Day 4, Fernie, BC, Canada to Columbia Falls, MT, USA, 115 Miles

Today started at 5am with jet lag still hanging on. I didn't see much point in laying awake in bed so I set off on the road at 6am. Unfortunately this meant I arrived at Fernie in the dark and I left in the dark, so this is the best picture of the raging elk that I could get....













The hostel was a bit of a let down in terms of decorations....there was no raging elks in sight (only a few smelly young teenage travellers, that by the time the bar was set to close they could have passed for raging elks!!!)

So on it was to the USA boarder. I'm not sure what part of my notes to self yesterday I missed, but once again as I'm driving to the USA border it was snowing and it was dark. Roughly 3 inches of snow had fallen on the road overnight and was still there when I was driving. This makes it difficult to see the lines on the road and I have almost become expert at Rumble ping pong! The lines at the side and middle of the road have been made so they rumble as you pass over them to let you know you are near the edge when the road is covered in snow. So the game starts when you hit the line on the right and so slightly move the car to the left to stop the rumble but because you can't see the lines you then hit the rumble strip on the left.....and so it's back to moving to the right until you hit the rumble strip on the right.....a bit like a drunken walk home! I'm sure this little game added 10 miles onto my journey!

The USA boarder approached and I slowed to stop at the red light. It looked a bit like a toll road, with a border official sitting In a little hut waiting for you to drive up. I don't know if I was unlucky or if they are all like this but I had the most evil boarder woman you could imagine......she started off firing questions at me...where am I headed...how long for...who is this car.....why are you driving your brothers car. Then she asked for my passport....drivers licence...car registration documents.....insurance documents......business card.....

Then she decided to ask some really dumb questions.... this is word for word.

Ma'am what is the purpose of your trip to Yellowstone?
For a road trip to take some pictures.
What are you taking pictures of?
Erm Yellowstone....

At this point I could see this going round and round in circles!!!

Ma'am can you please step out of the car and come with me?

I had to go into the office and answer another load of questions about my visa and fill in a whole load of forms.

Eventually I was let go and in the good old US of A. Next stop was a town called Eureka and breakfast at cafe - a proper inbread cafe.













My mouth was watering at the menu and I chose hash browns with onions, cheese and gravy. Mmmmm I couldn't wait, it sounded delicious. Erm........wrong!........this is what arrived.........















It was a pile of sick served on a plastic plate!!!! Urgh gravy must be white and gloopy in Eureka....a bit like curdled chicken soup. Needless to say I didn't eat much and left soon after.

Back on the road and heading towards Whitefish this is what was for sale at the side of the road!














We sell cars at the side of the road....they sell skidoos!! (Susan I took this picture just for you - this is a skidoo!!)

Arriving in Whitefish and having a little walk round (nothing much to see) I headed to Columbia falls which was my next stop. After checking in I set off with my camera to Glacier National Park to photograph Lake Mcdonald at sunset. This was the main reason for staying in Columbia falls. It didn't look good as the weather was overcast and the light was flat but I went anyway on the off chance that it brightened up before I got there.....wrong it was a snow blizzard. This is what it looked like.....






















Hardly the sunset I was picturing!! I'm planning to return tomorrow for sunrise although the weather is forecast cloudy again so I'm not sure what I will get.

The other thing I wanted to do in Glacier National Park was drive the Going to the sun road. This 50 mile road is the only road through Glacier National Park, is one of the top 10 scenic mountain drives in the world and also the most dangerous drive in the world!!

Unfortunately the majority of it is closed from October to June due to the conditions, (I did know this before I set off!) The snow reaches 24m and takes 10 weeks to plough before it can be opened again in the summer! However there is a 9 mile stretch of the road ploughed in the winter between West Glacier and Lake McDonald lodge. This is what it looked like driving to the lodge....... not the best representation of the dreaded snow tunnel but gives some indication!














Unfortunately this road didn't have rumble strips so I couldn't perfect my rumble ping pong technique this time !!

This is what it looks like ahead, roughly 4 inches fell in the short time I was driving 9 miles. Everything English in me says, turn back, cars and snow do not mix you are going to get stuck, however snow tyres are a wonderful creation. They grip to the snow so much I felt like I was driving on tarmac. This road was a perfect opportunity to try and perfect another game - donuts :-D however I wasn't going anywhere but forward and back with these tyres!! (Disclaimer: bro I am JOKING! your car is safe in my hands!)













This is as far as I could go on the going to the sun road :-( Just an excuse to come back in the summer!!













After this I headed back to the hotel, tonight I actually am tired so hopefully will get a decent amount of sleep. Tomorrow is a long day, roughly 4 hours of driving with no stops down to Butte, and then I will be 2 hours away from Yellowstone. The reason for the big push tomorrow is because the weather on Friday and Saturday seems to be quite good before going back to clouds again on Sunday. So chop chop Louise !!

Location:Columbia Falls,United States