My last update was from Colter Bay in the Tetons. I rode 64 miles to the Warm River campground. It was a beautiful day and, for the most part, the route wound through pine and aspen forests. Towards the end of the ride, the dirt road was one of the worst of the trip: great for cars in that it was uniformly covered with gravel, bad for bikes because there was no way to avoid the gravel. Every stone tends to slow the bike down ...
So it was nice when I finally cleared the forest and got on to asphalt for a few miles before the campground. Somewhere in the middle of that forest I finished dealing with Wyoming and crossed into Idaho. Evidently there's a sign, but I missed it ...
The impressive thing for me was looking back east and seeing the other side of the Tetons. I just don't think of that side, as crazy as that seems. Even some 50 miles away, they are impressive!
I got a very nice camping spot right on the Warm River with no one else around. It was Labor Day and I think everyone had to go home to work!
Next day was a partial disaster. I was trying to find the rail trail but couldn't decipher the route nor get the map to work on my GPS. It was only hours later that I realized that I hadn't downloaded the Idaho map into my GPS!!! I didn't think the route went through Idaho!
As a result of not finding the trail, I returned back to the campground, chewing up 45 minutes of "seat time". I went to Plan B and climbed out of the Warm River valley via the Mesa Falls Scenic Byway. Some grueling climbing. I stopped to suck in some air and recover at the Lower Falls Overlook and a group from Oklahoma said, "We are so impressed at your ability to bike up all of these hills!".
That helped, a bit ...
The lower falls was a surprise in that it had multiple levels and downstream had carved a deep canyon. I'm glad I stopped.
Eventually I hit US 20 and road north through Island Park, the home of the longest mainstreet (33 miles and I rode most of it). Not much fun to ride US 20 as there was a ton of traffic, quite a contrast to crossing the Great Basin and encountering one car all day. I stopped at Frontier Adventures and got some advice from the owner on where to buy groceries (his convenience store, 12 miles down the road) and where to eat (Ponds Lodge about 6 miles down the road). I stopped at Ponds and ordered a pizza and nearly depleted their supply of Mountain Dew.
I felt much better, getting over the disappointment of not finding the rail trail AND blowing seat time. Plus, I had 4 pieces of pizza I had wrapped up that I could eat down the line.
Hmmmm ... pizza!
I did the climb to Henry's Lake via this really bizarre route that, among other things, requires you to go around gates and ride over small damns. First real mountain biking of the trip. Very enjoyable under sunny skies, cool temps and colorful forests of pine and aspens.
Around 3:30 I had a go/no-go decision: stay at an RV park, being the only tent on the premises or riding another 20 miles, including another climb to clear 9100+' Red Rock Pass. I told the worker who had given me the prices for the RV park that I was going to push on and that might be the mistake of my life ...
... it almost was.
The climb to the pass was difficult because I was also fighting my nemesis, Howling Headwind. I just had to distract myself with the beauty of the area: large peaks, draped with aprons of pine trees, pushing up into the deep blue sky. Avalanche chutes scouring rock paths through those aprons. Scrub willows already wearing their autumn attire in the broad valley below. I finally reached the pass and crossed into my last state of the trip: Montana!
I was hoping that it would be all downhill to the campground, but, of course, it wasn't. The route also took a turn directly in the direction of the wind. I was really weary as I finally got within 1 mile of my destination campground, but there were two small hills I still had to climb before reaching camp.
It is what it is ... I'll get there when I get there.
When I finally, finally arrived at the Upper Lake campground in the wildlife refuge with the odometer ticking over at 72 miles (second longest day of the trip) there were 3 southbounders setting up camp. We had a very nice evening around the campfire, relating our travel stories. I shared my precious 3 pieces of pizza with boys which augmented their constant diet of ramen noodles and peanut butter on cookies. The stars and the Milky Way seemed particularly brilliant as I watched a couple of satellites slowly sweep across the sky, taking pictures of our campfire.
Idyllic ... but, holy [expletive deleted], what happened later that night ...
I had gotten up the middle of the night and had just snuggled back into the down bag when ...
Something galloped through the camp ...
Then something else galloped through the camp ...
I had the tent doors closed so I couldn't see what they were nor did I really want whatever it was to see me ...
Then, something very heavy walked right past my tent, its weight causing the gravel in the road to grind. It let out a low moan and I just hoped that I wasn't on the menu. I was shaking because I had so much adrenaline coursing through my body due to this animal being so close to the tent.
Eventually I heard something crashing through the trees about 30 feet away where I was going to set up my tent. Man, I'm glad I picked a different site! Every few minutes there would be more tree crashing, sometimes accompanied by a low, loud moan.
I just stayed as still as possible (in spite of my legs shaking???) and hoped that no one would be curious or angry about the odd shaped, tent like object that had mysteriously appeared that evening.
The tree crashing continued on and off for the rest of the night, but as morning drew near, I heard a different, kind of huffing sound and wondered what that might mean. Finally, as the sun peeked over the hills, I heard some other campers moving so I thought it would be safe to finally open my tent door and have a look ...
... nothing but a couple, walking to the Upper Lake with their inflatable stand up paddle boards: the huffing was them inflating their SUPSs!
In the light of day, I think the big thing that came into camp and smashed through the trees was probably a moose. I've never heard of them dancing on tents ...
I thought, last night, though, that it might have been a bear and they have been known to dine on a camper or two.
Man, I was sooooo happy to see the other campers and the light of day!
Today was a 57 mile slog to Lima, Montana (44.63305 , -112.59216). Initially the route was enjoyable in that it hugged the tree lined foothills while an expansive park of golden grass spread in the opposite direction to the base of similarly grass covered hills, but eventually the route turned towards those lightly vegetated hills and I felt like I was back in the Great Basin of Wyoming with nothing but low lying plants and no trees. Amplifying this sense of "here we go again" was both my nemesis and the poor road conditions. Ultimately, I climbed to Lima Reservoir which glistened beautifully in the clear blue afternoon skies and then it was mostly downhill to Lima, with the usual downhill fun spoiled by the headwind and the rolling nature of the road that put in a little uphill test every 1/2 mile or so.
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| Lima Reservoir |
Thanks for that, road builders!
Ultimately, I hit the paved streets of Lima and got a room at the only motel in the city (there were 3 rooms left ...). I intend on doing laundry ($1 for load including soap!), eating at Jan's Cafe (haven't been there yet so I don't know what they are famous for ...) and sleeping without wild animals trouncing through my living room.
All in all, in spite of the blunders and various problems, it was great to see some of the beautiful forests, mountains and hills of Idaho and Montana AND I was able to put nearly 200 miles behind me in the past 3 days. The border is about 530 miles away which means I may reach it by September 20th ...
... if I'm not destroyed by wild animals ...
I will report later on what my plans are for the next few days.
Before I forget, I hope that the memorial for Aunt Joan this weekend brings joy and happiness to the family!
I hope all is going well for you and your loved ones.
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