Today we will reach two milestones of our trip, we are leaving Canada today, and we are passing the 20,000 mile mark on our travel. We are leaving Invermere, BC, find Hwy-93 and continue South toward Canal Flats, BC, with the beautiful Columbia Lake to our left. The weather gives us its best, and shortly later we are at Fort Steele, BC. Further South we leave Hwy-93 and move on to Hwy-95 which brings us to Cranbrook, BC and Curzon, BC before getting stopped by the border control in Kingsgate, BC. Crossing into the US is a breeze up here, and after more than 20,000 miles, most of them driven in Canada, we have returned to the lower 48. We continue on Hwy-95 into Idaho, pass the take off to Kalispell, MT in Moyie Springs, ID, but take instead at Sandpoint, ID the SR-200. This road is a dream to drive, following first Lake Pend Oreille, then following Cold Creek and Cabinet George Reservoir, along Noxon Reservoir, the Clark Fork, and the Flathead River. We are passing through towns with a population of 190 people and less, and wonder how they ever made it on a Rand McNally Road Map. Some campsites we find in Google map don't exist along the way, locals who grew up there never heard or have seen such sites. But SR-200 is a gem to drive, nice country to see, nice winding curves and smooth elevation changes. Driving with a motorcycle would be so much more fun (I take a mental note of that). We find a nice camp site in Missoula, MT, and call it the day.
Sights and Sounds along SR-200
Flathead River, Kookoosint Fishing Access Site
Today we leave the Flathead Indian territory, find in Missoula SR-200 again, and continue East into the Blackfoot Indian Territory. We find SR-141 which brings us a little South to join Hwy-12 to Helena, MT. Here we have some lunch, visit the CVS pharmacy to take care of some prescription refills, and then head out on Hwy-287 following the Lewis & Clark Trail. In Three Forks, MT we cross Interstate I-90 and drop down to Norris, MT to take off on SR-84 to Four Corners, MT. Here we follow Hwy-191 South toward Yellowstone N.P. In Big Sky, MT we try to find a camp site, but this town is developing into a second Whistler, BC or Aspen, CO, or something similar or better. But there are no camp sites, and accommodations are well beyond what we are willing to pay for a pillow, and so we move on. Shortly before reaching the Yellowstone Park entrance we take a bee line to Hebgen Lake, and find a nice site in the State Park. Once again did we find nice roads to travel today, and once again the weather was of the finest.
Big Sky, MT, Bison by Kirsten Kainz
Are those horses real? Metal Art installation
If is is not horses or cattle, hay or straw, it's wheat
Big Belt Mountains from MacDonalds Pass
Sundown at Hebgen Lake, MT
"It's always sunrise somewhere; the dew is never all dried at once; a shower is forever falling; vapor is ever rising. Eternal sunrise, eternal sunset, eternal dawn and gloaming, on sea and continents and islands, each in its turn, as the round earth rolls." - John of the Mountains, John Muir
No comments:
Post a Comment