Day 14: July 22, 2011

Missoula, Montana

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Slept in.

I didn't want to leave the big, comfy bed.

(This was an issue every morning)

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I ate cereal with fresh garden strawberries on top while sipping coffee

on the back patio.

Annette and Paul have a beautiful backyard.

This is the way a yard should be.

A bountiful garden.

No grass.  Just flowers. Trees.  Fruit and Veggie garden.

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Greg and I took Annette's car to downtown Missoula.

We made a stop by the Adventure Cycling Association headquarters.

We had our picture taken and posted on the wall with the other fellow tourers on the road.

Ate free ice cream and soda.

And chatted with other riders in the building.

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We met up with Annette's daughter Madison.

She filled the roll of our tour guide for the day.

A grand one at that.

We walked through the downtown stretch and onto the University of Montana campus.

Filling us in about the life of Missoula.

Pointing out hot spots.

Bike shops.

Coffee houses.

and

Local breweries.

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After we parted from Madison, we went to

Uptown Diner.

I was told by Bob and Kelly Keller, friends from MI, to have a Strawberry Banana shake from here.

And that I did.

 

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The day was finished with wine, wine, and wine, and good, local pizza on the back patio.

*:*:*

Day 15: July 23, 2011

Missoula, Montana

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Paul, Greg, and I rode bikes to down town.

Morning of the Farmers Market.

What a treat.

Local veggies. Fruits. Baked goods.

So fun walking through the market.

There are 3 different location throughout downtown Missoula.

Missoula Farmers Market.

Clark Fork River Market.

and

Missoula Saturday Market.

Keeps you busy for a couple hours.

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Madison gave us a ride back to our bike on the rickshaw she was servicing for the market hours.

I wish I had a picture.

Fun.

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We rode our bikes to "The M" trailhead on the Univ.of Montana campus.

(This is not from my camera and the sky did not look like that but I wanted to show you what  I meant by 'The M')

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We zigzagged our way to the M.

Overlooking the campus and city.

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We continued to the top of Mount Sentinel.

Mount Jumbo.

After a good sweat, a couple hours later, and running the last 200 meters, we were at the top!

(My lungs were burning.)

We snacked on a pound of cherries Paul bought at the market, then proceeded to descend.

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On our bike ride back home, we stopped in a local brewery.

The guys had beer and I had a delicious glass of wine.

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Once we were back home, we rested for about an hour.

Then headed to XC mountain bike race at Marshall Mountain.

It was Missoula's first USA Cycling Pro Mountain Bike Cross Country Tour race.

A local pro came out on top.

Sam Schultz.

Canadian chasing him down.

I captured his finish really well.....

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The night finished with grilled chicken, potatoes, and broccoli.

Wine.

and

A round of Boggle.

*:*:*

Day 16: July 24, 2011

Missoula

*

Slept in.

Vegged around for a bit.

Greg and I road bikes to The Goodfood Store to check out their bulk section.

Continued onto a bookstore. Sat until closing reading gardening books and how to properly compost.

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Made our way back to their home.

And that is a wrap.

*:*:*

Day 17: July 25, 2011

Missoula

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The day was spent lounging.

The. whole. day.

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Dinner was again delicious.

Lamb meatballs. Roasted red peppers. Onions.

Wine.

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After dinner, Greg and I rode our bikes to The Big Dipper.

A local ice cream parlor.

I enjoyed black licorice and pumpkin.

Greg ate yellow cake and coconut.

Yum.

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The night finished with packing up our gear.

Tomorrow we would depart.

Day 13: July 21, 2011

Weir Hot Springs, Idaho to Missoula, Montana

77.5 Miles

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It was a late night in the hot spring.
Causing a late start to todays ride.

 The best campsite so far.
Making breakfast
and
pumping water.

We hit the road aroun 11:30.
It was a steady 25 mile climb until we hit Lolo Pass.

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Along the route, the day before,
a semi had over turned and dumped a load of unprocessed toilet paper into the Lochsa River.

