Today the Fab Six shriveled to the Fab 5 as I was heading east while the
Fab 5 was heading back to home as each had obligations. My route for
the day.
My original plan of mice and men was to leave very early but I choose to
meet with the Fab 5 for coffee. Much to my surprise a local
thundershower moved in about my departure time so I chilled for about 1
hour or so waiting for the weather to move east, my direction for this
early morning ride.
I didn't wait long enough and got rained on in West Glacier and it
didn't really clear up until leaving Essex Montana where my Dad was born
in 1926. His father Long Shot Ed got his nickname for his rifle and
hunting skills. The story goes grandpa saw a deer move on a ridge at
some distance and said to his partner see the deer on the ridge and the
fellow responded no. Grandpa took a shot and dropped the deer. Grandpa
worked the rail lines and during the roaring '20's the Great Lodges
were built. The Northern Pacific built the Great Lodge to fill the rail
cars. Along with rail work Grandad likely had a garden, root cellar
and hunted to keep food on the table. It the depression the rail
business plummeted thus the family moved to Fife Washington shortly
after 1929.
My gear kept me dry and warm enough and the new Triumph Tiger Sport 800
provided adequate protection despite it's sport bike chassis. The
weather kept the camera in the tank bag today but this doesn't mean I
didn't have a great day. Quite the opposite. It was a memorable day
and a very nice ride. I stopped at several Historical Points on Hwy 89,
most of which told the stories of the Native Americans. There is also
the stories of the Minuteman and Peacekeeper missile silos scattered
around Great Falls.
At one of these Historical Markers I tried to frame the red Triumph in the canola fields. No joy.
My late start was messing up the plans for the day and the plans got
further messed up when just outside of Choteau pavement on Hwy 89
abruptly ended. There was a large orange sign with black letters saying
motorcycles not recommended. I choose heed the warning. Back about
one mile to Chateau to a gas station where I topped off and spend a bit
of time talking with a guy and his wife riding two up and then two guys
riding older BMW RTs. It was great fun to exchange stories and take a
break. Too much fun. I also found a detour and put that into my
ancient Garmin 590 on the fly, aka at the gas station, meaning I didn't
whip out my PC and use Basecamp.
My gift for gab at the gas station and minor reroute cost an additional
hour of travel time so now I was really late. The original plan was to
see some of the Great Falls and the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center
but the falls were a casualty. It was in the upper 80's and maybe
lower 90's so I toured the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center. It was
an extremely arduous task to for the Lewis and Clark Expedition to portage around the Great Falls over a period of 31 days.
While at the Center I asked the docents about the idea Lewis and Clark
traveling from Lolo to Missoula a distance of 10 mile to the Clark Fork
River where they could have drifted all the way to the Columbia River.
One wonders if that would have been less difficult than traversing the
Bitteroot Mountains. The answer to that question is here.
After two hours at the Center I made my way to the O'Haire Motor Inn
a 50-70's retro hotel with a lot of character. At $130/night this
places is a destination worthy of visiting. It features fine dining,
the Atomic Underground, and a lounge featuring Mermaids. I spend a lot
of time in the Atomic Underground
taking the interesting decor from the 70's with a UFO and Cold War
Missile era from the 1960s. When I worked at Boeing I participlated on the
Minuteman and Peacekeeper Missile Programs so touring this place and
movies like Dr. Strangelove have a special meaning to me.
The Atomic Underground entrance is a themed as a fallout shelter. Once inside there is art work like this.
End of Day Three
Day Four
After a thoroughly enjoyable time at the O'Haire Motor Inn, where
underground parking is available, my destination today was Gardiner
Montana.
The first half of Hwy 89 is listed in Butler Maps Montana, then before
Livingston jogs west to Hwy 86 near Wishall Montana. Following this
route kept me in the mountains and at higher elevation on a another warm
day.
I am in the Belt Mountains.
Neihart Montana.
This is for you Pops, for those who aren't on the FJR forums, Pops rides an FJR and I believe he was born in Neihart Montana.
Showdown Ski area shows some promise for the upcoming ski season as it
has a base elevation of 6800 feet. I returned to downhill skiing after
an 8 year absence this year and I'm looking for places to go where there
is a high probability of decent snow cover despite poor conditions
elsewhere. This is a candidate.
In White Sulphur Springs there was this motorcycle that started the
demise of the Sport Touring motorcycle category as we know it. It took a
few years for the GS craze to take hold. Seems these days the big bore
adventure bikes are falling out of favor. Bigger isn't always better.
Turning off Hwy 89 to Hwy 86 keeps me in the mountains and on a nice twisty road on the way to Bridge Bowl near Bozeman.
What is not in Butler Maps Montana is the Jackson Creek Road just before the end of Hwy 86.
The road was quite good. This is the land of the ultra rich from
Bozeman. The homes along his road are massive sit on huge lots. There
were a number of very fine automobile along the Jackson Creek Road as
well.
The Jackson Creek road dumped me on I-90 to Livingston where I headed
down to Gardiner Montana as quickly as possible for it was 91° and I am
riding due south into the sun. Bummer. At least the Triumph doesn't
dump a lot of heat on my body - gotta love that.
I have stayed in Livingston before and wanted to try out Gardiner this
time because I have never stayed there. Bad move. The restaurants
served mostly burger and junk food plus had no AC. All I wanted, wah
wah wah, was a nice healthy sit down meal in a comfortable environment. I
went back to my room soon after eating a buffalo burger to cool off.
Yellowstone River in Gardiner.
The reason to be in Gardiner or Livingston for that matter is going into
Yellowstone to drive across Lamar Valley where I can see Darwin at work
with people trying to take photos of Bison. Great entertainment.
Recently I have seen multiple jokes pertaining to Bison and people.
And this one in YouTube which made the new about the time I was in the park.
So I am well primed to have some fun in Yellowstone. I went into some
of the souvenir shops and couldn't help but buy this t-shirt. Love it!
The good t-shirt and this shot of the Roosevelt Arch were about the only
good reasons to stay the night in Livingston. This shot of the Arch
was with the sun at my back. Shots in the morning are into the Sun.
Oh and I did find a nice place to clean my chain.
End of Day Four
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