August 1 - Left Glacier and headed for Yellowstone

Had an uneventful drive through western Montana. We know that our GPS is a female because I swear she changed her mind from the time we left til we got into southern Montana to I90. She took us down through some beaufitful country, all non-interstate. We hit West Yellowstone about 4r pm and rode through the park. There was construction on the west end (which means gravel) for 3 miles so Peg is NOT going on that road (I don't care if Brenda does think the practice will do me good!!).

In the park, we saw Earthquake Lake. In 1959 an there was an earthquake that caused a landslide and dammed up the mountain stream. By the next morning, the lake had formed where there wasn't one before.

As we got close to Fishing Bridge, we saw about 1,000 buffalo. Had one walk beside our truck for a little while and then had one we had to follow down the road for a bit. I'll only bore you with two of the MANY pictures I took of the buff. We're anxious to ride tomorrow to see what else we see. Plus, Peg will be on her bike so she won't be able to take as many pics!

Got to the Pahaska Lodge and Tepee about 5:30. Pahaska means Man With Long Hair. It’s the place that Buffalo Bill Cody built after he got famous for his wild west shows. He built it as hunting lodge to entertain his guests. We ate buffalo quesadillas. Kristen, didn’t I buy you a quesadilla maker?? I’m going to expect you to make me some buffalo ones when we get home.

We have a cabin on top of a hill about 3 miles from the east gate of Yellowstone. Here’s the sunset we saw from our deck while having a brew or two. Check back tomorrow for a picture of the cabin.


BTW – we don’t have any cellphone reception at the lodge. We’ll have to go into Yellowstone to be able to check our voicemail. You can leave us a comment on the blog. We can check that when we get to the lodge later tomorrow night. Although, reception is really slow. I"m VERY spoiled with PA's high speed!!

July 29 - Riding to the Sun Road again & Avalanche Trail Hike

Today started out with Bill going to the auto parts store to get spark plugs for his bike. It was starting to miss a little yesterday and he wanted to make sure he had new plugs just in case.

Then we decided we wanted to hike Avalanche Trail off of Riding to the Sun Road. It was a 2.5-mile hike in among huge, tall red cedars to a gorge. Ice-age glacial melt water carved through bedrock sculpted the gorge. Then the trail headed up among western hemlock and overland until we reached Avalanche Lake. We continued walking along the lake's rocky shore.

As you see in the photos, the weather was gorgeous making the lake’s aquamarine shine. We hiked around the lake as far as the trail would let us, again taking our shoes and socks off to wade in the freezing glacier water.

Too beautiful to pass up, we sat for a spell looking at the water falls coming off the glacier on the continental divide. We took a break just listening to nothing and taking in all the beauty surrounding us.

Jumped on the bikes and decided to ride somewhere we hadn’t been yet. The road took us to another part of the park where there had been a fire at some point. Lodepole pine have started to grow in the ungrowth of the burned out trees.

On our way back, we stopped in Columbia Falls because they were having a Farmer’s Market with live music and crafts. Had a great time listening to some bluegrass music and shopping!! To end our night, we ate at a Mexican restaurant that was superb and then washed two loads of clothes so we’re ready for our next adventures.

Day 4 - July 26 - Forsythe, MT to Hungry Horse, MT

Montana is a pretty big state. Since we have about 8 or 9 hours, we left about 8 a.m. Drove across I90 til we got to Billings, then started north on two lane roads. Saw an antelope, 2 mule deer and a mountain lion (could the Nittany Lion have followed me??). It was a beautiful ride once we got off of i90. Saw rugged hillsides, beautiful lakes, and mountains in the distance. Don’t have many pictures because Bill wouldn’t stop. What you see are ones I took while he was driving.

Once we got to Hungry Horse, we checked into the Mini Golden Inn. We have a nice room with a kitchen. We unloaded the bikes and took off for dinner and to look for a grocery store. Have to get our food ready to take off tomorrow for the Road to the Sun.

Talk to you tomorrow.