Turning toward home

The weather has been on our side this trip and it continued into Thursday when we traveled up to Lake Louise, one of the must sees in this part of Canada.  I had been here a long time ago and when we pulled in, it appeared as though it had a sense of Disney about it.  More parking primarily (which at the height of summer is probably out of control) and “ranger looking attendants” wandering the parking lots to assist in whatever way you can assist in a parking lot.  The area leading to the lake has been more developed with lodging and everything that goes with lodging.  But the essence of Lake Louise will most likely never change.  An incredible lake of turquoise colored, glacier fed water, surrounded by sky tickling peaks.  And rising out of the ground at the outlet of the lake stands and incredible hotel that began as a small structure, someone’s home, in the late 1800’s.  Today it has evolved into a multi story international destination.  Post card worthy, every visit. 

The Fairmont Hotel at Lake Louise (starting at $500 a night).

Victoria Glacier above Lake Louise

A digression...

A cathartic moment

It occurred to me on our last day in Banff (Friday) that I was still hung up on the fact that on our big hike day, that sooo many people did not appear to know there were other people on “their “trail.  As we walked down the main street in Banff to dinner, it was clear that most of the people we saw on the trail were surrounding us in town as well.  They seemed to be oblivious to anyone else around them.  There were four cyclists barricading the sidewalk (with their bicycles), just visiting, as the rest of us created our own detour around their social traffic jam that almost lead out into the street. Whether stopping to look in a store window from the middle of the sidewalk to stopping to take a drink of water on the trail, they (many of them not from around here) were in their own little world and I (and sometimes many others) was not a part of it.  Is being oblivious a learned behavior, an art, or just being damned unobservant?  Maybe I’ll stand in the middle of a busy crosswalk and ponder it for a while!

Now, where was I?

We are pointing our car towards home by way of Yellowstone and the Tetons.  But there is a lot of space between here and there, let alone here and home.  I’m sure we will be back some day, but our taxi service is done here and Greg is off to a good start on his adventure as we track him every time wifi is available (go to trackleaders.com and select Tour Divide 2015 and you too can track any of the 150+ riders on the leaderboard…it’s addicting!).

Au revoir Canada.  Til we meet again.

Back in the US...Back in the US...Back in the USSR... I mean A. (sorry Beatles)

As Greg heads towards the “grizzly bear highway,” we parallel him a few mountain valleys to the west as we head for Polson, Mt.  But what would a drive over peaks and valleys (literally) be without stopping at one of the seemingly many “hot springs” available as seen on numerous signs along the way.  Radium Hot Springs was our choice for a liquid mineral bath.  Not much more than a pool along the side of the road in the mountains, we stopped as the rain began to subside.  We were among just a handful of water seekers as we paid our $7 a person to soak in what looked like a public pool, surrounded by steep terrain.  The water was just cooler than sitting in a hot tub, so we soaked ourselves till our skin “pruned” up and headed back down the road.  Shortly after drying out we crossed back into the US, Looking for Polson, Montana.

On the south end of Flathead Lake, slightly larger than Lake Tahoe, lies Polson, our stop for the night.  Our motel was right across from the lake and next door to Betty’s Diner. 

Our room with a view, between cars on the road in front of our motel.

Cute diner next door, where everyone that works there has a name tag that says "Betty."

Next stop…Yellowstone National Park.  But to get there, we passed some pit mining and a billboard advertising the Testicle Festival.  There was not an easy turn around or I’d have a photo for sure of the bright yellow sign touting the event.  So if it’s the last weekend in July and you are in Clinton, Montana, you are most likely…well…

With our short time there, we hit some of the highlights and the following day moved to Colter Bay in Grand Teton National Park, Yellowstone’s neighbor to the south.

The colors here don't do it justice, but you get the idea.

Grand Prismatic Spring, down the road from Old Faithful.

The Grand Canyon of Yellowstone, featuring the Yellowstone River.

The Grand Tetons and Jenny Lake.

Heading south through Jackson Hole and the famous antler arches.

We connected with Greg by text and got to talk with him on the phone last night.  He had cell service and we caught up on some highlights and lowlights he has encountered so far in his ride.  

 

Unless something comes up that is blog-worthy, this ends what must be one of the longest taxi rides I’ve ever been involved with.  Can’t wait for the tip!

My Zen from the road:  There is something about watching a thunderstorm build…from a distance.  Kind of puts you in your place if you think about it.