19 - Butte, Evil Knievel Days, and Glacier National Park

I arrived in Butte as the sunset and headed to the festival. A quick conversation with another biker and I left to ride down the hill to a KOA campground. The price was right and the location prime. A quick setup and change of clothes and I went back to the festival.

At first, I didn't really get a good vibe about the festival. The crowd was rough and the scenery grim. A couple of guys wearing colors were also wearing "Clean and Sober Since: mm/dd/yy" patches so I talked to them. Super nice guys who rode in locally. They said the town was laid back and the crowd low key. They told me where to go and where not to go. So off I went to get food. After ordering, I turned around to check out the place and who did I see?

Just Randy. Yep, some of my new friends from Ten Sleep had come up for the festival. Before I could say hi, Aaron came over from across the room to say hello. I spent the night hanging out with Just Randy, Aaron, and their whole crowd of friends and family. I rode back to the camp and met them there, they too were staying at the KOA (though in RV's.)

Being sober, as I'd just ridden my bike, I took Just Randy's pickup truck to the store on a beer run. We stayed up late talking about various life philosophies. The next day, I went over to the festival before leaving town.

Camped next to me was Phil, he rode with the CMA (Christian Motorcycle Association.) We chatted for a bit and we posed for a picture when I ran into him again downtown. Nice '57 Bel-Air!

Nice air!

Yep - he's upside down, mid back-flip.

 

 

I met the guy on the left the night before while waiting for dinner. He rides a 1974 Shovelhead with a 93 c.i. S&S motor. I was born in 1974 and that is my dreambike.

It was the first time I've been anywhere without pad and pen. At the end of the day, I had forgotten their names.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This lady had quite a collection of carvings for sale. They were all really good. The company name: Chainsaw Chix

T-shirt in hand, I left and headed North.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I've been down this road before. This time, 22 miles of gravel. It was GREAT gravel and by following the pickup in front of me, I was able to really enjoy it. Keeping one eye on the road in front of me, and the other on the chassis of the pickup, I had advance warning of changing road conditions. When I saw his chassis move, I knew the road would soon get rough. On the good spots, we were cruising at 65 and the bike rode like a dream. The rough spots slowed me down to 30.

Wes, from Ten Sleep, is originally from MT. He told me about JD's Wildlife Sanctuary, the bar in his hometown. I stopped in to say hi for him. The guys gave me great info on where to spend the night.

I showed up at a campground at a quarter until 10 and showered and slept.

I left at 6:00 am to go to Glacier and the Road Going to the Sun.

Riding at dawn is great!

Finally, I made it to Glacier National Park. It's AMAZING. Thanks to my buddy Jared for the tip on the Road Going to the Sun.

 

The park is well worth the price of admission. I spent about 4 hours on the Road to the Sun.

Traffic wasn't nearly as bad as it was in Yellowstone.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What a day! I headed for Kalispell, MT to watch a race on Saturday night. I got there about 7:00 and set up camp in time to make the first race.

While riding around Flathead Lake, I met William who was riding a Heritage Softail and we stopped in for a beer. The waitress gave me a ticket for the race. Nice. Free entertainment and a free place to stay. Camping at the racetrack is great.

 

 

 

 

 

Next:  20  -  Motana Raceway Park & the Kalispell Hotel