July 20th 2023 – Calgary, AB

The house smelled nice in the morning. John treated us with homemade huckleberry pancakes as a send-off. It was the best pancakes I’ve ever had! We had a great time with John and Jen. I hope to see them again.

From their house in the woods we followed a route John had recommended. It took us north along The Flathead Reservation into The Kootenai National Forest.

Midafternoon I received a message from Brandon (@HBr) a fellow advrider inmate. He offered to host us the same night. We arrived at his place outside of Libby half an hour later.

Brandon had to go on duty. While he was out, his wife Ahyoung took us for a walk with the dogs around the property. In the evening she made us a nice dinner and Brandon managed to stop by the house for a couple of hours to have a bite and a chat.

Well fed and rested we said our goodbyes and hit the road. First stop was Kootenay Waterfall where we hiked to the suspension bridge. Next up, on recommendation from Ahyoung, was a stroll through the Ross Creek Cedars.

We stopped for lunch at the city park in Troy. People were putting up stalls and preparing a market around us. There was a very pleasant atmosphere.

As we left Troy behind, we headed into the boonies. We had received several warnings about visiting the Yaak area. Apparently it’s where people go who don’t want to be found. It sounded like a place worth a visit.

We arrived at the infamous Dirty Shame Saloon. It was closed for renovation. The tavern across the street was open. It was the bartender’s birthday. She was throwing a party and we got invited. We rented a small dry cabin (no water or electricity) behind the saloon, changed into our finest and returned to the Tavern for food, drinks and birthday cake. We had some interesting conversations with some unusual characters. It was a memorable afternoon and evening.

While we stayed in Yaak we noticed the smoke from the Canadian forest fires for the first time. It was a little hazy and sometimes I noticed a faint smell of smoke. The smoke would stay with us to various degrees in the days to come.

Breakfast consisted of coffee and cookies from the mercantile next to the tavern.

We followed the river out of town, reached Lake Koocanusa and eventually arrived in Kalispell.

Our initial plan was to find a regular campsite in the area. That turned out to be impossible. There was an event in town with 30.000 guests. Everything had been booked months in advance.

We did some shopping, filled up our hydration packs and headed for Hungry Horse Lake. At the lake we followed the western shore south and stopped at the first small campsite. It was very simple (no water or electricity) but beautifully located right by the lake. We were in luck and got the last available spot. As soon as the tent was up, we went for a swim in the crystal clear lake. It was marvelous after a long and warm day in the saddle.

In the evening while we enjoyed a dinner consisting of beef jerky, nuts, protein bars and bananas our neighbors returned. They had been to Glacier National Park all day. To visit the park you need to book a “time slot” in advance. Without a booking you can only enter the park after 3 pm. Our plan was to do just that the following day.

The neighbors came over. They looked at our food and clearly felt sorry for us. They lived in a luxurious travel trailer the size of the house we had back in Denmark and looked like they were used to a richer diet.
They informed us that we also could enter the park before 6 am without a booking. We had a vote and Katrine decided that was what we were going to do.

The alarm clock nudged us out of the sleeping bags at 4 am. We broke camp in darkness. Shortly before 6 as the sky began to lighten we entered Glacier National National 
It was a chilly but wonderful ride through the park. Going To The Sun Road is breathtakingly beautiful and dramatic. Riding it at sunrice only made it more so. One of the many places we stopped along the way, a guy on a Harley asked if I would take a picture of him and his bike. I put in an effort and he got a really nice picture. It earned me a handshake and a “Thank you brother”.

Back down from Logan Pass we stop at Two Dogs Flats to get a late and well deserved breakfast.
We take our time – enjoying the coffee and warming up. At some point Katrine noticed a guy snooping around our bikes. She got suspicious and hurried out.

When I got there Katrine and the guy were in deep conversation. It turns out that the guy had a CRF 300 L and was checking out the mods we had done. We ended up talking to him for a long time. During the conversation we are joined by a couple from Missouri. They had been married for 11 years, had 5 kids and were now on a 2 weeks road trip just the 2 of them. They were curious about our journey and the decisions leading up to it. We talked for maybe half an hour. As we were getting ready to leave, the man asked if we would let him bless us. Apparently the guy was a minister. We would and he did. I’m not religious but appreciated the gesture.
Another Harley guy parked next to us came over and asked if he could receive a blessing as well. The minister was only happy to oblige.

What a great morning it had been.