2/41 – From Yellowstone to Coldstream: 02–05 Sep 2024

Mon 02 Sep 2024

Well the noise wasn’t as disturbing as expected; still I was woken up on occasion but a particularly noisy truck though. Since the showers were so nice, I had my second shower in 4 days! Breakfast was my usual instant porridge, this time though, sweetened with a little sugar I had been carrying with me for a while. 😊

I had thought that, with the arrival of my PIN, my banking troubles were over; haha! I tried to loan on to my account using the app, to no avail; username and password not recognised it said. Ignoring this, I tried to buy some fuel. Here too I was blocked at $6, so I decided to cal the bank, yet again. I must have spoken to every person in their calll centre by now.

While talking to the second person, who was asking about any possible other usernames, I had the bright idea to call Jack and ask him. I messaged him, Luka and Nikolina, knowing how difficult it is sometimes – ha, all the time – to get hold of him. Luka eventually came back with the necessary info, relayed from Jack. I tried the “new” username and, lo and behold, I was in! Goodbye call centre, funds transferred, petrol purchased and I was, finally on my way.

After a spell on a 4 lane, riding through wheats fields that seemed to go on for ever with not a tree in sight for miles, I took highway 287 to Helena. Here I made a lunch stop before continuing on highway 12; a nice road, which took me to a road running parallel to I 90. The only remarkable thing here was a climb of 600 metres in maybe 20 km, and then back down. Heading west now, the sky was a grey with hints of brown; there were extensive grass fires in western Montana and this was the resulting smoke. The air was dry, and the smoke somewhat irritating. Sneezing at 90kph, is not a great idea!

I eventually had to retake I90, as my little road seemed to be going nowhere, and finished up at Beavertail Hill State Park, a DIY campsite belonging to Montana State Parks.

The site was large and covered in pine needles, which I gathered and made a mattress for my tent. When all was set up I waded into the river with my air mattress to search for the hole that was letting me down (HAHA!). You may laugh / raise your eyes, but I found it and repaired it. The repair held, and I slept off the ground throughout the night once more.

I got chatting to a lady from Florida, whose husband had just fallen in the river, and after a while, she invited me in for a beer; a very welcome cold one after the hot dry ride. A couple of others stopped by, including one man who had trailered through every state in N America, save for 3 or 4 around DC and NY. He was planning Alaska next year. Hawaii, was, like Jamaica, not really an option with a vehicle, so he had travelled there by air. So there’s my plan.

During my chat with Judith from Florida, I learned that there had been a very large fire in W Montana earlier that day, and this reinforced my idea to go N and then W, rather that NW as I had planned. So, I spent some time looking at alternatives, and came up with a route through Missoula to Clark Fork, ID, to Great Forks, BC and finally to Coldstream.

Tuesday 03 Sep 2024

Leaving early has never really been my strong point, so it was 0930 before I had finished all my business and was ready to go. The first issue was to refuel and this was accomplished after a short 20km ride down the interstate.

My route today was quite simple: I90 around Missoula, then US 93 for 60 km or so and finally HW MT-200 for 198 km to Clark Fork. I missed the turning to MT200, and to get back to it took Dublin Gulch Rd. This was interesting in that it took me through some farmland that seemed less industrial than I had previously seen. There were black Angus cattle, long-horn cows and even some sheep.

Soon though, I was back on track and MT-200 was quite a revelation. Whatever the reason for my change of direction, it was a great decision. MT-200 is easily the best road with the most impressive scenery yet. The “mount” in Montana is well deserved; the mountains are impressive as you ride through the valley. I think Majestic Montana is an apt description.

This ride, along a smooth road that alternately passed through pine forests and open grassland, all the while flanked by these impressive mountains should be on every bikers list of roads to do. If I ever return to the US, it’ll be to this part, because I’m sure there’s several months worth of touring Montana.

After my experience of the last two nights with noise, Sam Owens’ campsite was a pleasant change. I was greeted by the camp hosts – every National Forest campsite has a resident, volunteer host, who spends several months there, checking in campers and doing various other maintenance tasks. Because of the size of this site, there were 2 or 3 hosts and they were all gathered for a chat when I arrived.