This is one roll and pieces of the semi. (Lady happened to be posing at the time)
While riding along the river, we passed about 6 that had made there way down the river near 10 miles.
8 rolls.
Weighing 8,000lbs each.
and When water logged weighing over 30,000lbs.
http://missoulian.com/news/state-and-regional/article_73d5bc5e-b284-11e0-b309-001cc4c002e0.html
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Greg pointed out the moose.

 We hit the last 6 miles of the steep climb up to Lolo Pass and 3 tourers were flying down.

Greg getting a start on the climb.

I felt great and summitted in under an hour.

We took a short break at the visitors center, but needed to keep pushing on
because once again, we would be battling with day light.
*
At the pass, you enter Montana. State #3

and because I didn't get a picture by the Idaho sign when I entered Idaho

I took one here

(State #2)

*

We had 45 miles until Missoula.

Most of which was a gradual downhill.

THere was about 8 miles of fast cruising. 30+mph.

and then from there on out we averaged 20mph.

To hit the town of Lolo in under 2 hours.

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When in Missoula, the plan was to stay with my cousin Paul and his wife Annette.

He was unaware of when I would arrive. The last time I contacted him was 2 days ago

and I figured I would be to Missoula in 3 or 4 days.

I was ahead of schedule.

When we got into Lolo, I called him.

It was after 9PM.

Surprised and interupting his meal.

We had 10 miles until South Missoula, and he would meet us there with his truck to drive us to their house.

There were 2 quick climbs and finally... Missoula.

We went to a Safeway, purchased a 6 pack and waited for Paul.

*

He grilled us up elk burgers.

So tasty.

Exchanged conversation.

and

Welcomed the ZZZ's.

Day 12: July 20, 2011

Grangeville, Idaho to Weir Hot Springs(in Idaho)

97.5 Miles

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We woke to the smell of bacon.

Favorite classic breakfast.

Bacon.

Eggs.

Pancakes.

and

Coffee.

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I ate my way to discomfort.

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We hit the road at 9AM and fortunately it was a nice long decent...

Steep at some points.

Gradual at others.

EIther way, it gave time to break down breakfast.

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There was about 15 plus miles of construction through out this ride.

Periods of long waits ...

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I can't find some of the pictures I took along this stretch.

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When we hit Lowell, and took a lunch and ice cream break.

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Here we came across an Adventure Cycling Tour group.

First, the tour guide and leader arrived.

Sally.

They were coming from Yorktown Virginia

along the TransAm route

to Florence Oregon.

It was fun to talk with her.

*

We headed next door to the cafe and

I ordered a hot fudge sundae

and Greg ordered a huckleberry shake.

Yum.

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By the time we had finished a number of the members of the tour group were taking a break.

We chatted with them.

It is always fun to run into other cyclists on the road and hear their stories.

The age range was 21 to 73.

People from Europe, Canada, and the States.

All fitness levels.

All different backgrounds.

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We wanted to end our night at a hot spring.

One which was 45 miles away.

Uphill. or Mountain.

It was 4:30 and we would be pushing it to make before dark.

We cruised at an average of 12 mph.

Every hour we took a short break.

At our last break before the last 10 miles,

we stopped at a historic ranger station.

This silly looking donkey horse was so interested in us.

I think he was wanting to get out for a ride.

He kept trying to get our attention.

Pushing on the gate... thinking why aren't you saddling me up!

You could see it in him...he wanted to be out on the trails.

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We finally made it to the Weir Hot Springs.

Dark was settling in the sky.

Before walking the trail to find a campsite, we figured we should pump water from the river

in case the stream is funky with sulfur because of the hot spring.

We were attacked by mosquitos.

Tired. Hungry. And annoyed.

Our body language changed quickly.

It made me laugh because it was so obvious.

Quick to react and snap.

Admitting to it, lightened the mood.

We found a campsite along the stream.

Set up camp in dark.

Made dinner.

And then headed to the hot springs.

We were told there is a high trail and a low trail.

Both lead to the pool.

It is hard to miss because you will walk right through hot water.

The trail "Y".

We took the high trail.

Shortly after turning on it..the terrain quickly changed.

It didnt seem right.

We were climbing over trees.

Ducking through shrubs.

Scaling the side of a mountain..higher and higher.

I couldn't think about what it would look like if there were day light..I think I would have been in more of a panic.

