Monthly Archives: August 2007

Politics, Short trips

Border crossings

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Yesterday I rode south to the Blackfeet Nation, where warriors on horseback guard the northern entrance to the rez. Artist Jay Laber created the sculptures out of rusted car parts remaining from the disastrous 1964 flood that devastated some areas of the reservation downriver from the Two Medicine River dam. Three more of Jay’s sculptures guard the south, west and east entrances to the reservation.

To qualify as a Blackfeet tribal member, one-fourth blood is required. Approximately 8,000 tribal members reside on the rez, which encompasses 1,462,640 acres.

Chief Mountain

After a stop at Many Glacier, I backtracked and caught Montana 17 north to the border and returned to Canada. This is a gorgeous ride, but 17 is populated by lots of open range cattle lounging on the roadway. They’re all black, and difficult to see in the shaded areas of the highway. I can’t imagine riding it at night for just that reason.

I’ve become so accustomed to crossing into “the States” that for me it’s just a matter of heading south and hitting the line. Polite Customs agents, few questions and a minimum of formality are the rule, and I’ve never ever had a problem being admitted. This time, however, I had forgotten my citizenship documents.

No problem, though.

After scanning my driver’s licence and receiving a lecture about not having citizenship papers, I was allowed into the country one more time by the tourist-friendly border guard.

Here’s a tip for those of you who are new at the border-crossing game: If you’re wearing dark glasses, take ’em off. The agents want to see your shifty little eyes.

Politics

Avoid it if you can

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Those duty-free shops will be writing their letters shortly:

“Air New Zealand Offers Round-the-World Routing Avoiding the U.S.” That was a recent headline from U.K.-based Business Traveler magazine. For the past several years, fliers bound from Australia and New Zealand to Europe by way of U.S. stopovers have been raising a ruckus about security policies that require all passengers, even those merely in transit to other countries, to clear U.S. immigration formalities — a process that includes fingerprinting, photographing and baggage rechecking. Air New Zealand has responded with the launch of a service from Auckland to Europe with a hassle-free transfer at Vancouver, British Columbia, eliminating its long-standing Auckland-Los Angeles-London route. Air Canada is following suit with a nonstop Vancouver-Sydney flight, bypassing its traditional layover in Hawaii, which, in the words of the magazine, “will enable global travelers to avoid the United States.” — Ask the Pilot by Patrick Smith, salon.com

This is probably only the tip of the iceberg.

Short trips

The queen of scream

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The Fay Wray Fountain in Cardston, Alberta was built after a visit by Fay in 1962. Fay provided the money after being sent a check by festival organizers to cover her costs for attending. She mailed the check back, and the town built the fountain with the proceeds.

Fay lived on a ranch about 15 miles from Cardston. At the age of three, her family moved south to America, where her mother had been born.

This is obviously a publicity photo, but she certainly was cute.

Long trips, On the road

Geography class

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Precambrian Shield rock
The precambrian shield

Updated below.

The Precambrian Shield is 4.5 billion years old and is largely granite and gneiss, earth’s oldest rock. Glaciation scraped the rock clean of most surface debris over the millennia as it moved back and forth, exposing bare rock and lake-filled hollows. Thin soil lies on top of bedrock, while there are many bare rock outcrops, all of this caused by the last ice age, some six to 15,000 years ago, depending on location.

Originally the shield was a region of large mountains and volcanic activity, but subsequent to that the area eroded. Rock that forms the Shield surface was once far below the surface, and pressure and temperature at depth created the many minerals in the rocks.

Moose on the loose highway sign campaign
Moose on the loose

Since the last ice age, the area has become covered with a thick boreal forest of coniferous and deciduous trees. Mining and logging are common now. Shield country is a common home to single-industry towns of either pulp and paper or mining, or a combination of the two. Hunting and fishing are favorite activities of the local residents.

Night danger
You'd better keep an eye peeled

Moose are well-known to populate the Shield. If you or someone you know has ever hit a deer with a car, you’ll know what damage they do. Moose, which can weigh over 2,000 pounds, are known to bring semi-transports to their knees, and will destroy a mere automobile.

Both deer and moose are common sights along the roads, but particularly in early morning or late evening they can be seen on the shoulders or slightly off-road in the ditches. Keeping an eye to those areas could mean the difference between safe passage and a tow truck.

Deer are everywhere
Deer, on the other hand, are quite small

Shield country rapidly flattens and tapers off towards the plains and it isn’t long before the prairie breadbasket is glistening under the blue sky. Here deer are the prevalent road hazard, but their small size and stature limit a lot of the damage they can do to a vehicle. Transports don’t even blink a headlight when they encounter a deer.

Once out on the bald prairie I find the landscape to be extremely boring, but I’m always quick to discover places to stop. Granny’s Saskatoonberry pie with a scoop is a welcome relief following mile after endless mile of wheat, and Shae’s Ice Cream Oasis is the perfect place for taking a well-deserved break.

Shae's Ice Cream Oasis
Shae's Ice Cream Oasis

Unfortunately, on my most recent early morning drive-by it was closed.

Update August 2010: Shea’s has been closed. No idea why. It was a great little place to stop, enjoy some ice cream and talk to the owner about farming.

Long trips, On the road, Personal

Barber shop blues

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Why can’t a man find a barber?

I’ve had my hair cut in countless cities and towns in North America and Mexico. Why is it that if you want a basic haircut, you have to travel to a small town to get one? Has the availability of basic barber skills in the city gone the way of the Tin Goose, never to be seen again except during rare moments of civic pride and air shows?

What’s with the “beauty parlor” that wants to wash, wax, trim, blow dry and mousse? Do I look like I need a wash? Is my face dirty? My hair matted?

Well, okay, perhaps after a long day in the saddle I look to be a bit on the scummy side, but I clean up pretty good, and besides, I never go for a haircut looking like that anyway. I consider these “beauty parlor barbers” to be similar to the barber-surgeons of old, and thus must resort to blow-and-go quackery to hide ignorance of basic hair cutting skills.

What is needed is the reintroduction of the “Worshipful Company of Barbers”, as founded in 1308 to oversee the trade in London. The Master would make the rounds and chastise those he found disgracing it. He also had the power to prevent imposters from practicing the profession. Another 14th century Barbers Guild could imprison barbers for their transgressions against the profession.

All that sounds fair to me.