By the time we arrived back home we had visited seven US states and nine Canadian provinces. We were in the rental truck for 6 days (May 24 - 29) racking up 2,135 miles, then we were on the bikes for 62 days (May 29 - August) riding a total of 10,700 miles (each).
It was a fantastic trip!
Here are some of our favorite photos from the trip (each photo is a thumbnail linked to a higher quality picture.):
68) When we started planning this trip, Jonna's co-worker and friend Lance invited us to visit him in northern Michigan for the 4th of July. This ended up working well with our schedule so we dipped back down into the US at Sault Sainte Marie and crossed over the Mighty Mac - the Mackinac Bridge over the straits of Mackinac between Lake Michigan and Lake Huron.
69) Lance brought us on a sightseeing drive starting from his home in Traverse City and going north along the shores of Grand Traverse Bay and Lake Michigan. Along the way we stopped in Suttons Bay, Leelanau, Leland and Empire so we could see some of the great lake towns in the area.
70) We spent the 4th of July with some of Lance's friends sitting on a dock watching the sun set over the bay and then seeing the Traverse City fireworks. It was a very relaxing side trip back into the US and it was fun spending some time with our friend Lance.
71) With the US holiday over we retraced our steps back into Canada and resumed our westward journey along the north shore of Lake Superior. The stretch from Sault Sainte Marie to Terrace Bay was another surprise for us. 300 miles of unspoilt wilderness and, other than the road, no visible signs of human activity.
72) The little village of White River, Ontario is the original home of Winnipeg the bear. This bear was shipped to the London Zoo in 1915 where it was eventually seen by young Christopher Robin Milne. He named his stuffed animal Winnie-The-Pooh after the bear and the rest is history. We stopped at a Winnie-The-Pooh memorial in town so I could get a photo with my own childhood icon.
73) The wildflowers were out in force along the north shore of Lake Superior so we had a colorful ride.
74) At the west end of Lake Superior is the city of Thunder Bay. We took a day off there to explore and one of the sights we saw while there was the impressive Kakabeka Falls.
75) For our day off in Thunder Bay we rode over to the Sleeping Giant Provincial Park to do some hiking. We did two different hikes there but our favorite was the Sea Lion Trail out to a rocky outcrop over a charming little bay.
76) We also took an afternoon to check out the Thunder Bay Art Gallery which focuses on the art of First Nation artists. We were very impressed by the Christi Belcourt exhibition that was on display.
77) After Thunder Bay we left the Great Lakes behind and headed into the land of lakes - supposedly one fifth of the world's fresh water is in the province of Ontario! We found some of the freshest when we hit a little rain squall but most of our ride in western Ontario was perfect. We spent a night in a fish camp just outside Kenora and stopped in town to get a photo of Husky The Muskie - another famous roadside sculpture, also brought to our attention by the movie "One Week".
78) From the lakes of Ontario we crossed into the plains of Manitoba. We didn't exactly dread the idea of riding across Manitoba and Saskatchewan but we weren't expecting them to be highlights of the trip. So imagine our surprise when we really enjoyed it! The colors were what really won us over. The canola fields were a vibrant yellow, the wheat a verdant green, little marshes were filled with bright blue water and white grain silos dotted the horizon. Even the occasional flashy crop duster added some excitement.
79) We spent our last night Manitoba in the little town of Birtle. One of the things we enjoyed most of our ride through the farms of western Manitoba were all the little marshes and duck ponds. This one, on the side of the road between Yellowhead and Birtle, was a perfect example. It was maybe 30 feet across but was filled with ducks and other water birds.
80) The bikes had racked up a lot of miles by the time we got into Saskatchewan so we took a day off in Saskatoon to get the oil changed on the bikes. We called a couple of days ahead of time to book an appointment and the folks at European Motorad were super. They took care of the bikes while we walked to a nearby restaurant for breakfast and then gave us a good deal on a Triumph accessory touring windshield for Jonna's bike.
81) Because the bikes were done early we spent the afternoon delving into Saskatoon's downtown. Our biggest find was the Renmai Modern Art Museum. This was cutting edge contemporary art in an incredible building right on the shore of the South Saskatchewan River. As a bonus, we found a cheap and tasty lunch at a nearby farmer's market where we also bought some food supplies for trip. Add in one of our favorite lodgings of the trip and Saskatoon jumped up near the top of the places we visited during our vacation.
82) From Saskatchewan we crossed into eastern Alberta and then headed into the dry "bad lands" northeast of Calgary. We heard about a little dinosaur museum in Drumheller so we decided to go there for the night. We arrived mid-afternoon and that gave us a couple of hours to see the town and hit the museum. Whoa! 2 hours was definitely *not* enough time for this museum. The Royal Tyrrell Museum has to be one of the best palaeological museums in the world. The collection is *massive* and it is housed in multiple huge buildings which include full room dioramas, 40 complete dinosaur skeletons, walls of fossils and so much more. We left with our heads swimming and wishing we had two days rather than just two hours.
83) When we started planning our summer vacation the first place that went on the "must see" list was the Canadian Rockies. After a month of riding across Canada we finally made it to western Albert and into the mountains. Wow, what a spectacular place! We entered the Rockies via the Kananaskis Highway and stopped at Highwood Pass to take in our first view of the peaks.
