John Flatley

If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music he fears, however measured or far away.

Missoula -> Hardin (390 Miles)

My stay in Missoula was short lived as I needed to fly back to San Francisco for a job interview. I was bummed that I had missed my cousin Pete in Missoula because he was on tour with his blue grass band The Lil Smokies. Even worse, he told me they were going to be performing in San Francisco, but I would already be headed back to Montana. On Sunday I was looking at my Facebook stream and saw a post from the Lil Smokies page that they were going to be playing at Amnesia in the Mission the night before I was set to leave.

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Progress always involves risk; you can’t steal second base and keep your foot on first.

Hungry Horse, MT -> Missoula, MT via Glacier National Park (381 miles)

I got up early to beat the crowd into Glacier National Park. News on the street was that the Going-To-The-Sun Road was going to be open all the way through the park and there was going to be a surge of people heading in. I got to the gate as the sun was rising and there was already a line of 20 cars. Unfortunately, the park ranger at the toll booth informed me that the Going-To-The-Sun Road was still closed past Logan’s Pass. I was debating passing it up and heading to the other side of the park, but I figured I had enough time to do both.

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If you do what you always did, you’ll get what you always got.

Lake Louise, BC -> Radium Hot Springs, BC (80 miles)

Radium Hot Springs, BC -> Lake Louise, BC -> Hungry Horse, MT (458 miles)

The weather report called for scattered thunderstorms all day around Banff and I still hadn’t gotten to see Lake Louise or Moraine Lake. I decided to book an Airbnb an hour and half south in Radium Hot Springs to hole up for the day and relax. I didn’t bother visiting the hot springs because it just looked like a recreational pool and I wasn’t too sore.

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Experience is not what happens to you, it is what you do with what happens to you.

Dawson Creek -> Lake Louise (469 miles)

Now that I was in a “major” town (read: they have a Walmart) I was going to make sure I wouldn’t be miserable riding the rest of the trip. I stopped by Walmart and grabbed some new rain gear that wasn’t breathable so I knew it would keep me dry. I also bought some hand warmers and a rubber mallet. The two motorcyclist that were camping next to me also had tents that need to be staked down and said that gravel campgrounds were no match for a rubber mallet.

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Liard Hot Springs -> Dawson Creek (471 miles)

It ended up raining all night again. When I woke up, I had to wait an hour for the rain to let up so I could pack my tent and head out for Dawson Creek. The forecast was cloudy skies and rain until I hit Fort Nelson. I lucked out and stayed dry for most of the morning while riding along Lake Muncho. I kind of wished I had camped next to the lake because it was absolutely beautiful. It had a deep aquamarine color and mountainous landscape surrounding it.

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