Canada And A Casualty: The Interceptor
Thursday, August 2nd, 2018
I observe while Jungle works to figure out why his Interceptor died.
When we arrived in Philipsburg we hooked up with Debbie and Craig, friends of Willie and Jungle and Terry. When we took off the next day they came along on a Harley Craig had rented. He hadn’t had a bike for about 10 years but this was too good an excursion to pass up.
It was fortunate for us because these locals knew of a great road that kept us off the interstate and shaved miles off our route. We continued north out of Philipsburg on Montana 1 but when we hit I-90 again at Drummond we followed the frontage road east a few miles, then crossed under I-90 and headed north on the Helmville Road. We cruised up a canyon to a high open area till we took a left turn onto Montana 141. This ran us up to Montana 200, which runs west toward Missoula.
At Clearwater we turned north on Montana 83 and passed lakes and tons of scenic beauty. Further along we continued north on Montana 35 and then Montana 206. If you’ve ever approached Glacier National Park from the west, this may have been the route you took.
Just west of the park entrance we turned west on Montana 40 over to Whitefish–our day’s destination. Here we met up with another of Willie and Jungle’s friends, who had driven over from Portland, Oregon, just to see them for dinner, and also the daughter of friends we would see later in the trip. This daughter owns eight ice cream shops in the region so we gave her local establishment some business.
Tomorrow Canada.
Next morning, saying farewell to Debbie and Craig, we left the motel in Whitefish, Montana, and make our way through a chaotic town led to chaos with the group. Some of us would not make it through a light and then would pass the ones who did and had pulled over. But we finally made it out of town and started eating miles.
We continued west and then north on U.S. 93 alongside a river and through forests punctuated with lakes. North and west, north and west, till we reached Eureka and stopped for (relatively cheap) gas in the U.S. for the last time. Then eight miles north to Roosville and the border. No, we’re not bringing in any guns or alcohol (some did have alcohol!) and in half an hour we were in Canada.
Then it was north on British Columbia 93, the Kootenay Highway, and a good, fast highway it was. North and west and north and west and then Jungle coasted to a stop in no specific spot. His Interceptor had just quit. Jungle is a mechanic, so he got out some tools and went to work. It didn’t take long to determine his stator had died. This was not the first time on this bike.
Fortunately the town of Cranbrook was not too far away but we needed Terry, in her Porsche, to give Jungle a ride, and she had blasted on ahead because she likes speed and gets impatient following a bunch of bikes going the speed limit.
And then Terry pulled up. She had taken a wrong turn and by the time she was back on the right road we had passed her, and here she was. Jungle loaded his bags into her car and off we went. We handed Jungle off to a Honda dealer in Cranbrook and went on our way to the day’s destination, Radium Hot Springs, British Columbia. Meanwhile, Willie called our motel and asked them to tell Mario, another friend, when he arrived, to run down to Cranbrook to pick up Jungle. Mario lives in the Yukon and had flown down to Calgary and rented a car to join us for three days.
With Jungle tending to his bike, I was in the lead, but at a gas stop that took too long, Jean in her Slingshot and Donna on her Star Silverado went on ahead. The rest of us followed shortly afterward but arriving in Radium we reached an intersection and didn’t realize our road turned right. Going straight, Judy and I quickly realized our error and, seeing a good place to turn around, did so. I motioned to Willie to turn around as we passed them. We made what was now a left and soon found our motel. But where were Donna and Jean? I went in the office while Judy stood out by the road to flag the others and soon enough, Donna and Jean pulled up. Seems they made the same mistake we did but did not figure it out as quickly.
And then the rest of them did not show up. After too long, Donna called Willie and they were waiting back at the turnaround, apparently thinking Judy and I would come back for them after we found the motel. Which I was just about to do when Judy told me Donna had spoken to Willie.
About an hour later, Mario arrived with Jungle. This was Thursday and the shop would not have the stator till Tuesday. So for the next three days Willie would ride with Mario in his car and Jungle would lead the group on Willie’s FJ1100. More than that was yet to be resolved because on Tuesday we were to be back nearly to Yellowstone. What to do?
Biker Quote for Today
I ride, therefore I am (relaxed, happy, free).
