Goodbye USA, hello Canada

As we woke up in our tent in Glacier that morning, we both felt some anticipation: today was going to be our first border crossing. Probably one of the easiest too as we have not heard yet any horror stories from previous motorcycle travelers heading to Canada but who knows what the day would unfold.

Our first fall on the bike

Our goal was to be in Calgary by the end of the day, where we would stay with a fellow couchsurfer named Mario for a few days. We packed everything and traveled the Going-to-the-Sun road one last time. It is a fantastic road to bike on, elevation changes, lots of curves, beautiful scenery and a few occasional wild animals, and we saw many fellow riders. We arrived at Logan Pass mid morning to start our last hike to the Hidden Lake.

As we pulled into the parking lot, Caroline parked between big wooden stumps and her large side luggage bumped into one. It completely put the bike off balance and she was not able to hold the almost 500 pounds (surprising, right). This was it: the first fall of the trip. The bike tipped to the right side and fell to the ground, fortunately she pulled the kill switch right away and was not stuck under the bike. A few motorcycle riders came to the rescue (there was about a 100 people witnessing the scene) and picked up the bike. Caroline was not hurt at all, except maybe her pride, and the bike only had a few scratches on the luggage and handguard. She was very lucky on that one. After resting for a few minutes to let the adrelanine rush go away, we decided to walk off the incident.

This was a really fun and short hike: the trail is still mostly covered in snow but it was in the low 80's that day: it was like being in the winter with the summer warmth:) We made it to the lake and were stunned by its beauty: there was still blocks of ice floating and we heard that only a week ago, it was almost completely frozen. as we walked back to the visitor center, we saw some skiers enjoying the slopes. Chad decided to join them and not having skis was not going to stop him: he just went down the slope like that to the amusement and astonishment of the surrounding hikers. And he did not fall: what a man!


Picnic in style through the parks

As we have stayed in National Parks, we have made it a tradition to picnic for lunch and try to find the nicest spots to sit and eat. Glacier was no exception to this new lifestyle rule. Everyday, we have found amazing places to sit and just enjoy the surrounding nature. On the Highline trail, we sat on a few rocks, having this breathtaking view of the park's peeks, valleys and lake. The second day, after the Avalanche hike, we sat in the Avalanche creek, our feet dangling above the crystal blue water, looking at the snow covered mountain in front of us. The last day, we climbed a little to a high rock and enjoyed the view of beautiful St Mary lake.
The food we are having is pretty simple but the views we have make it all the better and tastier. We have stolen the secret recipe of Chad's dad for a wonderful sandwich that requires no refrigerated items: peanut butter, honey and banana. Filling and delicious, accompanied by a few baby carrots and finished with an apple, peach or other fruit: this are our favorite lunches.

Crossing the border

We thoughts it was going to be easy and it was even easier than that. As we approached the Canadian customs, there was no one in line. We were asked for our papers and after handling the two passport, Caroline's Greencard and answering a few easy questions, we were cleared to enter Canada. Neither of us even got a stamp to show proof of our border crossing: the "even for French people from far away" comment did not get us any special treatment. So the border we crossed to enter the state of Alberta. That was easy!