Leaving Grangeville was a wee bit chilly as the morning temps were barely 48 degrees. I was still stunned that since leaving Nevada we encountered very little “summer”. Bundled up with my heated gear we headed to Montana.

Tyler, bundled like a kid in a snowsuit!

All the wild flowers were in bloom on this trip, which frankly seemed late to me. I have done extensive travel in this area, and was surprised to see all the gorgeous color still in season. Nothing beats riding in the wildflower season!

I couldn’t help but add a photoshop filter to this shot.

As we came onto Hwy 12, otherwise know as Lolo Pass, the skies were looking a bit ominous, so we pretty much had ourselves prepared for a bit o’ the wet stuff. We were not disappointed. 😉

I had ridden Lolo pass twice prior, so told Tyler to lead the way, stopping wherever she desired to shot some photos. I, having my small point and shoot tethered to me, was able to shot along the ride.

All that rain made for some verdant country.

We stopped at the summit of Lolo and visited some other riders.

Sadly the gift shop and forestry office was closed, but we had to thank them for at least leaving the bathrooms unlocked!

This is how Lolo looks on a good summer day!

Riding through Missoula to Flathead is always an exercise in patience and skill, as like nearly any other city, it’s slow going and full of traffic, but once out, that first view of Flathead lake is lovely!

I have had the good fortune of meeting a wonderful man, Gurdon through my riding buddy Jim (kluts), who has always offered his house as an overnight or week spot near Glacier NP. I took him up on his offer and Tyler and I spend a wonderful evening hanging right over the lake on his deck. What a wonderful place to stay! The trick to finding Gurdon’s house is one of searching the horizon for the dirt road that cuts off to the left and into the lake! My first time there, my friend had come into town and lead me out. This time, I found it without any problem!

We were fortunate to catch an absolutely wonderful sunset.

The view from Gurdon’s deck on a previous visit with an equally gray sky was still breathtaking!

Rested and refreshed we left Flathead Lake and headed to the west entrance of Glacier National Park, on yet another cloudy morning. Once again, we had to layer up for the cold, but we were getting used to that by now!

Being this was Tyler’s first visit to the great park, she lead so that she could again stop when she was inclined to shot one of her lovely photos!!

Lake McDonald

Tyler leading the way to the Going to the sun Road, only where was the sun???

The park entrance

Going to the Sun road is the central road through Glacier NP and it had opened just for us the day we arrived in Flathead Lake. Being it had just opened, we encountered some traffic and construction, to say nothing of the rain!

Many of the mountain peaks were disguised in cloudy shrouds, but the vantages were still beautiful.

At the top we began to encounter some snow.

We were fortunate to be at the end of the line of cars going one way through the construction, so we took advantage to stop and get some snow shots and some riding space. Slipping was clutch was getting uncomfortable.

The descent down to the eastern entrance brought welcomed sunshine!!

Tyler had mentioned that one of her FJR buddies said to take the road to Many Glaciers. Upon looking on the park map, we discovered that we had to go out of the park at St. Mary’s and then north a few miles and back into the park on another road. We were both glad that we did. What a glorious part of the park and one that shouldn’t be missed.

As we entered this part of Glacier NP, the ranger said to use extreme caution since there were bears lurking about. We hadn’t ridder but a mile up the road then we encountered a major traffic jam. The entire road was criss-crossed with traffic making it impossible to pass. To the side of the road was a lone bear, just hanging out in the berries wondering what all the fuss was. These silly tourists, were in the middle of the road and leaving their cars to go out to a BEAR and get a photo! And they blame the bears for attacking! *sigh*

Next stop would be Elkford, BC, Canada at one of my riding buddies homes and a pleasant overnight with his lovely wife and some friends. The bonus of this visit was all the beautiful country we would encounter on the way.

Chief Mountain Highway into Canada.

I believe this cow had also never seen a CanAm Spyder “UP CLOSE” 😉

The Aspens

The classic conundrum, me taking a photo of Tyler taking a photo of me taking a photo…

Yep…we made it to Canada!!

Next: riding with friends to Castlegar