Here is a quick narrative & some of the photos we took of our trip to Glacier National Park.
First, I would like to recognize a couple of friends who helped us out when we had some mechanical difficulties:
Paul Nebeker - he came and picked us up in Sandy, UT. when we had to leave the BMW at the shop and took us back to Evanston and put us up for the night.
Tom Kelly - he came down to Evanston from Alpine, WY. for a cookout (which had to be canceled) but stayed for the weekend and drove us back to Sandy, UT. so we could pick up the bike after the repairs had been made, then waited there with us to make sure it would be fixed before he left.
Tom & Jo Adams - They drove their car over to Evanston, so that if we had to continue without the BMW, we could still make our trip.
A very big "Thank You" to all of you from Donna & I.
Our first stop was at Bryce Canyon National Park. We toured the park, then spent the night at Tropic, UT. On Thursday while on our way to Evanston the BMW began to make an unusual noise. We limped into the BMW dealer in Sandy, UT. After a quick going over, the drive shaft was pinpointed as the culprit, and the parts were placed on order, with the hope that they would arrive on Saturday, if not, it would be another 4 days before the bike could be repaired. The parts arrived on Saturday, the bike was repaired and we were back on the road.
We met up with Tom & Jo in Logan, UT. and the trip was on. The next day while stopping for lunch in Idaho Falls, we discovered the bike was leaking oil from a stripped out head gasket bolt. I was beginning to wonder if we would make it to Glacier. The nearest BMW repair shop was in Missoula, MT. a very long way to go with a leaky Beemer. Tom called a friend of his and they came up with a solution. We sealed up the bolt with some Red (high heat) silicone sealant, waited an hour for it to set, crossed our fingers, and hit the road. The fix worked, and held for the entire trip.
We spent 2 days at the Tamarack Lodge in Hungry Horse, MT. and 2 more days in the park at the Swiftcurrent Motor Inn. The scenery in and around the park was absolutely incredible.
We spent 2 days riding back to Evanston. Tom & Jo headed back to Elk Mountain, WY. We stayed in Evanston for the night, had a good visit & breakfast with Paul and began our trip back to Las Vegas. We took some back roads through the Unita Mountains, and also stopped at the Cedar Breaks National Monument before we returned to Vegas.
Donna & I have taken several trips around the western U.S. and visited many National Parks, but Glacier is definitely in a class all its own. This was our best trip yet, even with the mechanical problems......
Enjoy the photos..
