The route and crew, Duane, Ron and John.

Day one dawned cool and bright with much promise. By midday eastern Washington temps had peaked at 106 and had us drinking tons of water. The first days tally was a satisfiying 531 miles with visits to three Washington Dams.

By sunset the crew was fed with feet up in Davenport, Washington. That evening JJ discovered that the Ducati fork seal had sprung a leak on the port side. A McGiver fix of a shammy and two zip ties appeared to keep oil off the left brake rotors, so John decided to proceed. (We don’t need no stinkin’ fork oil!) Always carry zip ties and duct tape!

Leaving Davenport Thursday morning, we blasted through Spokane and after a hardy Post Fall, Idaho breakfast, we headed north for Lake Pend O’reille and the Cabinet Gorge Dam. The weather had cooperated on day two and the riding conditions were great. A little mis-direction split the group in Kalispell, Montana, but we were soon back together and heading east on Montana SR 2. We ran into quite a bit of smoke from what remained of the earlier Montana fires in Glacier NP. The folks fighting these wildfires deserve a big thanks, as they are undoubtedly overworked and underpaid. The end of day two found us in Shelby, Montana with Cabinet Gorge and Tiber dam complete and another 547 miles worth of wear on the tires.

A Smokey Tiber Sunset from the top of Tiber dam in Montana. Friday morning had us crossing into Canada at the Sweetgrass port of entry and stopping at historic Stirling, Alberta’s Creamery for a low calorie breakfast of ice cream and strawberries. What would my Doc think about this hearty fair? (Who cares when your on vacation). The village of Stirling (Pop.921) is on the Canadian list of historic sites. Stirling was founded in 1899 by the Mormons and was laid out in what they called the “Plat of Zion” where all streets and avenues run in a straight grid format. Lethbridge, Alberta’s claim to fame is the longest trestle bridge in the world. It wasn’t to hard to find and was worth the short stop just to say we saw it. We regretted the fact that it was a railroad bridge and was not open to road traffic. It could have been an interesting shortcut.

Fueling up in the picturesque town of Banff, Alberta, we headed west through Canada’s Banff and Yoho National Parks. We ended day three in Golden, British Columbia with the GPS indicating 394 miles. Leaving early Saturday, the morning shadows made for a cool , but spectacular ride through Canada’s Glacier National Park. Passing through Rogers Pass in the Selkirk’s, we made it to Revelstoke in good time and stopped for some hot coffee and a bag of Canada’s finest pepperoni sausage sticks. The pepperoni may not have been the greatest idea, as it soon had us all doing imitations of the campfire scene from Blazing Saddles. Highway 23 north from Revelstoke to Mica Dam has got to be one of the most scenic traverses I have ever made. Every turn opened to more incredible vistas and we pulled over for quite a few photo ops. BC Hydro’s Mica Dam is 800 feet tall and was completed in 1973.

Looking South Down Lake Revelstoke

The next leg on Saturday was from Mica Dam, across the Columbia River by ferry at Shelter Bay, through more wildfires in Castlegar and Salmo, to the U.S. border at Nelway. Once again stateside, we continued south on WA 31 the few miles to Box Canyon Dam and overnighted in Colville, WA to the southwest. The daily mileage was 511 miles. The Galena Bay Ferry Off The Starboard Side / Galena Bay Ferry We knew we were back in Washington when we woke up to rain in Colville. This remaining leg had us visiting Curlew Dam with a fuel stop in Mazama, WA and a crossing of the socked in North Cascades highway on wet pavement in a misty rain.

The weather broke at Concrete, WA and the visit to Lower Baker Dam was uneventful except for the increasing Sunday traffic. At this point the three of us parted ways with JJ and the broke Duck heading to visit his Son in Bellingham, WA and Ron and I continuing on WA 20 to Honeymoon Dam on Whidbey Island. This completed my twenty dams for 2007. Fast work had us at the Mukiteo ferry at about 7:00 PM and we made the decision to grab some gas and grub and make tracks for Vancouver. The last days run was 577 miles.Fincher Points the Way Ron and I arrived at about 10:30 PM after five days and 2560 miles.This was a rapid transit tour, but you soon forget about the dreaded monkeybutt, creaking bones, Italian fork seals and pepperoni sticks. In the final analysis one is left with another set of wonderful memories, built on camaraderie and scenic miles. I gotta believe that trips like this refuel the soul and it’s why we continue to do what we do. My thanks to Micky for helping fund the ride and watching the dogs. She really wanted to accompany us, but couldn’t get the time off. Postscript: The crew has now recuperated and is likely ready for another long haul.

Duane “Mooneyes” Northrup