Day 13 afternoon

Got well ahead of Dave and Chris out of Orvando, riding on dusty flat washboardy straight line roads through cattle fields of total dry brown. Eventually will get back into the trees as we head toward Huckleberry Pass, about 1600′ higher than our current elevation. 

Scratch that for today, we went off track to Big Nelson campground on Coopers Lake. A nice quiet place to ourselves. 

But in the couple hours since we’ve arrived, the smoke has at least doubled in thickness, to the point you can feel it burning the eyes. That is not good, if this becomes the norm, we will have to discuss things, we need to try to get past the smoke, if possible…

A nice din; ramen as appetizer and then dry potatoes mixed in with dried burrito skillet. You put enough spices in anything and it’ll taste great!!

A very uneven camping spot tonight, I’m definitely listing left… In bed at 845pm. 

Day 14

(Note from Seeley Lake a couple days ago, Chris saw a student of his…

The day started early. Woke up at 345am to sprinkles, had to get up to put the fly on the tent, pound in the guy stakes, etc. Was raining hard with thunder and lightning in the distance by the time I got done and back in the tent. For me, this sort of thing… Not so fun…

We busted ass up Huckleberry 5500′ pass first thing, but a reasonable grade, then a long descent back to the valley floor into Lincoln. For lunch I had two beers and a chicken sandwich!! The smoke was back…

The afternoon brought us Stemple pass, up to 6380′ from a start of about 4000′ at Lincoln. Well, that was one tough f’n climb up a rocky trail, lots of pushing the bike… And the weather got crappy, much colder, strong winds, and intermittent very biting cold rain. A tough slog! But I’m very proud of my peeps Dave and Chris for hangin in there late in the day. 

We are now on the other side of the divide.

Coming down from Stemple, we stopped at a place on the map listed as cyclist only camping and cabin. OMG!!! What a cool little place that is offered for free by local Barbara Nye. There is a small rustic cabin just below their beautiful home with no running water, but a wood stove with wood supplied, some canned goods, and a propane stove!! Amazing!!! I cannot overstate how wonderful it is to be in a cabin instead of a tent in this cold unrelenting strong wind! What a gift! Inspires me to do something in Alaska and/or Portland for through cyclists… I don’t know if we will meet the owner before we go, but I hope to thank her! 

(So I don’t forget, her address is Barbara Nye, PO Box 455, Canyon Creek, MT 59633 406-368-2226)

The evening in the cabin was remarkable! Surprisingly, some liquor, and a musical cavalcade and historical review by an enthusiastic Dave whom presided over the evening’s playlist. If you catch my drift… Eventually we all presented some of our favorite songs. 

I was the night’s cook, giving Dave a break, cooked chili from a bag with fresh garlic over boiled pasta. Wow, and not just saying cuz I cooked it, but perhaps the best meal we’ve enjoyed while in this magical cabin hearing the brutal wind just outside… A trip remembrance moment after a long cold hard day…

We had a nice communal dinner and evening in the wonderful cabin…eventually sleeping in the lofts, Dave downstairs since he’s always the first up. A special day… But the wind absolutely pounded the cabin all night and through the morning! Felt like 60mph gusts at times!!

Day 15

Woke to powerful winds, but no smoke!!!!! First no smoke day since Eureka! 

We slept in a bit at the cabin, cleaned up and hit the road about 11am, way too late for a hard 34 mile day into Helena. 

Sorry to say I lost a precious biking sock in the wind somehow. That sock has been in at least ten countries! Sad…

Beautiful day riding in big sky country! We climb two passes today, both about 6000 feet, but each starting at about 4000 feet. The first one is very steep been involved a lot of bike portion, the second one much more gradual over a well maintained road. We also technically crossed the continental divide for the third and fourth time of the trip, I think we do so at least a dozen times during the trip. 

I was surprised on the descent to see train tracks. Further surprised when I actually got stuck behind about 150 car train, crossing miss you too expensive land while I was waiting on my bike just 10 feet from the tracks, not sure what was in it, could’ve been wheat or grain or perhaps some raw material.

Once we got down from elevation to the highway leading into Helena, it was full speed high gear all the way in for me, probably got near 40 miles an hour on my loaded bike which is incredible! 

Helena is to me a classic old Western town, lots of those old brick buildings that represent the imagined west of yesteryear.  

Found a really really really cheap motel, $59 a night, right across the street from the homeless shelter! I rolled in there about an hour before the other guys did. And thus we have elected to take our only second rest day so far right here in Helena.

For din, we ate at a terribly overpriced restaurant called the Mediterranean Grill. I guess we should’ve known better, I think the dinner cost as much is my hotel room for one night! Next night it will be more basic, there are several good food options including a Thai place that really sounds fantastic!

Day 16 Rest Day

OK important stuff first, the day started with my first real espresso in weeks! Delicious! At the Firetower coffee shop! 

Realizing already my sleeping bag was not going to tolerate the colder temperatures in Colorado with the higher elevations, I elected to rent a car from rent a wreck and drive to Bozeman to REI. Got a great fancy shmancy Marmot hybrid (synthetic bottom, down top) sleeping bag on sale, 25% off! And I used the remaining balance on the gift card from all of the wonderful kind AFD folks! (Thank you again Brian, Brian, and Bene for such a nice sendoff! Please pass on my thanks to Young and Steve as well, and anybody else who still remembers I worked there! Ha ha!) 

Picked up a couple other things, stopped at a brewery and had a sandwich and a beer, then drove back to Helena. 

In Bozeman, 406 brewery recommended by the folks at REI, was a nice little place, very rustic but the sandwich was good and the beer was great! Spoke to the bartender there, she is originally from Anchorage and move to Montana some years ago, likes the longer season of activity here versus the darkness in Alaska, but not enough snow, at least in Bozeman.

This is my first time to Montana, and while compared to Oregon, things are generally brownish except where the landscaping is, it is really a place of spectacular vistas, you can see such great distances everywhere. Beautiful!

Back in Helena, returned the car and rode my bike back to the motel. Did some laundry, repacked all my gear, sent my old sleeping bag back home, eventually Dave and I went to dinner at a Thai restaurant a block and a half away. Compared to the overpriced cheesy oily crap we had last night, this was an absolute delight! A little low on the spice for my taste, but they had plenty of means to spice it up! Dave and I shared pad Thai and Penang curry chicken.

After that we walked a little further up to an ice cream shop that sold homemade ice cream, Dave had a scoop of huckleberry on a waffle cone, I chose a coconut ice cream with hot fudge and nuts over the top! Yummy yummy yummy! We talked an older couple on the bench outside who were always also enjoying their ice cream, nice folks, they were in Helena visiting from Missoula their regular home. They gave us a few tips of places to look for when we get to Butte…

Tomorrow we will leave this beautiful old town, heading back on the trail to hill and mountain! Two nights from now we should be in Butte, we may consider staying there two nights as some very wet weather is predicted to roll in about then…

It is been nice to give the legs a day off, as they are yet by any measure still sore, but a good healthy sore!