Oh, Canada!

We've arrived in Canada! We'll spend 4 nights in Cochrane (just outside of Calgary), then head to Jasper for 10 nights, Banff for 8 nights and Waterton for 5. Stay tuned for lots of great posts, eh!
Here's the only picture we plan to post from Calgary... The BIGGEST darn jack rabbit we've ever seen!

Montana Multi-Sport

We made the most of our last day in Montana! We started out with an epic 28 mile mountain bike ride up Desert Mountain and down through the "Ewok Forest" with a little out-and-back to this breath-taking overlook.
No - we didn't have company on the ride... We brought a tripod!
We emerged from the forest onto a dirt road and saw this sign... What to do???
After a quick change and a bite to eat, we headed back into Glacier for an easy-ish 4 mile hike to John's Lake, MacDonald Falls (more of a rapid, really) and along the river.
To top off the great day, we launched our kayak into Lake MacDonald and paddled around for a couple of hours. A perfect, but exhausting day!
We leave first thing tomorrow for Canada!

Big Mountain Downhill

It's kind of odd to ride a chair lift up the mountain in summertime... but it's sure a ton of fun to spend the day hammering downhill - especially when the trail includes the incredible views surrounding Whitefish, Montana!
Deb & Brian rode the first chair up together - and enjoyed the view before the first descent.Whitefish Lake down below. A few minutes after this picture was taken, a little further down the trail, a mama and baby deer leaped across the trail and disappeared into the forest.
Brian caught up to Deb on the last lap of the day. Check out the banked ladder! What a stud!
After the ride we enjoyed an early dinner at our favorite Montana restaurant - The MacKenzie River Pizza Company. The waitress couldn't explain why it's called that, since the MacKenzie River is actually in Oregon...

Our Maiden Voyage - Bowman Lake, Glacier

Before our trip, Brian went to CostCo to pick up some necessities, and came back with A BOAT. A tandem, kayak, actually... So we strapped her to the roof- and there she waited patiently for her maiden voyage. We traveled far off the beaten path to launch her on the beautiful and remote Bowman Lake. Here she is on the edge of the water, ready to go!
It seemed as if we had the lake all to ourselves.

TA DA! We made it! Virgin no more!
We really were off the beaten path... On the map, which obviously wasn't to scale, it didn't look so far. But it was 30 miles of mostly unpaved roads, the last 6 of which were on a one lane, twisty road heading up into the forest. Here are some shots from the drive:

Avalanche Lake, Glacier National Park, Montana

After 8+ hours on the scenic highways of northern Idaho and southern Montana, we made it to Hungry Horse, Montana - gateway to Glacier National Park - which will be our home for the next 7 days/nights.

We'd planned to ride the Going To The Sun Highway - but the road isn't fully open yet; so we opted for a hike on the Trail of the Cedars and up to Avalanche Lake. 5+ miles along a beautiful trail though the forest, along the roaring Avalanche Creek, and up to Avalanche Lake. On the way back down the trail, we saw a brown bear in the woods (but it wasn't close enough to get a picture)!

Hanging with Muffy

Our friend, and ultra-athlete, Muffy Ritz, helped make our time in Ketchum extra special. She guided us on a 50-mile road ride around Ketchum, Hailey and Bellvue, mostly on bike paths, gave us lots of tips on where to ride off-road, and loaned Brian her super athletic husband, John, as a tour guide Saturday. She'd have taken us mountain biking herself, but the evening after this photo was taken she took a spill during a mountain bike race and broke a rib or two.
Muffy & John joined us for a delicious meal Friday night, and we met again Monday before we hit the road for Montana. Muffy came by for the ten cent tour of our rolling home. Here we are before we said goodbye for now...

Dirt Series Womens 2-Day Mountain Bike Camp

As luck would have it, earlier in the week we read in a local What-To-Do-While-You're-In-Sun-Valley Magazine that there was a women's 2-day mountain bike camp in town while we were...and as further luck would have it, there were spots left, so Deb signed up. It was awesome!

It's was wonderful, non-threatening, nurturing and motivating environment. All female coaches too. Here are some of the coaches:
The day started with skills/technique sessions.
After a delicious picnic lunch, we hit the trails to put the skills to use! We cheered each other on while we attempted the tougher, tight switchbacks.
Deb's group at the top of the climb!
Day two started with stretching -
And more skills work-Deb was having so much fun riding, she forgot to take pictures during the afternoon trail ride... But it was wonderful!

Brian rode Saturday with our friend John; and Sunday on his own. He had two great days as well!

Mountain Biking in Ketchum, Idaho

EPIC! The trails are super buff, and ALL single track! Paradise for mountain biking! So far we've done 3 rides: 18.8 miles-2,020'; 30.5 miles-3,895'; 18.2 miles-2,325'. Loved every minute! Here's a sampling of pics from all 3 rides:

We're On The Road Again!

We left Agoura on Friday the 13th... and had nothing but good luck, especially traffic-wise. After a stop in Barstow to fuel up at the Flying J and grab some lunch at Baja Fresh, we made it to Vegas to pick up our rolling home. We drove into the night, and when Brian got tired we stopped to sleep at a little truck stop in Summit, Utah.

Saturday we hit the road fairly early and made it all the way to Twin Falls, Idaho. With only 75 miles to our first real destination, Ketchum, and two full days until they expected us there, we stopped for the night at the only place in town, a pretty dumpy KOA. Deb went to the local Super WalMart to stock up on groceries while Brian worked on stuff around the "house."

Sunday we called and changed our reservations in Ketchum because we couldn't bear to pay for another night at the KOA (which was across from a very smelly feed lot). After a brief stop at CostCo, we drove into the Sawtooth Mountains to Ketchum. The drive was beautiful - and our home for the next 8 nights, The Meadows, is about 2 miles from town. Perfect.