It didn’t take long to talk some avid Harley Davidson motorcycle owners in to taking a ride today.
There may not be many more great riding days and these guys (and gals) were eager to take advantage of the open roads, medium temps (high of 65 today) and no moisture or wind.
We met at the BW Great Northern Inn in Havre. Our first “group pose” was by the hotel’s sign. There was another motorcycle parked there already and someone knew the owner and lured him in to joining our first photo. He didn’t ride with us but was more than happy to chat awhile with fellow motorcycle riders!
We had a typical early October day – cool in the morning, strong sun shining in the afternoon but you still needed a jacket when riding a motorcycle.
We drove south on Fifth Avenue in Havre. All of a sudden we were at the end of town and in the middle of wide open vistas.
Beaver Creek Park south of Havre was our destination. This county-owned park, located 10 miles south of Havre, is about 17 miles long and narrow. The beauty of the park, for motorcycle riders, is that the main road through the park is completely paved. Campsites and day use areas are all along the way as you drive through the park.
We entered the park and could see snow-topped peaks in the Bear Paw Mountains. That made me feel a little bit chilly! A glance to the left and I could see lots of oranges and golds in the trees so I decided it wasn’t winter yet.
Today’s ride was really an effort to capture photos of motorcycling with some fall colors. I kept my camera close to me and took lots of photos. My models were awesome and we all had a wonderful time.
After Labor Day Beaver Creek Park management allows grazing in the park so we had a lot of curious looks from cattle as we drove by.
Traffic was minimal but we did have an occasional vehicle pass by and wonder why we were taking photos.
As the daylight began to fade I felt the temps drop. We still had to ride back to Havre. We had about 20 miles to ride since were were in the middle of the park. By time we got back to town we were ready for a nice warm beverage.
We all enjoyed the ride and, for some of us, it will be next summer before we hop on a motorcycle again.