This story is the compilation of video photos and thoughts
from our infamous “Canada Trip” during August of 2013 of which I had been
planning for many years. After Tinker and I and our great friends John and
Vicky did the Colorado Rocky Mountain ride trip back in 2009, we all believed that
it would be very hard to ever experience anything as beautiful as we had for
those 10 days on the road. I had heard
many great stories of the Canadian Rockies and thought well we will just have to
see how they compare.
The plan was to spend another 10 days on the road and ride
up through Nevada, Oregon, Idaho and then into Banff and Jasper National Parks
in Alberta Canada. On the return we would hit Glacier National Park (B.C.), Revelstoke
National Park and then down through Kelowna using the ferries of Okanagan Lake.
I love the waterways!
I had mapped out and setup some great byways up through
Idaho to see some of the beautiful back country of all the National Forest
lands and Canyon lands that this great state has to offer ending up in
Sandpoint along Lake Pend Oreille. This is a great little town to just hide-away
and enjoy before our excursion into “Americas Hat”.
The trip was sort of doomed from the beginning as the plans didn’t
quite work out as we had put down on paper. First off, this trip was not going
to include our riding friends so they would be really missed; it was just going
to be Tinker and myself on the road on our own. Second we had to ride through Northeastern
NEVADA!.... yuck!... Third, weather became a constant peril that we just couldn’t
avoid by any detour in the high country. And fourth, WEATHER conditions became
the ultimate end to our fate for travelling to all the beautiful parks in
Canada and getting us home safe. I will explain further as the story goes
on.
Here is our first leg of the trip from Sacramento, California up to Sandpoint, Idaho.
This explains some of the places in the pictures of the video:
Leaving Sacramento on Hwy 49 to Placerville, then to Hwy 50
to South Lake Tahoe. We went around the lake and out the east side near Carson
City and out 447 around Pyramid Lake to 49 again which would take us up to
Winnemucca. From there we hit 95 to Mc Dermitt, (Tumbleweed Junction) Nevada for the first night.
Day 2 would be 95 North through Jordan Valley with
unbelievable skies that looked as if God was leading the way before us… We would cross over into Idaho somewhere in
the desolate countryside of cattle and hay growing wild and along the way many
river crossings. Caldwell would be the first city we would see since leaving
Sac and found our way to Hwy 55 North which would be our road of choice for the
next 100 or so miles around Lake Cascade and Payette Lake in McCall. From
there it would be up 95 through Salmon River Canyon and Hells Canyon up to
Grangeville for the night. Great little town and people!
Day 3 started pretty ugly coming out the backside of town on
a very winding Hwy 13 all downhill to Kooskia. The fog was so thick you couldn’t
see but 20 ft in front of the bike and it was wet fog and about 45 degrees out.
We stopped and had breakfast at some awesome home-cooked -food-place! By the
time we got out of there the sun was out and it was just … well beautiful!
On down Hwy 12 (Lewis and Clark Trail) along the Clearwater River Canyon – this is
one of the most beautiful roadways in the west to Orofino where we would catch the
cutoff to Hwy 3 through the backside of the Saint Joe National Forest and up to
Lake Coeur d’Alene. We hit some big rainstorms along this route as we came upon
the lake. There was nowhere to stop and dry out so we just plowed through it
and kept on going. Our goal was to get to Sandpoint for the night and dry-out
there and eat and sleep well, and we did. We were soaked through all our riding
gear but there was no laundry at this hotel we stayed at… so our room became a
steam bath with all the drying leather and clothes with the heater turned up to
90 degrees. We found our dry clothes and made our way to the bar and the
restaurant and made merry!
Day 3 ended ugly.
Weather and news reports in Alberta, Canada ranged
from torrential rains in the valleys to blizzard snow conditions in the higher
elevations which is exactly where we were headed… we decided to wait it out a day in Sandpoint
and see if it would clear out, but the reports were pretty much that a “system
was blowing in over the next 4-5 days” and that would pretty much waste all the
time we had to go up and come back from all the parks we wanted to visit. And
with the weather socking everything in, there wouldn’t be anything to see! Canada at this point was a bust.
