As I climbed out of the tent I got to see another first. Wild Canadian geese on the ground and feeding. I got a couple of pictures of them at a distance before I started packing the bike. The movement finally annoyed them enough and they flew off. I finished packing the tent (wet again @#$#%%$) and decided to grab some brunch before heading to the Going to the Sun Road. I hoped the name was an omen because it was still raining. I also hoped I hadn't pissed off the owner of the cafe I ate at by dripping all over the floor. The burrito I had was really good and the razzleberry pie ala mode put me in a pretty good mood. I put on my jacket, helmet, and rainpants and went outside in the mist and pointed the bike westward once again.

Wow! What a road! There is a 21 foot total limit for vehicles so NO RVs! Combine that with breathtaking views around every bend and you approach what we, as motorcyclists, quest for endlessly. The perfect ride. Cloud cover was heavy and this limited visibility so I didn't see grand sweeping views of the mountains but the mist enshrouded peaks had a beauty all their own. The season had started only about a week before so there was still lots of snow but it was warm enough and the runoff provided plenty of water for all the waterfalls.

Traffic wasn't too heavy but was moving slowly. Often times this quickly grows tiresome but today this was not a problem. I kept swinging my head left and right trying to absorb all I was seeing and was in absolutely no hurry. Since the road was wet and slick I would have been going slowly anyway and there are lots of turnouts where you can stop to take pictures and slower traffic can move over so you can go around them. In general people were pretty good about this. Especially after a bit of riding their bumper, honking the horn, flashing the hi-beam and throwing things at them... just kidding!

After Logan Pass you start heading down and as I did so the weather progressively improved. It is a rare sight to look down and see the road you will soon be riding on running along side a stream several thousand feet below you. It is like a super switchback. Considering that I was heading west in the afternoon and that the rain was becoming less and less the moniker became truly fitting as I was going to the sun. The day before I was as gloomy as the weather but this ride lifted my spirit as high as the mountain peaks that surrounded me. I embraced the experience and cherished just how lucky I was to be in a position where a trip, such as the one I was on, was possible.

Fortunately, I was totally cognisant of my happiness about my good fortune and savored the feeling. This feeds upon itself and brought about the realization that I had really no desire to be any place other than the place I was at.. Living in the moment is a difficult thing to do and one of the reasons I travel by motorcycle is the "ride" helps me (or forces me) to appreciate the here and now.

Once I got down to the river the weather had pretty much cleared and while I could still see the clouds and rain surrounding the mountain peaks, it only distantly affected me. The stream itself was clear and cold and after gathering the water from all the small waterfalls and the energy of a several thousand foot height potential, the thing was moving! My white water experience is limited to rafts and "duckies" so my assessment of water conditions has no real merit but I decided then and there that I didn't want to be in the water.

This was more like it. I found a campsite at Fish Creek and set my tent up in the trees where I couldn't see many other people. There was a stream close enough that I would fall asleep to running water and the signs warning of bears all over the place gave the place a "wild" feeling that was missing from most of my other campsites. This is the first place I ran into mosquitos and they were really big but also really slow so smacking them was easy and effective.

Of course the fact that this was the view that I had certainly didn't hurt any. This is Lake McDonald and that clear, blue water had me turning over ideas in my head about how I could carry my sea kayak on the motorcycle.

All in all it turned out to be a great day. I only covered about 70 miles but it somehow took all day. I don't know where all the time went but I didn't feel as though a single minute was wasted. I decided to stay at this site one more night and will spend tomorrow morning hiking and tomorrow afternoon hopefully exploring a dirt road that heads north into the park.