84) We spent four days in Banff exploring the National Park. Our friend (and neighbor) Christine was riding her new Triumph Tiger 800, purchased a month after she saw our new bikes, back from Alaska so she met up with us in Banff for a night which gave us a chance to exchange stories from our respective trips. We walked into town from our hotel that evening to grab dinner.
85) Remember way back in New England when I said ice cream became a theme for this trips? We found a little ice cream shop in Banff called COWS that we liked enough that we visited it every evening while we were in town. Christine was there to experience our first visit!
86) We did some amazing hikes on this trip but nothing could match the hike we did in Sunshine Village just outside Banff. We took a gondola and then an open chair lift to the top of the Sunshine Village ski area. There we enjoyed the panoramic views from the Standish Viewing Deck and then we did a hike across the provincial border into British Columbia to Rock isle and Grizzly Lakes. It was breathtaking!
87) Our second day in the Banff area was nearly as scenic. We rode to the neighboring city of Canmore and did the Grassi Lakes hike. We opted for the less popular trail going up which provided us with a stunning view of the Grassi Lake Waterfall and then over to the two turquoise lakes. The lakes were packed with hikers but the trail up past the waterfall was nearly empty while the main trail that we took down was crowded.
88) The two marque sites in Banff are the lakes of Moraine Lake and Lake Louise. We knew they would be crowded with tourists but nothing could really prepare us for just *how* crowded. Literally thousands of people packed shoulder to shoulder at the view points. Still, these two lakes are incredibly beautiful and, thankfully, if you hiked maybe 1/2 mile out any of the trails in those areas they were much, much less cramped. We got to Moraine Lake to find that parking lot completely full at 7:30am but fortunately the rangers let our motorcycle in so we could find a little sliver of asphalt to park in. We were there in time to watch the morning sun crest over the eastern ridge and light up the perfect turquoise water.
89) After braving the throngs at Moraine Lake we were frightened to see that the crowds at Lake Louise were even bigger. Fortunately, Jonna had booked High Tea in the swanky Lake Louise lodge so we had a guaranteed parking spot in the hotel parking garage and we had a luxurious window seat looking out on the lake so we could enjoy the view without getting a selfie stick to the ribs as people pushed for just the right photo spot down on the shore.
90) Our Canadian friend Dave was making his way back home to B.C. from a trip to Alberta and meet up with us as we were leaving Banff. We rode north together up to the Jasper and then spent a couple of days together checking out the northern Rockies. As we left Banff we stopped at Bow Lake on the southern end of the Icefields Parkway to enjoy the view of the hanging glaciers and to see the unearthly blue color of the glacial silt up close.
91) The entire Icefields Parkway is awesome. We stopped at the Athabaska Glacier visitor center for lunch but opted to skip taking the bus tour out onto the ice. Instead, we just enjoyed the view from the balcony.
92) We spent three nights in Hinton and made trips into Jasper National Park each day to sightsee. Our first trip was focused on the Medicine Lake area and our first stop was Maligne Canyon. This is a slot canyon formed by fast flowing, silt filled water of the Maligne River. We hiked the trail alongside the canyon and then waited out a brief rain shower in the visitor center.
93) The focal point of our first day in Jasper was visiting Medicine Lake. This is another glacial lake, surrounded by soaring mountain peaks but unlike the two lakes in Banff this one had a small fraction of the visitors which meant we had a leisurely walk around the shore, got to enjoy some empty vantage points and had a picnic lunch at peaceful riverside rest area.
94) Our last stop on our day was at the mighty Athabasca Falls. This place was jammed with tourists but it was still impressive to stand right on the edge of the falls and feel the power of the water as it exploded down below.
95) For our second day in Jasper we hit a few different sights. First we spent the morning walking around the town of Jasper - not surprisingly it is mainly a tourist trap with T-Shirts, souvenirs and coffee shops. However, just north of town was Pyramid Lake which was really lovely. We walked out onto the little island in the lake and took in the panoramic view of Pyramid Mountain.
96) Jasper National Park marked the northern most point of our trip and after our visit there we turned south and started heading for home. Dave split off to continue west to his home while we back-tracked back down the Icefields Parkway. Along the way we stopped to see the ghostly colored Peyto Lake where the glacial silt is so thick the water is looks milky.
97) Once we got back down into Banff National Park we turned west into Kootenay National Park. We had a very nice ride through the park, including a creekside picnic lunch. We crossed over the mountains and came out at Radium Hot Springs where we opted to take a break and soak in the hot pool.
98) We spent the night in the town of Radium Hot Springs and were treated to a few different animals right out the back door of the hotel including a herd of big horn sheep who raided the backyard trees for dinner and then walked off down the middle of the main road.
99) The next day we rode down the west side of the mountains and then crossed back to the east via the Crowsnest Highway (and Crowsnest Pass). We stopped in Sparwood to see the Terex Titan, a massive coal carrier truck that was in service in the nearby coal mines during the 1980s. It was at one time the largest truck in the world.
100) Our last stop in Canada was a visit to the Waterton Lakes National Park. We took a break to see the historic Prince Of Wales Hotel and to take in the striking view of Upper Waterton Lake.
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