6/27-The Slow Slog Up Skalkaho Pass

It’s 4:45 and I’m sitting in my tent at 7000 feet. It’s raining. I’m joined by a mosquito, but that won’t be for long (no insects, especially mosquitoes are allowed to live in my tent).

The weather forecast is not great for this weekend. Pretty much rain through Monday. Others may have stayed put, but I couldn’t afford more nights in the Quality Inn. Besides, I always say, sweet as I am, I don’t melt in the rain. Now, would it be better to not be climbing a 7400 foot pass? Maybe, but obviously I survived it. 

I left the hotel in the rain at about 7:00. I got back on the Bitterroot Trail for a short bit, before heading out of town. 

Yep, raining. 

But, still a deer sighting!

It was about 30 miles to the top of Skalkaho Pass. It was gradual to start with, then Garmin let me know I was now going to climb in earnest for the next 17 miles. 

Funny sign…I suppose I would make it weird. 

Skalkaho Creek

I was still climbing on pavement when I came to this sign. 

I thought that meant the road was turning to gravel now. Nope! I rode probably another few miles. 

Still pavement

Now gravel…well kinda sandy mud

There was actually a fair number of vehicles. Skalkaho Falls is a destination. The rain quit for awhile, then started up again, then quit again, then started again…basically off and on the whole day. Even in my tent right now, it’s not raining anymore. 

After about 20 miles of riding, my butt was starting to protest. I was stopping more and more frequently. Finally, I did what I had done days ago. I got off and walked for awhile. It’s a bummer, because I didn’t feel like the climbing was all that hard. At most it was 6%, but usually it was 4-5%. Totally rideable if my butt wasn’t yelling at me! 

With about 5 miles of the climb to go, I came to Skalkaho Falls. It’s 150 foot high waterfall right next to the road. 

Notice I’m wearing my hi-vis vest. Thought it was a good idea considering the weather.

I was counting down the miles left as I alternated riding and walking. Of all the vehicles that passed me, only one guy stopped to ask me if I was okay. I told him I was fine, my butt just needed to be off the saddle for a bit. 

As I continued to climb, I could see snow up in the higher elevations. 

Not going that high!

Finally, I made it to the Pass. Disappointed that there was no Pass sign, just the sign saying Hamilton 29 and Phillipsburg 25. 

The campground I’m staying at (Crystal Creek) is only a mile down from the Pass. I would have liked to go lower, but there are no other campgrounds, and there’s no camping in Phillipsburg (plus, 25 miles away). It’s a very small campground, kinda just two sites (well, two picnic tables). There’s a pit toilet, and I might put my food bags in there for the night. Too bad there’s no bear locker. 

I think it’s going to be chilly tonight. This will be the first night I will zip up the foot box of my quilt. 

It has stopped raining, so I’ll shall exit my tent and finish my nightly chores. 

6/26-Rain Gear at the Ready!

For the first time on this trip, I had to close my rainfly door as it sprinkled off and on throughout the night. It had stopped by the time I got up this morning, and I only had a bit of water on the rainfly. I packed my rain gear at the top of my bag, as the forecast was calling for more rain. 

A climb right at the start. To the right is where I camped. 

I had just shy of three miles left of gravel (and two climbs). As I came out to the pavement, I noticed these “free range” goats. 

The route didn’t go I to Missoula proper, which was fine because I’d already been there on the Trans Am. I got on to this bike path. 

I thought I would be on bike paths all the way to Hamilton. Not quite. There was a bit of road riding, then into a wide bike lane. 

See how wide the bike lane is?

It was a very busy road (especially as people were going to work). I finally picked up the Bitterroot Trail. Now I would be on a bike path all the way to Hamilton. At one point, I crossed 93 to get on the path on the other side of the Hwy. Now I was on the part I had been on when we did the Trans Am. 

It had started to rain. I put my rain jacket on, then finally put my rain shorts on too. It wasn’t really raining that hard, but I could see it wasn’t going to stop soon. 

At 21 miles into the day, I rolled into Lolo. I stopped for my favorite morning snack of chocolate milk and a banana. I also made a quick stop at the drug store for some more magnesium glycinate (haven’t had any leg cramps).

As I got back on the Bitterroot Trail, there was a sign saying, “Project in progress-Trail closed”. They had the road crossings blocked. They had repaved the trail, and the road crossing parts weren’t done. 

I rode on the hwy for awhile, then said, “Screw it, I’m riding the trail!” I could easily get around the blocked road crossings. It was quite a ways of going around road crossings blockades. I finally got to where the worker vehicles were, then the crossings weren’t blocked anymore. The new pavement was very very nice…like butter! In Florence (home of the Glen Cafe where Doug and I stopped for pie on the Trans Am…I, unfortunately, wasn’t remotely hungry), the new pavement ended, and it was back to cracked and bumpy trail. 

A I crossed another street, I saw a cyclist in some wild colored tights coming toward the trail. I waved. He caught up to me on the trail, and we chatted for a bit. Turns out he and his wife of 42 years had dinner with June and Greg Siple last night. They are some of the original Bikecentennial founders (now Adventure Cycling Association). I told the guy (didn’t catch his name) I had done the Trans Am, and going to Adventure Cycling headquarters had been a highlight of that tour. His wife caught up (also in wild colored tights), and we spoke for a moment. Then they were off. 

