And as it ends, so it begins….

I am home. The trip completed. The adventure realized. The experience lived.

The journey continues.

I have to say, this adventure upon which I embarked 30 days ago will never be more than one sharp curve away from me. I will forever be comparing a great set of Ontario or Quebec twisties with those that I danced in Alberta and British Columbia.

I will always be transported back to Golden, BC, as I watch a sunrise sparkle on the calm waters of a forested lake.

The sound of a rushing creek will bring me right back to the serenity of the Cottonwood Recreation site on the Duffey Lake Road outside of Lillooet, BC.

And riding through the Laurentians will always cause me to yearn for the majesty of the Canadian Rockies.
I consider each of these to be a blessing. For the memories that will be evoked are something that I am privileged to have, and to relive, over and over again.

The trip home was accomplished relatively quickly. I left Jasper, Alberta on Friday morning and was home in Ottawa very early (0300) on Wednesday morning. I did take some time to stop and smell the roses, as it were, however.

I have tried to give detail to some of those spots – sites – vistas that caused me pause to enjoy and absorb. One of those that I am fortunate to have taken the time to explore was the Alberta Badlands in Drumheller, AB. Drumheller was my first stop on my way home after leaving Jasper – my older brother strongly suggested that I take the time to check it out, and like most little brothers, I trust my older bro’s advice.
He has yet to steer me wrong. The Badlands are an almost surreal, straight-out-of-the-movies landscape of truly hard, dusty, desolate and breathtakingly beautiful landscape. I can certainly understand the draw – the lure that Drumheller retains to this day on that specific kind of lone, vagabond, cowboy-type of traveler. A testament to this observation was the sheer number of other riders in the area, traveling the old ‘Dinosaur Trail’, retracing the paths and roads ridden by their cowboy brethren of a time long past, yet still so near. I swear you can still hear the sound of galloping hooves coming from that rising dust trail just off to your right….

Drumheller is a place full of ghosts. Full of history. Full of a childlike sense of wonder and awe. Hell, there are dinosaurs here! And cattle rustlers. Horse Thief canyon tells that tale.

I did not take the time to check out the Royal Tyrell Museum which houses one of the worlds largest displays of dinosaurs – just one more stop for my next trip out west – but I encourage you to check out the link found HERE to learn more about Canada’s dinosaur past and the incredible displays housed within.
I have linked to my Drumheller pics in the post just prior to this one – no need to link again. I just thought that Drumheller deserved to be shared a little more in depth with you.

From Drumheller I rode on through to Regina and spent Saturday night there. In the morning I decided that I wanted to try to get to Ontario by Sunday evening, so I rode pretty hard through to Kenora. I stopped near the Manitoba / Ontario border and took a couple of pictures of the canola fields – bright yellow flowers for as far as the eye can see – and then again just inside the Ontario border to get a snap of a yet another beautiful sunset. I should mention that during the last 20 kms of the TransCanada in Manitoba, before entering Ontario, I must have seen at least 11 deer. It was unbelievable how many of them were standing in the ditches, or up on the rises on either side of the highway. You can bet I adjusted my speed and notched my ‘alert’ level up.

This heightened level of alertness served me well. I saw yet another black bear and two moose before deciding that it was just plain foolish to continue riding in this part on Northern Ontario at this time of the evening / night. I pulled into Kenora, got a room and called it a day.

The next morning I hopped back in the saddle, knowing it was going to be another long one, and set out to ride.

I finally called it a day in Marathon after seeing another abundance of wildlife that is not only beautiful, but far too menacing for a man on a motorcycle. Another black bear, 2 more moose and more deer than Gary Larson ever drew in his incredibly intelligent commentary on the human condition, the Far Side.

I guess the name of the town inspired me for the last leg of my journey. I left Marathon on Tuesday morning, and after 17 hours in the saddle I crawled into my own bed here in Ottawa at 0300 on Wednesday morning.
And it felt good to be home. To sleep in my own bed. To awake with no destination to travel towards. To remember.

There are more stories to come from this adventure of mine – I have not yet covered it all, and I will attend to that as time, and mood, permit. I think I will spend the next little while just letting it all settle, and sharing stories with family, friends and co-workers. I am certain that each time I speak of this trip, and the 13,000+ kms that I covered, I will remember new things to add to future blog posts. One thing that I already know that I will eventually get around to will be a sort of ‘best of’, offering tips, advice and shared experiences to future vagabond adventure riders. I learned quite a lot about long-distance traveling recently – as one of my trip advisors told me that I would.

