Kootenay Canada USA

[alphabet man]

Koocanusa, for anyone that already does not know, is the reservoir created by the Libby Damn in northern Montana on the Kootenay river. The lake, created by the damning of the Kootenay river forms the lake that  crosses from Montana USA to British Columbia Canada, hence Koo_can_usa  The ride consist of  approximately 70 miles on the west side of tight twisty ups and downs   The east side is about the same distance but much smoother pavement and open fast sweepers. How fast is the East side   not saying, you just gotta go and find out for yourself.

 The Canadian section of STN is dead, dead dead   HEY some one wake up out there.    I figured I had to do my part to contribute the little I can so I skipped out of work and headed to Montana for a scoot around the lake with my buddy Ralph to take a few pictures for you guys  

Real short video, I had good intentions of taking lots of picturs but those Ohlins   on the Guzzi just wont let you stop

[Kootenanny]

The lake, created by the damning of the Kootenay river...

Bit of a Freudian error there, eh?

[bubba zanetti]

Ralph brought the FJR ??  ....  

While you did that I .. er ... nevermind.  Ralph brought the FJR ... ?  

[Baz]

That Guzzi appears to vibrate a good deal.  

[alphabet man]

That Guzzi appears to vibrate a good deal.  

 Just off idle then it is quite smooth, not FJR smooth but smoother than my Katoom. I tried mounting the camera on the rear bags there was actually around 5 minutes of video of the road, under the bike while the camera half stayed on and half dangled precariously just above the pavement    

[alphabet man]

Ralph brought the FJR ??  ....  

While you did that I .. er ... nevermind.  Ralph brought the FJR ... ?  

 Calgary to Sparwood, then a loop around the lake then back to Calgary is a loooong day, and the FJR I am sure would have been appreciated on the last leg back to Calgary, thats about 1000K round trip

[alphabet man]

Bit of a Freudian error there, eh?

  no just three kieths and rum after the ride

[bubba zanetti]

 Calgary to Sparwood, then a loop around the lake then back to Calgary is a loooong day, and the FJR I am sure would have been appreciated on the last leg back to Calgary, thats about 1000K round trip

Day trip    Not a great start for the "smell the roses philosophy"  

Nice sounds on that video.  How did the Guzzi like the East side of the lake and those sweepers?

[alphabet man]

  How did the Guzzi like the East side of the lake and those sweepers?

 Solid, held a line better than any other bike I have owned, including the sprint, though the rear shock was toast last time I rode the sprint through there. The Guzzi was quit happy riding the modest speeds we usually ride that road, if you recall what those are?  

[hungryman]

I was there on May 11. Looked like this

[alphabet man]

I was there on May 11. Looked like this

<

 Hey Scott how are you, I thought you fell off the face of the earth?  How's the FJR treating you? who's land yacht

[Canuck]

What? There are tight twisties on the west side. You Kootenay guys have too many secret roads for a guy from the prairies.

I've ridden the east side and the road from Yaak to Eureka, but this west side road is news to me. Hmmmm. I might have to think about changing my planned route to southern Washington in June. What to do? What to do?  

[alphabet man]

What? There are tight twisties on the west side. You Kootenay guys have too many secret roads for a guy from the prairies.

I've ridden the east side and the road from Yaak to Eureka, but this west side road is news to me. Hmmmm. I might have to think about changing my planned route to southern Washington in June. What to do? What to do?  

 This may help you make up your mind, the road is 60miles or so of this

[Sputnik]

West side is a fantastic road. But do watch out for deer. And there are usually lots of them in this area.  And tar snakes--really bad ones that turn to a liquid snotvaseline-like-substance in the summer heat!

[notarian]

West side is a fantastic road. But do watch out for deer. And there are usually lots of them in this area.  And tar snakes--really bad ones that turn to a liquid snotvaseline-like-substance in the summer heat!

And moose! On two different occasions a moose jumped out of the forest in front of me, trotted down the road for 100 metres and leapt back into the forest.

West side of Koocanusa may not be the only road along the lake, but its certainly the only one for me. DD told me about it and she was spot on.

[Burners]

Looking at Google maps it appears that the west side is an up-and-back...is that right? Anyone got a route map that shows the best way to do this run.  

Probably be a day trip from Calgary too.

[Mrs. DantesDame]

Looking at Google maps it appears that the west side is an up-and-back...is that right? Anyone got a route map that shows the best way to do this run.  

Probably be a day trip from Calgary too.

No, it goes all the way around the lake. I came in from the north and had to decide west vs east and when I got to the southern end of the lake, I met up with the road as it came down the east side.  

I see now, after looking at Google maps, that it does appear to deadend at Newgate, but it lives on



Check out this map

View Larger Map

[Sputnik]

Looking at Google maps it appears that the west side is an up-and-back...is that right? Anyone got a route map that shows the best way to do this run.  

Probably be a day trip from Calgary too.

DD is correct, it is a loop.  If you're coming at it from the north (i.e. Eureka / Rexford), you will turn right off Hwy 37 (to cross the bridge), and hang a left after you cross the bridge.  The road hooks up with hwy 37 just a few miles south of the Libby dam.

If you're coming at it from the south it is quite easy to miss the turnoff from Hwy 37. Just keep your eyes open for the Libby dam visitor centre turnoff.