It went on and on.  And so did we.

We were determined to find the hot pool.

After multiple questionings of whether this was right

and after breaking into a sweat..

we decided to back track back down

to the main trail.

When we hit it, we continued on to see if there was a different section that "Y".

Of course...shortly after....there it was ..

a very clear upper and lower trail.

We decided to stick to the lower portion.

And vwa-la.

There we were.

I laughed so hard when Greg found it. He stuck his hand in this little trickle of a waterfall

and turns around with this big sheepish grin "THIS IS IT THIS IS IT!"

and jumps up and down.

We climb up to the pool.

So incredible.

Mountain side.

Full sky of stars.

Outline of pine trees line the horizon.

Sight by moon light.
Red wine.

Day 11: July 19, 2011

White Bird, Idaho to Grangeville, Idaho

21 Miles

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It was an early rise this morning so we could beat the heat while we made
the climb up White Bird Hill
out of Hells Canyon.
It was around 6:30AM that we began to stir.
Around 7:30AM, we had camp taken down.
While eating breakfast,
we counted the number of people entering and leaving Silver Dollar.
11.
We hit the road and began our 12 mile climb out.
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This colt was so cute and very interested in us.

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Near the beginning of the climb.

The road we took up is call Old HWY 95.

If you look at the middle of the hill, you can make out a road...if you squint really hard.

Look for 2 white dots.

1 is a bridge - the other is what I believe to be a semi.

This is the 'new' HWY 95.

It is a steeper grade and is one straight shot rimming the side of the hill.

*

Old HWY 95

One switchback after the other.

What looks like the 'top' in the center of this photo...is definately not the top.

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The views were gorgeous.

I had to be careful though as I was pulling what our family calls "The PaPa".

Definition: Driving while looking around and

 being in awe of the beauty...and finding yourself going off road.

I had a few "Whoa that was close."

I learned to STOP.  Then look.

*

Wahoo.

The ride went a lot faster and easier than we thought it would.

Thinking it would be over 3 hours.

We were at the top in 2.

We figured it was the low mileage day yesterday and the carbo load of beers.

...and that we had ice cream on the brain.

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Since we had our hopes high for ice cream when we hit White Bird... and then it didn't deliver...

our main goal today was to get ice cream.

As much as our little hearts wanted.

There was about 10  miles until the next town... Grangeville.

We planned to do some re-stocking there

and get our fix of ice cream.

*

I had to deliver another package of gear home at the post office.

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Greg needed fuel cannisters.

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Then we went to the grocery store for food

which included

a 1/2 gallon of Caramel Moose Cup Ice Cream.

Vanilla ice cream.

Caramel Swirls.

Caramel Filled Moose Cups.

Holy smokes it was good.

GONE.

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Then a storm similiar to the one I was caught in a few days ago rolled through.

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We sat on the porch of this sporting goods store.

Waiting it out.

We sat there for 6 hours.

It would let up...we would think we could get on our bikes...then a second wind would roll through.

and a third wind.

and a fourth.

and a fifth.

....

We made a couple more trips into the grocery store for munchies

because it wasn't like we had

at a a half gallon of ice cream.

While I made a run into the store, Greg went to look around for a local park with a pavillion to set up camp.

As I was in the store, the clerk at the counter asked if we had a place to stay.

I said that we were looking for a pavillion to sleep under.

She then offered to house us for the night

because if we were her children, she would hope someone would do the same.

I waited on the porch until Greg came back, and I told him

about the offer.

It was an easy decision.

I went back to the store and let her know we would really appreciate the stay.

When her husband came to get her from work at 5:30PM,

she introduced us.

and He was okay with it.

Bruce and Pat.

He has been a farmer all his life.

Home bodies..haven't travelled much.

They loved hearing what we were doing.

:)

Taco salad.  It tasted so good.

After dinner, a couple of their friends came over.

We all sat in the living room and talked.

Their friends were from Michigan.

and they had a grand daughter who would be attending

Michigan State this Fall.

GO GREEN!

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It was a wonderful stay.

Great, generous people.

So fun listening to their stories

and having them so interested in learning about us too.