The Big Idea

Glacier National Park from Tour the Rockies 2015

My good friend KC and I plan to mark some new territory for ourselves in the northwest US.

Our trip will consist of four parts... (1) hauling our BMW R1200GS Adventure bikes from our homes in northeast Georgia to Kalispell, Montana, (2) then spending a week with Ethel and Lucy in a beautiful home in Whitefish Mountain Resort and touring the northwest corner of Montana including some quality time in Glacier National Park, (3) then KC and I motorcycling touring through Montana, Idaho, Washington and Oregon and (4) finally hauling those bikes back home to Georgia.

The trip is planned to take a little over three weeks and commences on September 6, 2018.

Our rental home in Whitefish, MT.

Echtra Cabin in Whitefish Mountain Resort

The motorcycle trip was planned using Butler Maps...a staple for any touring motorcyclist.  The maps highlight the best routes and they've been a favorite tool in our previous trips.  Our route will take us on a meandering path through northwest Montana and across the skinny part of Idaho to Couer D'Alene, ID, then into northeast Washington with a quick stop at Grand Coulee Dam, then up and down some crooked roads to Mount Rainer National Park

Mount Rainer National Park

on onto the Columbia River Gorge, then south to Mount Hood and Bend Oregon. 

Mount Hood from 2006 Bicycle Tour

After a night in Bend we'll take a day trip to Crater Lake National Park and back to Bend.

Crater Lake National Park

Bend marks our turnaround point and from there we'll pass through Baker City, OR (where I rode my bicycle through in my 2007 cross country ride), Lewiston, ID, Missoula, MT and back to Kalispell, MT.  Time span is ten days and approximate distance is 2200 miles.

I can't wait!