For now, I would like to thank a few specific individuals for their assistance – advice – input and friendship:

Dusty Boots – while I could have done this trip without you, it would not have been nearly the same, nor nearly as incredible. The time that you took to put together maps, recommend gear, point me to campgrounds, advise on routes to avoid, and more importantly on routes that were ‘must ride’ – was time well spent my friend. The success and enjoyment – even fulfillment – that I have come away with are largely gifts given freely by you, to me. So thank you, good sir. I cannot tell you how much I appreciate all that you did.

DrMucker, Scotty-004, Pathfinder and the rest of the gang from the Vancouver 056 – thank you for a wonderful meal, great conversation, and making an outta-towner feel like he was right at home.

Loki, Dirtymech and the crew from the Calgary 022 – the ride that you took me on to Braggs Creek was a fantastic introduction to what I was to come to experience throughout my adventure – great roads, incredible scenery, and truly wonderful people. Thank you all once again.

Sophia – I know I have already said it, but I have to say it again - thank you so much for putting me up – and putting up with me for my week in Vancouver. You were an amazing host and a great tour-guide – as well as wonderful company. I am grateful.

To the crew from the Ottawa 011 who offered travel suggestions, advice, encouragement, and who faithfully followed my blog – including RoadDawg and brian2tall – thanks guys. It meant a lot to know that you guys were enjoying the trip as well.

Stickman – thanks for joining me from Sault Ste. Marie to Calgary, as well as for your hospitality. I hope that you enjoy the boots brother.

I am certain to have missed a few names, and I apologize for that. Please just know that I truly did, and do, appreciate all that everyone has done to help make this dream a reality for me.

Before I sign off, I did take the time to put together a couple of slide-shows that I uploaded to YouTube. I have given the links to these, as well as the remaining pictures from the journey home, below.

Regina to Ottawa pictures HERE.
Slideshow #1 – If God Made You HERE.
Slideshow #2 – The Meeting HERE.

There is more to come, for as I indicated in the title – the journey continues. So take a break. Stretch your legs. Shake some of the highway out of your bones, and the road-dust from your hair.

Just be ready to ride again at a moments notice.

Ride safe, brothers and sisters. But RIDE!

Shed a tear: Leaving the Rockies

 

You know, even spending the vast majority of this trip riding my heavily laden motorcycle in the rain, in full rain gear and generally poor visibility, was not enough to dampen my mood; my smile; my spirit.

That changed a little on Friday morning. In the bright sunshine. In the most beautiful place I have ever rested my soul.

I can honestly tell you that I felt a profound sadness while watching the Rocky Mountains grow smaller in my rear-view mirrors.

I shed a tear leaving Jasper Alberta.

Leaving, sadly.

It felt like I had found my life partner – my mate – my lover.

Only to have her wrenched away from me by duty and obligation.

For the first time in almost 6 years I wanted to say ‘screw it all – I am going to do this……’

Fortunately, the old Joe no longer has the power that he once had and was not able to win over the Joe that embarked on this personal quest.

The idea of staying out west, while romantic, novel and adventurous – never really took hold. This trip was about finding something. I had no real idea what that might be prior to straddling the saddle on May 31 and heading to North Bay on the first leg of the journey.

I have a clearer idea now. Clear enough that I was able to continue to do that which I have been doing quite well for quite some time.

The next right thing. And for me, that meant completing the journey. And of course, heading home.

Saying that, and knowing it – did not make it any easier. At least, not until I had some time to think about it. And about what I have found.

So what did I find, you may ask. Well, it is not easily put to words. And some of it is just for me. But I can say that I found a stronger connection. I found a deeper peace. I found some untapped resources within myself.

I found a better understanding of who, and why I am.

I found love. A very real, very tangible love for all that has been given to me, and to us.

I also found that I have something important that I have to say. And I will say it when I get home.

There may not be much more to write about this trip of mine. I am in Regina, Saskatchewan as I write this. Friday saw me ride from Jasper to Drumheller, Alberta, where I took the time to see the sites and take, yes, lots of pictures.

Yesterday, I left Drumheller and rode all the way to Regina. A couple more pictures, but lets face it – the ‘epic’ part of my motorcycle adventure is over. I will take some pictures of the lake head and environs at Superior, weather providing, and post those when I get home, but unless something truly noteworthy happens, this is likely my last entry from the road.

I have been trying to get back to Ottawa for Tuesday morning in order to be somewhere, with someone, but I don’t know if I will be able to make it before Wednesday. It certainly would not serve for me to rush. For that is when mistakes happen. And in motorcycle speak, mistakes are generally not forgiven.

