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

2015. 09. 19 Lake Holland

Vance here. John made 51 miles today.   Starting to get close to the Canadian border.

He's camped on the shores of Lake Holland.

2015. 09. 18 Near the North Fork Blackfoot River

Vance here.   John left Lincoln, Montana around 1:30PM.

Lincoln, Montana

 He then crossed yet another instance of the continental divide and as he indicated in his post today ended up about 35 miles away at a campground.  He's camped in a campground on the shores of the North Fork Blackfoot River.

2015. 09. 18. 1218 Midday Update, Lincoln, Montana

Last night I attended a book club meeting... 

And this is a rare, "I'm eating pizza for lunch in Lincoln and they have WiFi and I'm still cold"  midday update. 

Yesterday I bid adieu to wet Helena, expecting fair skies, but it was cool and cloudy. I rode about 12 miles on the westbound highway which surprised me that it was so long on the highway then hit our favorite forest roads for three continental divide crossings. A phalanx of blue birds escorted me at the start, but they soon lost interest as I climbed higher. 

Heavily forested land, following a creek to the pass. I just had to laugh when I finally reached Priest Pass and saw the standard forest service sign, marking the pass and elevation:

Pr       s

El  

The middle of the sign had been completely blown to smithereens by hunters shooting at the sign. 

As I tell the southbounders, for every uphill, there is a downhill. So, a nice downhill run through aspens, pines and the occasional massive, abandoned mine. 

But I had another continental divide crossing to do, so up we went. Some of my sweat flowed to the Atlantic, some to the Pacific... 

I had mentioned that there was a cabin that a woman was letting riders stay in for free. I stopped to look; very comfortable, small, old cabin that had two beds in separate lofts, a wood stove, food and water. 

I went to the house just to thank the woman for her generous support. She answered the door, but I had caught her in the middle of dyeing her hair. With dye dripping everywhere, she accepted my compliments then we said our goodbyes

Not for the last time... 

I felt like I should have stayed, but it was early and I had only put in 40 miles. As I started to climb the last pass before Lincoln (another country western song?), the clouds descended with a vengeance, the wind picked up and it really started to rain with thunder rumbling in the distance. 

OK, OK. I can take a hint. I'll go back to the cabin even though I'd have to make up this distance today. 

When I got back to the house, Barbara was just about to leave and offered me the option of sitting by myself in the cabin OR attending her monthly book club meeting. 

You already know what I decided... 

Six Montanans attended the meeting, but only one person had finished reading the book. So we spent our time making dinner, cleaning up (no dishwasher) and talking about a wide variety of topics. 

Quite a change from communing with the coyotes. 

After the meeting, I retired to the cabin and slept on my pad with my sleeping bag as the beds were way too saggy. It was nice, though, to have a sense of being in the middle of nowhere but still having 4 walls to keep the bears at bay. 

This morning I did the last continental divide crossing I wussed out on yesterday, pedaling through similar scenery as yesterday then bombed down to Lincoln. The top portion of the road was just two tracks with fallen trees hanging down above the road, trying to neck tie me... 

And that brings us to The Pit Stop where I just stashed 1/2 a pizza to eat later. I'm hoping to reach a campground 35 miles away. Have to climb Huckleberry Pass (beware of Yogi and Boo Boo) then mostly downhill to the campground. 

Hopefully it will warm up... 

Next update maybe tomorrow from Seeley Lake. 

JK

 

20215. 09. 17 Foiled at the Pass?

Vance here. Something made John turn around close to top of this particular crossing of the continental divide.  I'm guessing weather because he quit relatively early (at 4:08 PM).   Initially I thought John had made another wrong turn, but reviewing SPOT data and the official Adventure Cycling Association map, John was on the right road when he turned around.

ACA Map

The black "star" indicates how far John got before he turned around.  The red "star" shows where he retraced back to (46.80605 , -112.37491).  Google Earth shows a small cluster of buildings close to where he camped--perhaps they are friendly to north bound cyclists. 

All told John made 36 miles of progress towards Canada, with another 5 traveled going up and back on the pass. 

2015. 09. 17. 0655 Mission a Go!

Scattered clouds, 40 degrees, no rain as predicted. 

Mission is a go! 

If I get to Lincoln, probably send an update; otherwise, follow me on Spot. 

Back in the saddle again...

JK

2015. 09. 16. 1922 Putting Everything On Red

Planning on blowing this pop stand early tomorrow morning. weather.com suggests 0% chance of rain (that's very low ...), but 38 degrees. Good thing I bought some more cold weather layers.

Depending on the weather, I will either stop at the cool, FREE cabin that the southbounders have been raving about (if I can find it ...) (about 45 miles) or continue on to Lincoln (about 65 miles) and either camp or stay in a room somewhere. To get to Lincoln, I'll have to cross the continental divide 3 times, requiring two pass climbs. Will I be able to do those climbs after lazing around here for 2 days???

Very excited to use the GPS track I downloaded a couple days ago. If it works as promised I will no longer have to be digging out the map every few miles to either figure out the next turn or determine that I'm lost.

Best activity of today? The tour of the Montana State Capitol! I biked over in the cold rain (Muriel coined the term "drimsal") and joined 6 other geezers for the tour. A lot of historical paintings in the capitol, depicting (sometimes incorrectly) various historical events in Montana history. Montana is very stingy with its legislature: representatives are not paid, but they only meet for 3 months, every odd year. Let's hope there are no crisis in those even years ...

Second best activity of the day? Running into Darrell at the L&D Chinese buffet. Darrell works for the great state of Montana, monitoring the contamination at the Berkeley Pit. He was in town for his annual, mandatory health check up for his job; if you monitor contamination for the state, I guess they want to check to see if you are contaminated. We talked about mining, his family and, of course, me, me, me ...

Third best activity of the day? I got a tiny clipboard and some velcro straps to hold the clipboard to my handlebars. I can then attach any map notes to the clipboard and not have to dig them out of the panniers. Of course, I'd be more than happy to throw this all away if the GPS track works as expected.

Too bad if I do throw it away: it has a magnetic backing so I could stick it to the little refrigerators provided in some of the motel rooms I've been in ...

OK. I've got to head across the street to the Longhorn Casino and put everything on red.

I will try to blip off a departure message when I leave tomorrow; hopefully, the Super 8 won't hold me if the roulette table comes up black. If I forget to send the departure message (or I'm sneaking out), follow me on Spot!

JK