street bike with street tires. I was glad to get back on the pavement and came out at Whitehorse, MT. 

Had lunch in Eureka,MT and then made my way to the Yaak River Road. The mountain road took me all the way up to within and couple of miles of the Canadian border. The road was very curvy, very scenic, and had very little traffic on it. It also had a 15 mile section that was recently chip-sealed on which the gravel had not been removed. More slow going for a while but I got through it. 

If you want to live in the middle of nowhere, this is pretty close. 

I took a picture of our new home on the Yaak River. No neighbors for miles! Also no power, phone, internet, or automobile access during the Winter. Sounds good!

Later in the afternoon I made it back to Northern Idaho. I travelled South thru Bonners Ferry and into Sandpoint. 

A lot has changed since I was last there. There's a road around most of the town now. I also visited Dover where my Dad grew up. There's a much bigger road heading out to the tiny little town. A bunch of new houses out on the bluff. Kind of ruins the view. Still a special place for me though. 

After leaving Sandpoint and Dover I rode to my motel in Coeur d'alene. When I got there I went to open my side-bag and found that one of the two screws that hold the metal tab on the lock had fallen out and the other was barely holding on by a few threads. One or two more bumps and my laundry would have been out on the road!  Luckily the local Ace Hardware had some tiny metric screws that fit and I Loctited them in. Never had an issue with them before, but I've heard of others having this problem on an FJR forum I frequent. All the bumpy roads today must have helped it along. 

I went and had dinner at my Aunt Carol and Uncle Charlies house. It was nice to get to visit with them and their Daughter Melanie and her Husband Doug. My cousin Matt was supposed to be up from Phoenix but his twins came down with the flu or something and they had to postpone the trip. His Wife and Daughter made it though.

 I realized it has been a long time since I have been there. All the surgeries and medical issues I've had have taken longer than I realized. 

Have little bit of a scratchy throat tonight. Hope I'm not catching a cold or something. Still have just under 1000 miles to ride over the next three days. 

Tomorrow it's off across the top of Washington state to Oroville. 

I'll go right to the edge of Canada on this leg. Can't go in though. They don't like my guns. Plenty to see right here in the good ol' USA. 

Off to bed.