So, I would like to take this opportunity to say thank you, fellow travellers, for riding along as I rode and wrote. Knowing that someone is reading has certainly helped inspire me to write. I have a ton of notes that did not make it into the blog, but I think that is because something else is growing from this journey of mine. And of ours.

Does anyone know a publisher. Heheheheh.

Link to the pictures from Jasper to Drumheller is HERE.

Drumheller to Regina can be found HERE.

Be good to yourselves. And be good to others.

It matters.

Peace.

Now, These are Mountains!

 

The Cascades were spectacular. The Coastal mountains – amazing. I found myself staring with a sense of wonder about all that was around me on more occasions than I can count. The beauty that I found myself immersed in was beyond my own ability to imagine as recently as 3 weeks ago.

And then, yesterday, I began the journey from Golden, BC to Jasper, AB.

I may never be the same again.

Golden is a beautiful place. Nestled in the Rocky Mountain Trench and surrounded by the Robson Valley, the Columbia Valley and the East Kootenay Valley, it is a small community that realizes it is a jewel, yet does not go out of it’s way to advertise that fact. Still a peaceful spot, it is a vagabond-campers paradise – largely due to the number of free, BC Hydro and Forestry Services sponsored campsites. Well maintained and frequented only by hardy, back-country style campers, these spots are generally virtually unpopulated. I never had more than 2 other campers in any of the BC Hydro sites that I used.

Vagabond Paradise

I really was in no hurry to leave this little spot in Golden, BC. The weather was the nicest I have experienced thus far, and the setting could not be more peaceful. Add to that the fact that there was a pretty major rockslide just 12 kilometres to the east of Golden that had closed the TransCanada in both directions and it was becoming easy to convince myself to just settle in for another day. Or two.

But like any mistress, the open road calls. And a man’s gotta’ answer, right?

I took my time packing up my site, as always being sure to leave no trace that I had ever visited, and made my way to the local Tim Horton’s for a pre-ride coffee. By the time I was ready to go, a group of riders coming in from Texas and on their way to Alaska for the D2D Rally informed me that the highway was open once again, with the east lanes still closed and buried in debris and traffic diverted to the west bound lanes for travel in both directions.

I headed out, sans-raingear and full of good spirit to enjoy a day of riding in the sunshine. And what a day it was.

I started this post with a commentary on some of the mountain ranges that I have travelled and enjoyed.

Yesterday I began to enter the Rockies – I mean, really enter the Rockies – for the first time.

Words like spectacular – gorgeous – amazing – awe inspiring – god-given – all of these try to give description to the grandeur that is the Canadian Rocky Mountains. And all fall short.

You really do have to see them to believe it.

I rode from Golden on through Kicking Horse Pass and up through the Rockies to Lake Louise. The scenes that I was given have been captured, as best I could, on still and GoPro footage. The stills are linked below. The GoPro footage will be up sometime in mid-July and I will link to it then. The video footage is definitely worth a watch.

From Lake Louise I decided to toss convention to the side (like I have ever adhered to convention) and opted to take a 234 kilometre side trip up to Jasper. Which is where I sit as I type this.

I may never leave Jasper.

I could live in the bush. Eat berries and nuts. Adopt a mountain goat for company.

Mountain goats on the way to Jasper.

Okay. Maybe not. My older brother pointed out that the aforementioned diet would leave me being a tasty bear-munchie.

It sure would be easy to stay though. At least until the snow flies. And then,….

On my way from Lake Louise to Jasper, I stopped for fuel at Saskatchewan Crossing ($1.75/litre) and met another long-distance traveller. Also named Joe, this fella is from Titusville Florida and is doing the southern most to northern most ride. He started out at the Florida Keys, mile marker 0 – and is riding all the way to Alaska.

We decided to ride together from Saskatchewan Crossing to Jasper, and shared a campsite at Whistlers in Jasper National Park. Joe worked as a subcontractor for NASA for 30 odd years and is enjoying his retirement on a BMW RS1200 – travelling long distance in style.

Very similar in riding style and pace, we got along just fine, and it was nice to share another portion of this epic journey with yet another vagabond rider.

So now, it is time for me to prepare to leave Jasper. I think I will extend my stay long enough to ride the gondola to the top of the mountain, then build up my resolve and hit the road. Sadly, that means that I am leaving the Rockies today.

I am certain of 2 things. One, that I will return to this mountain paradise again quite soon – maybe even next year. And two – that my entire adventure will take place here.

In the Canadian Rocky Mountains of Alberta.

Paradise Found.

Scenes from Golden to Jasper, including the Icefields Parkway, are located HERE.