2 weeks
4,056 km
2,535 miles
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In early September 2010, Jayne
(for the first time on her own motorcycle) and I did a
tour of some of Canada and the USA, for two weeks. A
very quick summary of the trip: We rode from Oregon,
past Mount Hood, to the Columbia Gorge. After visiting
the American Stonehenge, we rode 97 north
through Washington state. The border crossing
into Canada a few days later was absolutely no
problem. We went further along on 97 through
British Columbia to Kamloops, and from there
along Canadian highway 5 until we came to the
Trans-Canada-Highway (16). Until then the ride was
quite unspectacular, but we got on Canadian highway 16
we finally saw what we came to see - mountains. We
took the 16 to Jasper in Alberta, and from
there the Icefields-Parkway (93) south through Jasper
National Park and Banff National Park.
We took a short side trip to Lake Louise
before we went through Kootenay National Park
and back to British Columbia. Again the border
crossing into Montana/USA was no problem. We went on
to Glacier National Park in the USA and later
from there we took the 83 south towards Missoula, with
a side trip to Garnet Ghost Town. From
Missoula we rode the 12 over Lolo Pass to
Idaho and further to Walla Walla in Washington. To
avoid at least part of the always windy Columbia Gorge
we took some back roads from Pendelton in Oregon,
heading West, until it got dark. Then we decided,
reluctantly, to hit the Gorge, the 205 south and home.
Ofcourse, as soon as we hit the gorge, we hit a
torrential rain and wind storm.
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| General
information
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The best time to go to the
National Parks of Jasper and Banff in Canada, and
Glacier in the USA, is Spring and Fall, because in the
high season you have to expect lots of campers, RV's and
other traffic. BUT outside of high season -- even just
one week after the American Labor Day holiday, many
camping sites, hostels and motels are closed, and the
remaining ones fill up quickly, often fully booked by 6
p.m. Also some gas stations in Canada close soon after
the season ends, e.g. from Oct. 1st until some point in
Spring there is no gas between Jasper and Lake Louise
(about 240 km/150 miles). One also has to watch for snow
and ice, so its best to check out the Road
Condition Report. It can also be freezing or below
at some elevations.
The currency in Canada is the Canadian
Dollar. Credit cards are widely accepted, and often
one can also pay with US Dollars.
The road conditions are good to very good,
except for road construction areas, and on these,
sometimes, one often has to ride on gravel. Sites off
the main roads, like Garnet Ghost Town, may be all
gravel (more on that later).
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| The American Stonehenge
in Maryhill, Washington is on top of a
hillside high above the Columbia Gorge. It
shows what Stonehenge in England looked
like once upon a time. It is well done, and by
far not as kitschy as we had expected. |
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Already after a few miles in Washington
State we were reminded that most of the trip would be in
remote areas. Therefore ofcourse gas stations
were few and far apart. |
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Border crossing from Washington
State/USA to British Columbia/Canada near Osoyoos. We
did not have to go through an American exit and then a
Canadian entrance -- just a Canadian entrance, which was
absolutely no problem. Showing the passport, stamp,
done. Jayne didn't get a stamp and was a little angry
about it - she has a brand new passport with no stamps
in it. |
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Several days into our trip, in
Canada, we wanted to camp in Okanagan
Lake Provincial Park, but one had to put up
the tent on a rough gravel area, and the grass
next to it was off limits for tents, so we
left camped at a private camping site (Owl's
Nest Resort), which was beautiful.
There are a stunning number of wineries in the
area around the Okanagan Lake, and the wine is
really good, but not cheap. |
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| When we left highway 97 and hit
highway 5 (Yellowhead Highway) the
landscape finally started to look like we had
imagined Canada to look. |
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