Montana 2014 - Paul and Tammy's KY to MT trip

We had a wonderful 5300 mile 2 week trip from Kentucky to Montana thanks to lots of planning help here on the forum. We have family in Philipsburg, Montana, so that was the target destination. On the way we hit Yellowstone, Chief Joseph, Beartooth, Glacier, Lolo Pass, Bighorns, Black Hills, and the Badlands as well as some great Western Montana scenery. Big Sky's "Motorcycling Montana" is a great resource that we used for Montana roads.

Tammy and I both took LOTS of pictures and even though I'm posting way too many here, it's only a fraction of the good ones.

So to get to it. Here's the spotwalla route



Day 1 - 310 miles

We left Friday afternoon on August 22 after working half a day. That let it get good and hot before we left.

This was not only our first bike trip out west, but over twice as long as we'd been. St. Louis was in the middle of a high 90's and high humidity heat wave so we were worried our timing was not good, but we'd done a 100 degree trip before and thought we could handle it. Here we are crossing into Missouri at Cape Girardeau.



We got stuck in stopped traffic behind a wreck on a bridge west of St. Louis and it got miserable. Fortunately it wasn't long before we were at my sister's in Wentzville, where we spent the night.

Day 2 - 483 miles

We hadn't done a lot of long Interstate riding either and were dreading the boredom of the slab. We tried something new and listened to audiobooks. That worked really well for us. Traffic was mild on the Interstate and we got on the road pretty early. We made really good time and got off onto some country roads in Kansas and ate in Hiawatha.



We got behind another wreck in Lincoln, Nebraska and it was still very hot so the stopped traffic was bad again. I was even worse when we saw it was a motorcycle wreck. We made it on through to York and spent the night there for our first hotel.

I had our trip planned out to the infinite detail with booked hotels, but with cancellation information if we couldn't go as far or wanted to go farther and had other optional target locations. I was happy that I was able to cancel every mid-route hotel because we went farther than planned as the Goldwing proved to be the comfy couch for my wife as advertised. As to hotels, I'm a tripadvisor fan and we were happy with every hotel we stayed at.

Day 3 - 550 miles

Back on the road Sunday through Nebraska, we actually enjoyed the Interstate scenery and the skies were beautiful



As we got past Cheyenne, the wind gusts started up. I often found myself in a cornering position on the bike when we were going straight



After 500 miles to Laramie, WY, I still felt good enough to go back out and ride 50 miles through Medicine Bow. It was really pretty, as was as all of Wyoming, to me.

Day 4 - 300 miles

We had made up enough time that we had a short ride Monday and left extra time to relax and see Dubois. We were there by lunchtime. We rode up to Dubois to go into Yellowstone through the Grand Tetons. I think that is a good way to enter because it builds anticipation as you get good Wyoming scenery that isn't like Cody or NW Wyoming, but still very interesting.



You can see the rain coming in the distance, too



This was the only rain we hit on the whole trip and we drove out of it within a few minutes.

Here is Crowheart Bluff in the distance where the Shoshone chief defeated the Crow chief and ate his heart.





Just outside Dubois



The Stagecoach Inn was a nice little hotel in Dubois. I think we were 20 years younger than everybody else staying there.



Downtown Dubois is small but interesting. The Cowboy Cafe was top notch and it would wow the many pie lovers on the forum.



Day 5 - 300 miles

We headed into the Tetons on Tuesday morning. This was the tourist day for Yellowstone so we didn't plan on a lot of miles.



I think we lucked out with the timing on Yellowstone because Monday was crowded because of the free-day for the national parks birthday and Tuesday called for cold and rain. The traffic was not bad at all.



We really loved the views of the mountains here. I see why a lot of people say these are the most beautiful mountains because they stand out so much.



This is Mt Moran





Tammy by Jackson Lake







We got into Yellowstone and pulled off to take a picture of Jackson Falls. We got back to the bike and a tour bus had pulled up by us and a guy was taking pictures of my bike! I found it odd that we are in one of the prettiest places in the world and somebody's taking pics of a random motorcycle. At least it made me feel like the wing is still cool.



We got to see Beehive and Old Faithful both erupt.





We got back to the bike and instead of someone taking pics of the wing, a different animal showed me they liked my bike.



It was all down the right side of the bike. Then leaving the parking lot a huge spider jumps on my face from my helmet. In surprise I brushed it off and knocked off my lens shield of my camera I was wearing at the time. Fortunately a woman was watching our comedy routine and picked it up for us so I didn't have to stop traffic.

While I liked the Old Faithful area, it was very touristy and we found the rest of Yellowstone much prettier and more fun. Lots of geysers and hot springs everywhere.