My site was 100 metres for the shores of Lake Pend Oreille, and this is like an inland sea. I took a swim and the water, while chilly at first, was, as they say, great once I was in. Seriously though, it was warm enough to lie on my back enjoying the water and sun.

I did a few “lengths” before getting out to finish my beer, and then got dinner out of the way in time to return to the shore with my coffee and my second beer to watch the sun set.

By now I was feeling the effects of my unaccoustomed exercise; there’s some work to be done before the skiing season! So although it was only 2020, I left the remaining rays of the sun to go and tidy up and retire onto my now repaired and staying-inflated mattress.

Weds 04 Sep 2024

Today was a straightforward ride, out on to the MT 200 again, and with only one or two turns arrive 270 km later at Grand Forks.

The road didn’t disappoint; it swept along the side of the lake, for ever it seemed, giving me great views of the sun sparkling on the blue water, with the pine clad mountains in the background. It was a bit busy, so not quite as enjoyable as yesterday.

What I wasn’t expecting was the Flowery Trail Road, which connects Usk on highway 20, with Chewelah, on the northbound 395. This was a glorious mountain road, devoid of virtually all traffic and with stunning views. It ran over the Chewelah Mountain, rising to 5000 ft, past the 49º North Mountain/Ski Resort and down into the pretty little town of Chewelah. Here I stopped for brunch in a hard-to spot little café, called The Yale Press.

While here, I battled against the noisy staff “party” to try to order a new petcock; mine was leaking badly at nights. Perhaps this had something to do with the cold, but I decided to replace it anyway. An OEM part costing $70 US, could not be sent to me on time, so I ordered instead a pattern part costing only $25 US.

On then to Highway 395 which would take me to the Canadian border. This was quite busy up to Kettle Falls, but from there the road was empty. This too was a great road, running along, first, the Colombia River, and then the Kettle River.

Un-nervingly, I passed a sign saying something about the border post not being open 24 hours, but I was past it before I could read the details. I took a bet that it would be open until at least 1500, my expected arrival time.

I needn’t have worried. I filled up at a service station 100m from the border and  passed straight out of the US without stopping. On the Canada side, while having a pleasant chat with the border guy, I gave the bike registration number, showed my passport and within 5 minutes I was on my way.

The campsite in Grand Forks is in the Municipal Park, and for my evening entertainment, I had a BMX track next door, some native drumming and that odd frisbee game which is like a cross between basket ball and American football; there is no contact, the players run around passing the frisbee, if you drop it, the other team gets the frisbee, and you just have to catch it in the opponents end zone to score. Odd it may seem to me, but there were one or two clearly skilful and athletic players out there.

The campground was pretty good, grassy sites, hot showers and clean toilets, and only 10 minute walk from downtown Grand Forks, which was closed. The downside, there’s aways one, was the Grand Forks Deopt of Interfor across the narrow river. Interfor is a mega international logging company and its timber loading operation ran all night, meaning noise and bright lights. I’ve got used to noise now, it seems there are very few places, even in remote areas, in the US that are truly quiet.

One pleasant surprise was the small herd of deer that was grazing around the frisbee pitch when I emerged from my tent. They were not all perturbed by my presence, and in the half light, they looked like ghosts.

Thurs 05 Sep 2024

I had decided on an early start, hence the deer, and having breakfast in Tim Hortons, rather than the DIY version I’d had the previous few nights. This was a mistake! The mass produced breakfast muffin was a big disappointment after the many delicious breakfasts I had had in small diners and cafés across the US. So back to using google to find non-chain eateries for me.

The route today was simple and not too exciting; Route 3 to Route 33 and then after Kewlona Route 97 to Coldstream. It was hard to get lost! Apart from a coffee at a little place called Beaverdell I didn’t stop.

The arrival at Coldstream was along the side of 2 lakes, first Wood Lake and then Lake Kalamalka., which was the most stunning turquoise colour I have ever seen. Apparently it changes colour depending on the temperature. Why does “Lake” come first sometimes and second at other times?

David, my uncle, and his wife Karen live in a beautiful house overlooking the lake and the hills opposite; the view rivals that from Al Vignon! 😉 My welcome was warm, and I knew I was in for a very pleasant few days.