2015. 09. 21. 1347 No, I Didn't See Any Bears

The Last Northbounder:

The Semi-Fictitious Account

Of a Geezer Riding a Bike From

Denver to Canada

Subtitle:

No, I Didn't See Any Bears 

A story of Power Links, deer tripping the wire, deer not waiting for the light to cross ...

Last update was from The Pit Stop in lovely Lincoln, Montana, On Friday. In the past 4 days I've ridden about 241 miles, logging a 75 mile day yesterday. Lots to write about ...

The forest services roads that took me up and over Huckleberry Pass traveled along a couple "benches", long stretches of road along the side of the mountain above a valley. Fantastic views across the valley to pine forests, brilliantly illuminated by the long angle of the afternoon sun. I turned another switchback and, WOW!, my first view of the ragged peaks of the region, thrusting skyward, treeless, layered, blocky, massive. Prior to this point, the hills and mountains were more rounded, always below treeline. These peaks seem more like the mountains of Colorado. Some of them have recently been dusted with snow (winter is just around the corner up here), some inlayed with glaciers. Very beautiful change from the tree covered mountains that have preceded me on this trip.

On my screaming downhill run down to Harry Morgan (yes, named for Henry Morgan, famous actor [Editor's note: John really doesn't know this to be true]) Fishing Access Campground, I ran into Chris and Simon from New Zealand. I tossed each of them a few slices of pizza from the pizza I had ordered just hours ago at The Pit Stop and gave them the mini clipboard I had purchased in Helena. For the record, I have never completely eaten a pizza on this trip, having always shared the spoils with fellow travelers.

Those Kiwis gobbled up the pizza right then and there before I was even able to dig through my panniers to find the clipboard. I think they were hungry ...

As I was racing downhill, I got spat out into ... Montana grasslands. The transition was so dramatic: one second trees were flying by on either side of me, the next second open fields. Head spinning. Whitetail deer were there to greet me. I thought that, as one of the deer leaped over the barbed wire, that he/she had gotten tangled in the barbed wire since the barbed wire ZING'd when the deer hit it ...

... but ...

... the next day the same thing happened in a different location which makes me think that the deer like the sound that barbed wire makes when they pull it with their hoofs. I think it's their way of saying, "Your stinkin' barbed wire can't hem us in!".

That night I camped on the North Fork of the Blackfoot River (well, not on it, next to it). I put my bags it the bear box and slept peacefully, knowing that if bears did come into the camp, they would eat me, but NOT my protein bars.

The next day I inadvertently participated in the Ovando Gran Fondo (a race organizer told me, sotto voce, that it really wasn't a gran fondo since the event wasn't long enough, but Montanans don't speak Italian)! This is a mountain bike event, limited to 250 participants, to raise money for the Missoula symphony orchestra. Their route covered much of the route I was going to travel! I crossed the start line about a half hour before the official start and the riders reeled me in just a few minutes after they started. I urged them to join me on the trip to Canada, but no one took up my offer. The riders and race organizers were all very friendly and didn't object to having me on "their" course.

I got free water!!!!

Just before I reached Seeley Lake, I encountered the first and only road closure due to the summer fires. I don't think the area was still actively on fire (might be still be smoldering, though ...), but someone told me that the road was closed due to burned out trees blocking the road.

I did NOT learn this from the rangers when I stopped in to check on road closures at the ranger station: the ranger station is closed on the weekends. I guess no one uses the forests on the weekends ...

I was going to take a different road to get back on the official route, but my ^$%#$%^#$%$#$ chain broke again!!!! What's ironic is I tried to give the new chain I had been carrying since Pinedale to the Kiwis, but they declined the offer.

Thank the powers that be for that declination, if any ...

The replacement chain had a "power link" which allowed me to connect both sides of the chain by inserting the link and ... pulling. WAY easier than using a chain tool! Next time I'll carry a couple of these which will make "field repairs" on the side of the road much easier.

As it took me an hour to effect the repair, I decided NOT to ride up the side of the mountain; rather, I continued on paved, but busy, US 83. For the most part, people gave me a wide berth when they passed me, but one $%$##&##^ hole "buzzed" me, trying to get as close as possible. The other lane was wide open. Very stupid, dangerous and just not nice.