PLAN B!!!! With all
the bad weather up north we decided to go south and then over to Friday Harbor
in the San Juan Islands of Washington State. These islands are in the “Banana
Belt” of the Pacific Northwest and always have some good sun shining on them. Being that our plans had all changed now, we
still had time to enjoy life however it was dealt to us. We were a bit saddened
by the change but I think we shook the doldrums by the time we got headed into
some sunshine…
Here is the second leg of the trip from Sandpoint, Idaho to Anacortes, Washington.
Here is the second leg of the trip from Sandpoint, Idaho to Anacortes, Washington.
That sunshine wouldn’t come very quickly, as we headed out
of Sandpoint we were under dark clouds along Hwy 2 down to Newport where we
would catch Hwy 20 across Colville National Forest lands. Hit some more
POUNDING RAIN… and then into Colville where we would go south along 395 to
Addy. There we would continue across the mountains to the Columbia River where
we caught the ferry across to Inchilum.
Once here we didn’t really know which direction to head so we mapped out some more back roads and continued to traverse our way
across the mountains to highway 155 and then headed down to Grand Coulee. We
would spend the night there with some good food and a laser light show on the
dam, it’s pretty cool. They release and run white water down the face of the
dam and use it for the screen.
Breakfast was at a local dive place where the staff
pretty much lets you help yourself… and then onto the road again up through the
mountains on hwy 174 to Brewster and then connect up with Hwy 153 North to Hwy 20 to take
on the Cascade Mountain Range heading toward the coast of Washington. The
Cascades, the high mountain lakes and rivers are just awe inspiring to witness.
I wished I had taken some better pictures of the entire landscape but we were
on a trek to meet a ferry by 4:00 and time was wasting!
We made it into Anacortes with enough time to
sit at the bar at Anthonys in the marina and have a few drinks and some good
food and recall the days memories… in beautiful SUNSHINE! We didn’t have to wear any rain gear for the
first time since we left Nevada! The ferry ride over to Friday Harbor was late
afternoon and the waters were calm and it was just a great end to a very long
day.
The LAST LEG video contains our time on San Juan Island
which is the largest of the 8 islands in the area. The photos include a
visit over to Roche Harbor, Smallpox Bay, Lime Kiln Park and around to the southern
area known as Cattle Point. It also includes the ride from Sydney B.C. down Hwy 101 through Washington and Oregon to our ultimate fate in Crescent City, California.
Our trip over to Roche Harbor on the far north end of the island
is always an enjoyable time of taking in all the history, grandeur and the
feast the place has to offer. The harbor was used as bulk lime loading facility
back in the late 1800’s of the lime that was mined on the island. The place
is now known as a stop off point for the huge Million Dollar luxury ships that navigate
the inside passage of Vancouver Island and into the Puget Sound for a place to
dock, re-fuel and re-supply before heading to sea again either to the north or south. Some pretty nice vessels
in this place! Had a visit by a sea plane too! and the best BLOODY
MARYS in the world!!!!
We also stopped into Smallpox Bay where many kayakers begin their journey out into the Straights around all the islands and points beyond!... My brother and I did a 7 day Kayak trip many years ago from here, what a great adventure that was.
MARYS in the world!!!!
We also stopped into Smallpox Bay where many kayakers begin their journey out into the Straights around all the islands and points beyond!... My brother and I did a 7 day Kayak trip many years ago from here, what a great adventure that was.
We then went to Lime Kiln State Park where there is a
lighthouse perfect for a backdrop of pictures. The waters are so blue and the
lush greenery of the island makes for much color. We then made our way further down the west
side of the island where you can pretty much just look across to Victoria,
Canada on the opposite shoreline. Lots of clouds over there, here? SUNSHINE!
