pedalpanam

Oh, did I mention it is snowing in these parts?

Fortunately, I found this rest stop last night and have been staying dry for the most part.

Better snow than rain!

A comment on the blog from my Uncle Neil requesting an update has been heard!  I’m sure he isn’t the only one wondering what I’ve been up to for the past week.

Continue reading Bozeman, MT

So far, loving Montana!  Hiking for 3 days in Glacier National Park with a backpack left me sore and stiff, but I was glad to be back on the bike yesterday.  I’m still not very sure of my route through Montana, but it will likely involve stops in Missoula and Bozeman.

Hello to all! This is Matt’s sister Karen passing his latest update along. After not hearing Matt’s voice for about a month it was great to once again see a number on my caller ID that I did not recognize.
At about 8pm Matt called to say that he has made it across the border and is in Montana. Today, he biked through Glacier National Park and is now in West Glacier spending the night at a campsite 2 miles into West Glacier Park. The past few days he had beautiful weather. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky. This was a nice change after the unfortunate weather he experienced in Jasper.
Tomorrow morning, our cousin Ingrid is taking the Amtrak train out to meet him and spend some time hiking. The forecast for the next few days is looking good despite the likely clouds.
I was able to call him back on the pay-phone he was at and spend some time having a real conversation.
Matt will probably not have internet access till Saturday. Since he hasn’t been able to check his blog, he asked me to please read him the comments you have left on here- so keep them coming, he really enjoys them! He sends his greetings to all and will check back in as soon as he can.

Since the start of my trip I’d been using The Milepost guidebook every step of the way when making decisions.  It was a great resource for mileages between cities and services along the road.  Finally being off The Milepost marked a transition of being done with the Alaska and Canda portion of the trip.  I’m now only 40 miles from Montana.

My last few days in Canada have been great, and I feel like I’ve milked it for all it is worth.  After Canmore the road south was mostly gravel, and then paved for a while.  Though I didn’t know this when I originally planned my route to avoid Calgary, Hwy 40 crosses Highwood pass at 7,200 ft, the highest driveable pass in Canada.  Despite the altitude, it was actually easier than the passes on the Icefield Hwy;  the gentle slope leading up to it was rather enjoyable.  Just before reaching the top I took a break for some pictures of a few mountain sheep standing in the middle of the road.

Just 24 hours ago I was struggling up a gravel road, even falling off my bike, at about 5mph, working my way out of the foothills of the Canadian Rockies.  That morning I woke up and my thermometer said 29°F inside my tent.  Maybe my thermometer was wrong, but my bucket of water outside had a nice layer of ice on it, so I believe it.  By the end of yesterday I had descended into rolling farmland, with the peaks of the Rockies barely visible in my rearview mirror.  Not since the first few days of my trip in the Artic tundra has the landscape been so wide open and treeless.

I’ll be back in the mountains in a few days, after crossing the border sometime tomorrow and making my way to the east side of Glacier National Park.  I’ll ride Going to the Sun road across the park on Monday, and then meet my cousin Ingrid at the Amtrak station in West Glacier on Tuesday morning.  Then I’ll have a few days off the bike while we do some hiking in the park.