Monday, June 22, 2015

DAY 4: Up the Icefield Parkway! Wow Man!

I have been looking forward to today since I started. Up to this point it has been straight roads, mostly flat. Today I would reach the mountains and some twistie roads. Time to wear the sides of the tires!

The alarm went off at 3:30 but I could have sworn I heard it raining so I just rolled on back over and slept till 5. When I got up it was completely dry. Maybe the rain was my imagination. It was 45 degrees so I went ahead and made a pot of coffee before packing up and heading out.



Later when I stopped for gas I saw this. I guess a cattle guard up here is a "Texas Gate".



I had about a 4 hour ride to the Icefield Parkway and then a 4 hour ride on the parkway to my campsite.  I had been scanning the area for wildlife and out of the corner of my eye I caught something.  I locked em up quick. By the time I got the camera he had made some distance. I later confirmed from a local it was a grey wolf. What a way to start the morning!!!



***Before we get started, even if I channeled the spirit of Ralph Waldo Emerson and would have had a National Geographic crew following me today nothing I could write or show you can convey the beauty of what I saw today.  It can't be captured with words or photos.



I made it to the Parkway and paid my $9 Canadian dollars to get on. I noticed that the road was freshly paved, and I mean fresh, sticky fresh. It was going to be a good morning. I am not 5 minutes in and I see a crowd of people on the side of the road so I slow down. It was a bear! Now, I read the big ass sign that said if you see a bear stay your ass in your car. It didn't mention anything about what motorcyclist are supposed to do but I wasn't in a hurry to jump off the bike. My bear spray was buried in my bag because I had not expected to see a bear so soon. I assessed the situation. There was a pregnant lady who was wearing a kid in a backpack who had another kid standing beside her. There was Meemaw and Papa there along with about 6 asians. One was really short, heavy set with really thick glasses. I'm not even sure he could see the bear. I was liking my odds. I knew I could take the blind fat kid and Meemaw. The other Asians were sporting fanny packs and tons of camera gear. They didn't look like survivors.  The pregnant lady was 50/50. When kids are involved mom's surprise you. I moved in for the shot.



I stopped at least 100 times today to take scenic pics they were only interupted by the wildlife. I came across these Big Horn sheep.

 
 




Further down the road I came around the corner and it was a verse straight from Chris Ledoux

"So I gunned it once again and was a traveling down the highway with the gas
pedal a mashed to the floor
When I came around a curve and right there in the highway there was more damn
sheep than I ever seen before"




Later the lady at the Motel would tell me they gather on the bridge because they are use to licking the salt that is put out on the road during winter. While I was talking to her I had mentioned I had seen some white ones that looked a little diffrent. She asked to see the photo. She told me there use to be a lot of the white mountain goats but not so much anymore.






By now I am up near the Glaciers and it is beautiful. The water is a crazy blue color. The pics have not been edited. At first glance you may mistake the snow for clouds. Those are the Glacier Ice fields.

 
 
 
 


 
 


 


Once I got off the parkway I was beat. A lot of on and off the bike, no food, a lot of walking, and a ton of u turns. I was ready for a rest. Then I saw it. An Elk. Here they call it a Wapiti. It had swam out to an island.





While sitting in traffic I looked over and see the little rodents I had been doding since the Dakotas. Pretty sure they are Prarie Dogs but I think they call them Ground Squirrels here.



Since the today was twice as long as it was supposed to be I just want to eat and lay down. I saw the KOA but it was in the middle of nowhere. I was hungry as a hostage and Ramen wasn't cutting it tonight. I also had no intention of setting up camp and then leaving. A motel it is. The lady at the front that helped me identify the animals and then recommended a place where I could grab a bite and a cold one. Oh, and for the record it's called Back Bacon here. Not Canadian Bacon LOL



After I ate I was going to head to Walmart. I had a friend recommend that my summer jacket with electric liner should work fine for up here and that way I would have relief on the way back home through the Texas heat. I value his opinion and agreed. Yea, I should have brought the winter jacket as well as the mesh one, even with the liner, shoots a steady stream of 45 degree air right on my arm pits. So, I go to Walmart. There is not a single long sleeve shirt in that store. Tank tops and shorts! 45 degrees and tank tops? I sucked it up and went back to the Motel. Time for bed.







NEXT DAY: Day 5

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