Day 5 - Calgary AB to Butte MT - 634 miles

Pics: http://picasaweb.google.com/brandonjhuff/CanadaSeptember9

By the numbers:
22 - mpg on my bike
65 - wind speed in Montana
1 - Super Model EMT in Glacier Park
25 - degrees through the pass to Butte

We got a decent start leaving Calgary at about 9am and we couldn't wait to get out of that shithole hotel we stayed in. Eh, you can't always pick the winners, right? So, I plug in the address of our hotel in Butte and take off south. It's cold but not too bad once the high clouds burn off a bit. We stop at a crappy diner late in the morning at Smitty's. Lots of fried delicious ness. We scan the menu and wonder if all bacon in Canada is Canadian Bacon. Looks like it's not. Bummer. Another myth busted.

We keep on trucking south and there isn't much to see. It looks a LOT like Hwy 5 in the winter. A little green, a lot flat, and very straight. I traveled to Canada to ride Hwy 5 - the antithesis of fun. Yippee. We're making good time and stop for gas about 10 miles north of the border. The gas stop is owned by one old man who's very friendly and the place is completely empty. The weather has warmed up a lot so we're drinking Gatorade and peeling off layers. We take a look at the map and Irealize that the GPS route we're following completely skips Glacier National Park. Shit! I figure we're a bit too far out to make it a reality this late in the day and move on to getting ready to head in to the US for beer, booze, and loose women. Wait - Canada has all of that already and we can't get a ticket. Why are we leaving again???

A guy rolls up to get a few things at the gas stop and starts asking us a few questions about our bikes and what direction we're headed in. He mentions that it's too bad we aren't headed to Glacier -- it's worth the drive. OK - back to the map. There's a road that runs parallel to the border for ~65 miles and drops us off just 5 miles north of the border. We gear up and take off trying to make up for my GPS gaffe.

We hit the road and I do a little math and realize we now have 10+ hours of riding if we make good time through the park. And that's a *really* bad assumption. So, I pick it up a notch. 70mph, 80, mpg, 90mph, we average about 95 for a lot of it and make it the 65 miles in just under 40 minutes. During this time, my low fuel light goes on. Note to self - flogging the piss out of your bike results in very bad mileage (~20mpg).

We head to the border crossing, wait for one car, hand over our papers. The guard asks if I have any Alcohol, Tobacco, or Firearms. I reply, "Nope - boring, huh? We meant to get some back a few towns but never quite got around to it." He cocks his head and gives me a funny look as I smile. Luckily I'm waved through instead of being subject to a cavity search.

We stop for gas and are nearly knocked over by the winds. Woah. Not fun. I ask the guy at the gas station and he says, "It's nice now that the winds have died down". Huh? This is "died down"?? "Yup", he replies, "it's only 65 mph now."

We head to the park and can't help but stare at the jagged peaks and beautiful scenery. And this is just approaching the park. We wonder what it's like inside and find out just 15 minutes later once we get through the line. Traffic is slow, as expected, but I'm too busy taking pictures to care. Wow - gorgeous. The roads cut their way through the mountains and leave little room for error. Traffic slows at one spot to see a tow truck pulling some vehicle out of a ravine. There's a slew of emergency folks around and we almost crash noticing a tall, thin, blonde EMT. Wow - what's in the water in MT???

We roll on through perfectly paved roads but are suddently stopped. And stopped again. And stopped some more by road work. 2-3 miles of the road is completely unpaved, gravelly, and wet. Needless to say, it sucked.

But the paved road appears once again and we keep on trucking past, beautiful passes, waterfalls, and the occasional glaciers. They've shrunk a lot from what I hear but it's still a sight to see. We finally get to the edge of the part and check out the GPS - 279 miles to go and just an hour and a half of sun light. The race is on! We take a highway that runs on the southern end of the park and we're instantly put into the cold shadows. We plunge on hoping for a few sections with sun so we can warm up a bit. Little did we realize, these cold sections were a Miami summer compared with what we were about to experience.

We make it to the main highway and head south. We stop for gas as the sun has just set and grab some food at "Taco John's". Finally, a mexican place that has combined cheeze whiz and tater tots! Ugh - that meal will be with me for a while.

We hit the little country highway and I make a right. I notice the road is moving on the right. I take a closer look to find that I'm just 5 feet away from about 10 large horses in a fast gallop right next to me. My heart drops as I pin the throttle and lunge ahead out of the way. This stretch will not be fun as we see constant signs of wildlife crossing the road. The road is pitch black only brightened by my high beams -- which don't so much. We can't see the horizon and it's just black everywhere. Ominous. A hazy moon appears to our left and I swear I see what appears to be a setting sun to our right. Then it's gone and I think I've just been riding too long.

About 50 miles in, our scanning the road sides has slowed and we've fallen into a pace. Bad idea. Two deer shoot across the road and I grab a fist full of brakes and start to swirl as it leaps out of the way. My heart is now 300 feet behind me and I'm WIDE awake as the adrenaline vigorously pumps through me. And the fun has just started. We slow our pace and scan closer as we head south. A few foxes and deers on the road and as we approach the main interstate. As we get a few miles away we see fires blazing on the mountain sides. They glow a deep red and must have been that "setting sun" I saw earlier.

We hit I15 south and ride CHiP's style filling both lanes to better illuminate the road. Then we start climbing the pass. It get's pretty cold and I think we've made it through the worst of it. We start falling in elevation than shoot up to 6348 feet at the top of the pass. And it's cold. Freezing cold. Literally. It was 25 degrees and we've slowed down to about 55 on a 75mph freeway to try to stay warmer. We're tucked as far into our fairings as we can get...

We finally roll into Butte at 12:15am and I make sure we get gas for a speedy getaway in the morning. I grab us a few beers, check in, and fall fast asleep. Tomorrow, Yellowstone!