If I hadn't broken my chain I wouldn't have stopped at the overlook and met Erin and Nick from ... Boston. Erin is taking a photography course in Missoula, Nick was visiting her. We agreed to rendezvous at the Holland Lake campground. I lumbered off, they continued to sight see. That evening we all drove to the Hungry Bear for dinner, but about a mile short of the restaurant, an oncoming car struck and killed a deer which just grazed Erin's car. There was no damage to her car; Nick and I cleaned up the side panels. The other car's front fender was obliterated ... the next morning I rode by the scene of the accident and felt very bad for the deer.

That night, though, it rained a bit and was surprisingly mild. For the first time since Wyoming, I didn't zip up the mummy sleeping bag, using it more as a quilt than a blanket.

Yesterday I rode up the Swan valley to Bigfork. Now, you'd think this would afford fantastic views of the Mission Mountains to the west and the Swan Mountains to the east which flank the Swan River, but the roads were seemingly carved through the dense forest: there was no way to see through the dark, thick, close packed stands of trees! The numerous white tail deer, on seeing me coming and wondering what the hell I was, would simply bound into this wall of trees and disappear.

Mission Mountains

But this claustrophobic via made me worry that there could be bears lurking just off the road. After so many bear stories from everyone who wanted to tell me how dangerous it was to travel through this region of the Montana, I was appropriately on alert. I ended up singing, making up silly ditties about what was going on at the moment ("I'm racing downhill, Mr. Bear please don't kill ... me" No one said it would win a Grammy); as is par for the course, at the end of the day I just raced down the hill without alerting bears. If you can catch me at 30+ MPH, then I guess I deserve to be your trophy.

Part of the route departed from the official forest service roads and for the first time on this trip, I rode single track (just a path, not a road). Very fun!

I didn't want to camp solo so I pressed to Bigfork, turning in a 75 mile day, nearly 9 hours "in the saddle". I stayed at the Wayfarer's State Park. I didn't bother to check the fee schedule and set up the tent in a nice site, but Marshall, AKA "The Marshal", the campground host, informed me that I was in a $28 site: the $10 sites for tenters were next to the garage and dumpster. Eventually, The Marshal cut me a break and just charged me the $10.

I took The Marshal to dinner at Burger Town ...

It almost seemed hot last night; this morning, at 7:30 AM, it was 60 degrees. I made the swap from "cold weather" gear to "hot weather" gear before reaching the Bigfork city limits at 8 AM.

Today's ride of a mere 40 miles (hard to believe that this seems like a short ride ...) was very easy, as the route did NOT involve any serious climbing and was mostly on pavement.

YES!!!!

I saw a lot of turkeys this morning, my first turkey spotting on the trip. My favorite was the rafter of turkeys (don't believe me that's what a group of turkeys are called? The Internet never gets it wrong): they were all gathered around a sign that said "Deer Crossing". This either proves definitively that turkeys can't read OR it validates their outlaw persona.

It rained just as I arrived in Whitefish which further inspired me to be currently ripped off at the Best Western Rocky Mountain Lodge. Hey, laundry is only $1!!!! Room is very nice, they have this business computer and my bike is enjoying some private, downtime in the room even as I type.

Whitefish, Montana

The track on the GPS is working perfectly which means I don't have to deal with the map at all when I'm riding; I can now concentrate on alerting bears about my presence ...

... or not.

Believe it or not, if I don't run into trouble, I WILL REACH CANADA IN TWO DAYS!!!!! The plan is to stay in Polebridge tomorrow night then ride to the border Wednesday. Only a couple big climbs left, but both are less than a few hundred feet higher than my home back in Denver ... in other words, there should be plenty of oxygen available for the climbs, unlike the passes along the way that approached 10,000 feet.

After I send this, I will investigate options for getting back to Denver. I'm hoping some kind soul will give me a ride from the Canadian border to Kalispell where I will either rent a car and drive back to Denver or fly back.

Hard to believe the trip is almost over ...

... but, finally, this update is over!

JK