[Burners]

No, it goes all the way around the lake. I came in from the north and had to decide west vs east and when I got to the southern end of the lake, I met up with the road as it came down the east side.  

I see now, after looking at Google maps, that it does appear to deadend at Newgate, but it lives on

Thanks for the info!  
And is it paved all the way? The 14 hasn't been farkled up for gravel yet...How is the border crossing south of Newgate?

[Mrs. DantesDame]

Thanks for the info!  
And is it paved all the way? The 14 hasn't been farkled up for gravel yet...How is the border crossing south of Newgate?

Paved all the way around, although as someone mentioned, the tar snakes on the west side can keep you on your toes  


The border crossing was easy. There were three of us and no out-of-the-ordinary questions were asked    I don't recall exactly, but I don't think that there was more than a car or two in front of us, if that. And shortly after the crossing there's a nice gas station/convenience store

[bubba zanetti]

.How is the border crossing south of Newgate?

There is no border crosstng south of Newgate.    The map DD posted is a bit misleading.  The border crossing is at Roosville on 93. You will want to take Highway 3 and turn onto 93 from there turn onto 37 as Sputnik mentioned and cross the bridge.  The border has seen improvements over the last couple of years and is a fairly quick crossing.  Never had an issue there. Hell, I even crossed with a bottle of Cuban Rum in my saddlebag that I had completely forgotten about.  I imagine that could have been interesting ...  

[Mrs. DantesDame]

There is no border crosstng south of Newgate.    The map DD posted is a bit misleading.  

   Sorry - I didn't pay attention to the names and just assumed "the nearest border crossing"

[bubba zanetti]

   Sorry - I didn't pay attention to the names and just assumed "the nearest border crossing"

As I recall, it was pretty wet that day I parted with you three on 93. No doubt your visor was fogged .. eh?  

[Burners]

   Sorry - I didn't pay attention to the names and just assumed "the nearest border crossing"

This is why we don't let women navigate...  

Thanks for the clarification Bubba.  

[bubba zanetti]

This is why we don't let women navigate...  

Thanks for the clarification Bubba.  

I would follow her to the end of the world and maybe even round the Antares Maelstrom ...  

[Burners]

I would follow her to the end of the world and maybe even round the Antares Maelstrom ...  

Yeah, me too. But we have an obligation to point out her one allowed mistake for the year, don't we?  

[Mrs. DantesDame]

Yeah, me too. But we have an obligation to point out her one allowed mistake for the year, don't we?  

 


And I'd love to have either/both of you guys with me on the way to ends of the earth  

[Burners]

 


And I'd love to have either/both of you guys with me on the way to ends of the earth  

I've heard that may be as early as Saturday...I was thinking of going for a ride. Wanna come?  

[Kootenanny]

I've heard that may be as early as Saturday...

Actually, the world will end in October--at least, for us sinners left behind.  Only the "saved" gotta be packed for tomorrow.

[ST1300Rider]

Actually, the world will end in October--at least, for us sinners left behind.  Only the "saved" gotta be packed for tomorrow.

I've been watching the news from Australia, it's already Saturday there  . No reports of anything out of the ordinary.......

[KLRchickie]

Actually, the world will end in October--at least, for us sinners left behind.  Only the "saved" gotta be packed for tomorrow.

Sounds much better for it all to be over after the riding season

[Kootenanny]

Sounds much better for it all to be over after the riding season

Yeah, and the summer should be warm (what with all the fire and brimstone raining down)--just keep a wary eye out for wayward corpses

[Canuck]

The world still exists, but it is only 5:00 pm.

[Burners]

Well I went and checked it out. Left work early on Friday and ran for the border. Great fun road...did both the east and west side. The 14 loved the sweepers on the east side! Strangely enough, the closest incident with a deer would have been a collision if I had been going slower!  

The west side still has some winter debris, so there were no heroics. Actually that was a good thing, since its the first time I've had the beast on a challenging road, and my first lengthy ride of the year. Good practice for line and throttle control, and I got a good feel for how out of sorts the stock suspension settings are.  

I was going to take the forestry road over to Yaak and come back to Calgary via Creston, but the road was still covered with snow over 4000 ft. Be nice if they put a sign up or something...

The bad news is the world is definitely coming to an end. That's the only reason I can think of for making it through this little adventure without a single performance award!   Did I mention the 14 loves to run?  

All in all, a good way to start the long weekend! Two good days of riding, and I still have two days to do yard work.  

[Canuck]

Phew. It's 12:30 a.m. and all seems normal. I lived. I lived.  

[Hayabillybusa]

Hey all,
Just got back from the 2011 States trip, went as far down as Redding California. 6 days and 4200 km. Did the scenic route of Koocanusa on the return to Canada, this is the road were the Bandit in 2008 became an of road motorcycle due to a squirrel that took my attention away from the road,   near the apex of the corner about 5k north of the dam heading south towards the dam. 25mi corner and to tall of a gear and to green to that twisty of a road. Well glad to say this year that we survived it. The road seemed to be worse now from back then. Tar snakes galore, not as smooth as before, shat on the road in the corners, rocks(good sized ones), some sort of sand/lime? maybe... that was really fun! Any who, was strange to see the lake soooo low.