These were the types of animals I expected to notice more than ravens and spiders



He was right on the road at Yellowstone Canyon



The Canyon and the lower falls were beautiful











More Yellowstone scenery









Headed out of Yellowstone toward Cody







The Cody Tunnel



By the Buffalo Bill Dam



We stayed at the AmericInn in Cody. It was the most expensive place we stayed but very nice. Everything's a little more pricey in Cody.

Day 6 - 400 miles

Wednesday morning it was through Chief Joseph and Beartooth then on to Philipsburg, MT.





Had to watch out for cows more than deer



But the road was awesome!



It's so cool to see where you are getting ready to go for so many miles ahead on the edge of the mountain.







I think this chipmunk was going to fight me over the bike



On Chief Joseph, in the distance you can see Beartooth Mountain which signaled what I was hoping would be the highlight of the trip.



I was SO not disappointed!



I got a little concerned as we turned east on 212 and started going up. It was still early and very sunny and I couldn't see the road worth a crap even with my visor. But by the time we got very far up, the sun was a little higher and the road was so twisty there wasn't really a lot of "east" to it. It was perfect from then on. The roads were in good shape and probably would be fun to push a little, but the scenery won't let you do it. Fred W's trip report correctly said it made his butt pucker a little and I didn't understand that it was a height thing and not a road thing. You oscillated back and forth from being overwhelmed with the scenery to "oh, crap, that's a long way down!"

I've been on over 25 of the top 100 best motorcycle roads as listed on MotorcycleRoads.com and 8 of the top 15 on AMA's list (three on this trip) and unquestionably Beartooth makes the top of my list.







An evil Chipmunk apparently tried to kill Tammy at the pass overlook







The rest of the day was less enjoyable because the wind got up really bad on I 90 from Columbus to Anaconda. It bothered me a lot more than Wyoming had a couple days before even though it wasn't as gusty. I think it must be about direction. I felt like I didn't even have earplugs in and I was getting buffeted like crazy even with my vstream windshield up.

Glad to finally see us getting close to Philipsburg



I think these are the Pintlers



And Philipsburg





This is a really cool mining town that has kept most of its history and is tourist friendly. The Sweet Palace makes it's own candy and it's one of the largest in the west. The place was packed most of the time we were there over Labor Day. The candy store and sapphire gallery is in building that was the old Huffman grocery store that was owned by my wife's great grandmother's family. Tammy's uncle still works there on Sundays.



This is Tammy's aunt Diana's antique shop that is also downtown



I picked up a Montana motorcycle license plate for my garage from them.

We stayed at the Broadway Hotel the first two nights.

Day 7 - Philipsburg - 0 miles

In the corner of the Broadway there is the Phillipsburg Brewery that has won a lot of awards for several of their beers. They were pretty busy the whole time too. Here are our cousins at the bar



They told us that minutes before we walked out of the hotel the UPS track came barreling backwards down the hill by the hotel (about 20 feet from my bike) and crashed into the light pole on main street.



We had great visits with our family. Really good people.

The sunset was particularly interesting Thursday night





Day 8 - 373 miles

Friday we had planned to drive up to Columbia Falls and go through Glacier Saturday morning, but we were doing really well on handling the miles and it was going to be Labor Day weekend, so we decided to go ahead and do Glacier Friday afternoon and return via hwy 2 and stay at Columbia Falls after Glacier, skipping the Saturday traffic.

Big Sky recommended hwy 271 from Drummond up to 200 as a good road. This is a new road, so my GPS argued with me like crazy not to take it. Guess that's why we were the only ones on it and it was a really fun road. We then took 83 between the mountains up to Glacier.



We still got in a lot of traffic by the time we got up to the top and that took away some of the fun of the road. It was beautiful, but we had seen Glacier in a car back in 2000 when there was over 10 feet of snow everywhere, so it wasn't as much of a surprise as everything else we saw.



Stunning majesty.







I had my eyes pretty tight on the road while she took pics



But when we stopped I got some good use out of my fisheye lens











No matter what the sign says, she didn't really fall



I found out Ground Squirrel is not at all like Ground Beef



At the visitors center there was no parking left for cars. But plenty of room for bikes.















There were no "adult" bathrooms going up the hidden lake trail.



Note to self: do not make your wife hike up a 1.5 mile trail in riding pants and motorcycle boots. We made it about a mile so the lake remained hidden









They said we just missed seeing a grizzly by the road by about 10 minutes.



