6/22-A Pass and a Tow

As promised, before I left Judy and Jerry, we got a photo (you can see some of the beautiful flowers). Hugs all around, and then I hit the road. 

I didn’t get too far before I noticed Chris’ (the Welsh guy I camped with in Kittitas) bike at the Sinclair station. I knew he was in Mullan last night too (just missed him at the Outlaw). I pulled in to say hi. Had a nice conversation with Linda the clerk too. Chris asked if I wanted to ride together. That was fine, but when he decided to have another cup of coffee, I told him I was going to roll on. 

There was a long climb ahead to Lookout Pass. It turned to dirt after crossing g over I-90. Then it really started to climb.  This was Willow Creek Rd, which would take me to the Nor Pac Trail.

Yep, I was walking!

The steep road popped out to a nice gravel road. But, that wasn’t the Nor Pac Trail. However, the Nor Pac leveled out considerably, and it became a nice climb. 

I-90 waaaay down there!

I came to this chair lift. Ahhh, I must be getting close to the top. 

Lift and ski runs

The “trail” widened out to what I’m guessing is a parking lot?

So wide!

I-90 not so far down now

I came around a corner, and could see the Lookout Pass Ski area. 

I rode by, and onto pavement. Then my Garmin said I was at the Montana State Line (and a new time zone).

Welcome to Montana, state #3!

Then I made a critical error. Instead of continuing on the Nor Pac Trail, I started down the paved road. I think I went about a mile when I realized the trail was above me, and there was no way to get to it on my current trajectory. Well crap! Now I had to go back up. About then, an SUV came down the road. I stopped them and asked if I could get to the Nor Pac Trail from this road. They had no idea, and were going to ask me the same thing! I told them it looked like the road dead ended. When I said I now had to ride back up, they asked if I wanted a ride. But, they already had two bikes in the back, so Wanda wouldn’t fit. They offered to tow me. I said we could try. I hung on to the door handle with one hand, and they drove really slowly. Once I kind of hunkered down, it went pretty good. At one point I was losing my grip on the door handle, so I asked them to stop so I could get a better grip. When they started up again, I lost control and had to let go. Then we tried having them start, and as they went by, I grabbed the door handle. We were back in the towing business. Of course, the whole time, they are talking to me and I’m talking to them. The driver was a airplane pilot. We made it back to the top, and I thanked them profusely!

I went back toward the ski place, and made the correct turn onto the trail. In the photo above, the trail is behind the sign!

This is where I was supposed to be. 

Now it was time for some downhill! Today, I had several deer sightings. This one was on the downhill. 

I see you!

I came all the way down to level with I-90. Then I was on the road to the Hiawatha Trail. I wasn’t going to be doing it, but I had to get up to the East Portal…a 2.3 mile climb. Tons of vehicles with bikes drive by me. At least the road wasn’t too dusty. 

At the east portal, I rode to the end of the parking area (it was full) to get to the Trail of the Olympians. 

Now it was another extended downhill. The trail was very good. I even went through a tunnel!

The pink paint was from a 50 mile running race. 

Over the Old Dominion Trestle

And the Saltese Trestle

I came to the road to go into Haugen. I was 35 miles in, and I had been out for 8 hours. I wanted to go to St. Regis, but as seems to be the case this trip, my butt said it would rather stop at Haugen. Turns out the RV Park here is free. I think it’s because all there really is to Haugen is the 50,000 $ Casino, Hotel, Bar, cafe, and oh, a gas station. I suppose they are hoping people will come in and gamble. 

The sites are clearly more for RVs, and there are quite a few here. I managed to find a bit of a spot for my wee little tent, and Wanda. I went over to the restroom in the casino and cleaned up, including washing my bike shorts. I also filled up on water. I walked back to my “campsite”, dropped off everything, and went back to the cafe for some food (the avocado I’ve been carrying is still not ripe). I had a pretty good pulled pork sammie and a soft serve ice cream cone. I’m still struggling to eat during the day’s ride (dry mouth), so I was pretty hungry. 

No frills camping tonight!

The view from my campsite.

There are also a lot of semis parked in the parking lot. I think they are far enough away that if they run their motors, I won’t hear it so much. Of course, I-90 is also in sight, so there’s that…

Overall, it was a good day of almost entirely gravel/dirt roads. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised that it was just 35 miles. That’s what we usually aim for when we are bikepacking off-road.