We spent 2 days in Friday Harbor before finally leaving (against
our will). It’s always hard leaving the islands and it was a bit sad again because
we knew that at this point of our ride we were now turning the handlebars
towards the direction of home and we would soon be back and this vacation would
be over. Little did we know the beauty that was still ahead of us.
The ferry ride to Sydney was a gorgeous day to ride upon the
waters of the Straights and the ride down into Victoria was very nice along the
shoreline. We parked the bikes at the ferry terminal and walked out through the
city to see all the local stuff going on, catch some food and tried to find a
cigar store. Things were looking up weather wise as the day was shedding its warmth
upon us. The ferry ride from Victoria over to Port Angeles Washington is about
an hour and half tour across the Straights of Juan De Fuca and it was a bit
windy out there so we were chopping the seas. Good thing the bikes were
strapped down below with about 20 others a couple hundred cars.
The city of Port Angeles sets right at the base of the north
side of the Olympic National Park. Onto good ole Hwy 101 again and riding along
we came upon Lake Crescent in the mountains of the Olympic Range. Wow what a
beautiful site to see. It was getting pretty late in the day so we decided to
find someplace out on the coast and bag down for the night. We rode into the
town of Sekiu which is still on the Straights heading out to the point. We
found a great little place to stay and some great neighbors to sit and tell
stories with of our travels. In the morning we packed up and rode out to Neah
Bay about 18 miles up the road to look around at Americas Northwestern most
point. We watched a couple Eagles fight for some food on the banks near the
marina. As we ate our breakfast meal together, it occurred to me that they were
probably another husband and wife team out on an adventure of life together
too.
The next day we hear news of a huge fire raging through the
mountains where we planned to ride through to the Rogue River Canyon so the
inland route was a no-go. We decide to keep on going down the coast and make
the best of it, besides we were headed for our last stop which would be the
isolated little secret village of Shelter Cove on the Lost Coast of California
to spend our last night in peace and quiet with one another, it had to be
special.
Well it was special alright… about 5 miles outside of
Crescent city headed south we started to pass an 18 wheeler driving through the
mountains at a pretty good clip and we come to the passing lanes and he doesn’t
move over. So I went to the right lane trying to see whats up? Well there’s a car there and he’s trying pass
on an uphill grade and I’m just thinking WTF! …. All of sudden I see his right
turn signal and he starts coming over so I move out to the left lane and start going
around him just as a right turn starts banking I lean the bike over harder to
lean into it and the front wheel begins to slide across the pavement (which is
damp by the way)…. I slide across the double yellow trying to straighten it out
and I see cars coming at me. I can see the ladies face (in disbelief) in the
front car looking at me heading at her in her lane and I twist the handlebars
one more time to try and get the bike to go right, the back wheel starts to
slide now and do the wiggle thing, so at this point I know the only way to keep
from going down in the road is to straighten this thing out and go off the left
shoulder. Well there’s about 12 inches
of pavement past the fog line on the road, about another 12 inches of dirt on
the edge and then a canyon past that… is about all I can see. So I let it roll
out to the left and let that front wheel down on the dirt and thinking to
myself this is gonna hurt… and BAM! I
am on the ground rolling my way down the grade…. trying to breath, hurting.
I hear people, sirens, Tinker yelling. My bike ends up about 80 feet down a gorge. I am able to crawl back up to the road from about 20 feet down, can’t catch my breath can’t stand up, can’t lay down. It’s a mess.
I hear people, sirens, Tinker yelling. My bike ends up about 80 feet down a gorge. I am able to crawl back up to the road from about 20 feet down, can’t catch my breath can’t stand up, can’t lay down. It’s a mess.
I thank you Lord for sparing my life once again and although we never made it to Shelter Cove I still was able to spend the last night of our trip with my best friend and partner in life… in the Crescent City Hospital. Thank you for her too!
Happy Trails!