The road is gravel for the last few miles of the east side before St Mary lake, but it's in good shape



Here's Jackson Glacier for which the park is named



By St Mary Lake



We got on the east side and hit 89 and 49 down to take 2 back west across southern Glacier. 89 is a fabulous road and there was almost no one on it that afternoon. 49 was not in good shape but it had a lot of good turns and great scenery. We really enjoyed both of these roads after the traffic of Glacier. We pulled off for this shot and a guy pulled up behind us and we chatted about bikes. He was from Scotland. He was gushing about the scenery and I agreed fully, but Scotland would be one of the few places I would think could top Glacier.



We stayed in Columbia Falls and decided to see more of Montana on Saturday, getting out of the traffic.

Day 9 - 334 miles

We went down the east side of Flathead Lake and got some flathead cherries at a roadside stand. They were really good. I've not had a lot of cherries, but they tasted like a combination of cherries and peaches to me. They were the size of small nectarines. Here's Flathead Lake, which is 10 miles across.



We rode through Indian Reservations and some small towns.



Made our way down to ride Lolo Pass into Idaho. It was really windy which took a little away from the ride but the 75 mph speed limits on these sweepers made for a lot of fun. Tammy didn't love it as much and complained a little. We got into Idaho where the road is much tighter and in worse shape. I rode about 5 miles down the mountain and she changed her tune and talked about how much she liked the Montana side better.

The sign says "Winding road next 99 miles"



At the top of Lolo Pass



Coming back to Philipsburg, we passed this. I'm glad we missed the festival



We stopped at Rock Creek where Tammy used to camp during the Summer when she was little. I got to trout fish there in 2000, but I'd love to go back at a better time and really see what I could do.

Day 10 - Philipsburg - 0 miles

For the last two nights in Philipsburg we stayed in the Sanctuary Inn, which used to be called the Biker's Sanctuary. It's the old church in Philipsburg where my Mother-In-Law used to go when she was a child. They've converted it into an Inn and it's really creative and kind of odd but in a cool way. They no longer call it the Biker's Sanctuary because they are trying to appeal to a broader range of tourists, but I still highly recommend it for bikers. With three really nice inside rooms that feel high-end B&B and two inexpensive outside cabins that have access to the main building for hanging out and shooting pool or watching TV, it would make a great spot to rent the whole building out for a motorcycle get together. She said they offer really good special rates for that. Here are some pics









Check out the motorcycle on the vane



Downtown p'burg at night





Before we left we visited some more with family and I had to get a bucket of dirt to look for Sapphires like Tam did when she was a kid.

They made Tammy try on the $65,000 sapphire ring. I wasn't very comfortable with that.



Day 11 - 385 miles

On Monday, Labor Day, we started our way back, but dipped down into some of Big Sky's other recommended roads to see a little more of Montana. We drove through the Pioneer Scenic byway.





We had the roads to ourselves



Learned what a hay-sling is





Near Virginia City, MT



I wonder if I would have taken these roads faster or slower on the FJR. It wasn't that the bike wouldn't handle it, but with the speed limit being 80 a lot of the time and the winds buffeting so hard, I couldn't hardly speed as much as I thought I would. Most of the time I drove the speed limit. It's an odd feeling to be going 83 and pass a cop in the intersection and realize you're ok. A few times east of the bighorns when we could see for miles, we got up there in the triple digits briefly.



We spent the night in Columus, MT at another Super 8. They aren't all great, but TripAdvisor lets you find the good ones and this one was another good one.

Day 12 - 488 miles

Tuesday we dipped down into Wyoming to see the bighorns on 14 A.

We were happy to only see a few deer on the whole trip, and the only ones we saw cross the road were in town in Joliet, MT.



Back into Wyoming



It got really warm by the time we got down to Lovell and we took our fleeces off and unzipped. We would soon regret that.









I had a tough time capturing how beautiful the bighorns were. It is 100 miles across this basin! A Southern IL boy from the hills just has trouble taking this much scenery in.









The roads were good, too





Now by this picture the temperature was probably 20 degrees colder. We almost froze to death taking our jackets off to put our fleece back on.





We had originally planned to stop in Gillette, WY but we were doing well so we decided we'd either make it to Custer or see Devil's Tower and go around through Sturgis. We stopped in Moorcroft to decide. I was tired from the wind and not feeling very good, but a good long stop at the really nice gas station there got me going again, so we rode up to Devil's Tower. It was worth it.







And on to South Dakota



We just wanted to go through Sturgis to say we'd been there, but we stopped at Sturgis Motosports and they are a nice dealership.



Look what they had!



They actually had FOUR FJRs. Two '14s, one '13 and an '07 identical to mine.

We went on to Rapid City where we stayed at the Comfort Inn I90, another fine hotel stay.

Day 13 - 417 miles

The next morning I found this parked by me. I had heard of Boss Hoss's as they are made in Dyersburg TN, just 2.5 hours from where we live. What do you need with 350 HP in a motorcycle? They say they are smooth, but it's hard to imagine looking at it.



We drove down to Custer Park and rode around the Black Hills. This was a great surprise as I guess it was early enough mid-week and late enough in the summer that no one was there. We rode through Needles and Iron Mountain Hwy and only passed a few people. We rode pretty spirited through some of it. I made a quick Jackson Brown, Eagles, and Bad Company playlist and cranked up the stereo and it was one of my favorite times on a bike. and I see why bikers come here. It's not for Sturgis. It's for the roads.

Familiar faces



You pay to park at Rushmore, so don't park. You see them really well from the road.





We drove by these guys and they said something to me but I didn't understand them. I felt baa'd.







Lots of twists on Needles



And Iron Mountain











Made the obligatory stop at Wall Drug



Somebody told me to skip the Badlands, but I am so glad we didn't. It was the biggest surprise of the trip. The 240 Badlands loop from Wall back up to I90 was never-ending cool scenery and a really great road to boot.

















It seemed like we ended up on another planet































We make it to Mitchell, SD, pretty tired from the wind and heat. The corn palace was closed for the evening and already in construction for next year.



Day 14 - 462 miles

We drove back across Minnesota into Iowa on all slab. Too much wind and heat, but we were glad to have our audiobook again. This guy seemed to be happy to be in Minnesota



I could tell we didn't have as many miles left as the beginning of the trip, but we almost did 500 still and I think the heat and wind (there was a wind advisory) made it harder.

Day 15 and 16 - 411 and 120 miles

Everything seemed more boring the last day and the heat was even worse, but we were excited about seeing family in IL and showing her Mother the pictures from the trip. We got to my other sister's in Jonesboro and stayed there a night as we visited. I finished out the last 120 miles home alone Saturday as Tammy picked up the car and our daughter at my sister's.

I planned for over 4000 miles and we got 5300 by the time we were done. It was a trip we've dreamed of taking for a few years but never seriously thought we'd be able to do. It was totally worth it and I'll remember it forever. Now we've got to decide if that was the pinnacle of our LD riding, or if we are going to try to see my brother in California. He's the only sibling we didn't see on this trip.

If you are thinking about going to Montana or any of these spots, I strongly recommend it. If you need any advice about Philipsburg or other details, feel free to PM me.

Thanks for viewing the pics.

Great RR and pics...thanks for sharing

Thanks for posting all those amazing photos! Glad you're both home safely.

AMAZING!!!!!!

What a wonderful ride report and photos!!!!!!

Thank you for your time to post all thοse photos and sharing with us!!!

One of the most wonderful ride report & photos that i have ever seen!

Great report. Your travels took you to many places that we ride regularly.

Interesting that the device you were told is called a hay sling is called a Beaverslide by the hay farmers/ranchers around here. Here's a video of one in action just incase you didn't 't get to see it in use;



Thanks again for the post.

Awesome trip and report! Thanks for sharing!

Awesome trip!

Thanks for sharing.

Splendid, many of those pics were like old home week to myself and others who live in the PNW. Even retired I cannot get to all of those spots every year. You now know why I am reluctant to part with my wing, I prefer my fjr but for slabs and when I can coax the wife out it is a hard decision to not keep it around. Thank you for taking the time to post.

Thanks so much for the great RR.

Those are some awesome pictures and what a trip it was!!

I am so envious of this trip. This is the ride I dream about. When I lie in bed with occassional insomnia, and listen to my wife (also Tammy BTW) snoring ever so quietly and peacefully, as I watch the ceiling fan turn counter clockwise at a rate of approximately 1 revoution per second (sometimes it works better than counting sheep), THIS is what I think about. Now I will have beautiful photographs to enhance my thoughts. I'm indebted to you greatly, sir.

PT - thanks for the link on the hay slide. This southern city boy had no idea what to make of that. Those draft horses (correct term?) were magnificent to watch working.

I'd enjoy seeing a picture of those oversized cherries.

Good stuff here. VERY good indeed.

Very Good Stuff. I appreciated every pic and hope to use this as a future travel guide.

Awesome! Enjoyed the trip! Thanks for sharing!

Great photo's, some of this I have done and some I want to do! Thanks for the ride.

Great RR, thanks for taking us along.

Thanks for taking us along.

P-burg is a awesome town and a good friend of mine use to own a Yamaha shop [Granite Sportland] there.

Some very interesting roads around there like Hwy 38 (Skalkaho Hwy) if you don't mind a little gravel.