By now the rain had quit, or it would just spit now and then, so I took my rain gear off. There were still lots of clouds though. 

Pavement like butter!

Bye, whoever you are!

Horses and mountains

From Florence, the bike route sign said 26 miles to Hamilton. Even though the trail follows Hwy 93, it is much more rolling than the highway. It was kind of nice because I could coast on the downhills. 

In Stevensville, I stopped at a Subway for some lunch. When I came out, I was chilly, so I put my rain jacket back on. It was still spitting rain here and there. 

I kept seeing all these signs for “50 mile garage sale”. Funny thing, I remembered that from the Trans Am. At one particularly bust one, a guy asked me where I was going. I stopped to talk to him (my butt welcomed the break). Turns out he used to live in Olympia, and worked at the old Schwinn bike shop and Olympic Outfitters. Said they used to mountain bike Sub Black Hills before anyone else was doing it. Even k ew who Bill Stevenson was. Small world!

As I got closer to Hamilton, the rain returned with a vengeance. My plan had been to stop at a laundromat in Hamilton and do all my laundry. I also needed to get some groceries. Then I was going to go on to Angler’s Roost RV and campground. Then I saw the Super 8. Actually, I knew they had no vacancy, but I checked anyway. Yep, no room at the inn. She suggested the Quality Inn a couple blocks down. Albertsons was next to the Super 8, so I got groceries first. I pulled in to the Quality Inn. They had a King bed room available for a King’s ransom. But, I did it anyway. Easy to do laundry, and it’s still raining. Since I hadn’t had a shower since Judy and Jerry’s in Mullan, the shower was delightful!

Tomorrow I go over Skalkaho Pass. It’s still likely to be raining, and also quite a bit colder. I’m sure I’ll be pulling out the leg warmers AND the rain gear. At least tonight, I’m in a bed…indoors!

6/25-The Speed Limit is Only 80

Well, I had the whole campground (all four sites) to myself last night. I was on the road by 7:40. I knew I would be stealth camping tonight, so I didn’t want to get too early of a start. 

Good morning Montana Big Sky!

Oh, and good morning to you too Miss Piggy!

Before long, I was back on gravel. Then the route became a double track. 

Nice gravel

See the bike route sign?

Still the bike route

Ah ha! That’s why there were the bike route signs. This is a small section of the Great American Rail Trail!

While I was on the trail, I met Jim. I should say I saw Jim because this is the third time, but I just got his name today. The first time I saw him was on the Nor Pac Trail at Lookout Pass. He was mountain biking a section of the Nor Pac Trail. Then, yesterday, he went by me on the road. I thought it might be the same guy, but I wasn’t sure. Today, he was coming toward me on the rail trail. He said, “We meet again!” He was heading back to his car, then heading home. I won’t see him again. 

I came out to another gravel road (still the bike route). That returned to pavement. Along the way I saw this.

What is a submarine doing in Montana?

My Garmin let me know I was coming up to a scenic bridge (thank you Garmin). It is closed to cars. There were actually three bridges (hence the area being called triple bridges).

Railroad bridge 

“Scenic” bridge

I-90 bridge

Soon I came to the Cyr Bridge. 

Rafting company puts in down there

This was the place where there was no option but to get on I-90. I donned my hi-vis vest. 

Here we go!

Speed limit is 80!

One mile to my exit.

I only had to ride the freeway for a little less than 5 miles. It was fine. The exit took me into Alberton, my only town/services for today. I went to the grocery store, got some chocolate milk, a banana, and some donuts. I took them over to the park.

Nice park for a small town

After the town, I was back on gravel. I was riding along when I could see some baby animals frolicking in someone’s yard. Another car was stopped watching them. When I got closer, I realized they were baby bighorn sheep, and the mamas. 

So many babies!

I guess that was my “deer” sighting for today (I didn’t see any deer today). I got a video too. I’ll post it on Facebook.

Pretty soon the multiple climbs started. I got up higher and higher. 

I-90 is way down there!

I was starting to wonder if I would be coming back down to the river where I wanted to camp. I was getting a little worried that I wouldn’t be by water. The road did a big U-turn, and there was a creek. 

I decided not to chance it, and filtered water. Now I could camp wherever. 

I really wanted to get to within 10 miles of Missoula. The road did come down to almost river level, but more importantly, there was another creek. I’ve tucked myself back up along the creek. I’m waiting a bit to set up my tent, as there are still quite a few people going by. It’s not going to be the best tent site, but it’ll do. 

A little rocky, but kinda flat. 

Oh, and there are tons of butterflies here!

Today was 41 miles. Tomorrow is going to be a long one as I want to get to Hamilton. 

6/24-I Have Given Up…

On the Mimic Saddle. Had you worried there for a hot second, right?

While I was able to do 46 miles today, it’s still just not comfortable after a few hours. The solution? I’ll get to that in a moment. 

Last night I met my neighbors in the RV. They were Mary and Tom. Very nice couple. Mary is from Puyallup, but they have property in Harrison and other places. Tom offered me a map of the area. Since I pretty much have it available offline, I told him I was okay. Mary was sweet. She said, “If you need anything, we are right here.”

I had a surprisingly peaceful night. I think the low hum of the trucks parked in the parking lot acted like white noise. I had set my alarm on my watch (my Timex, not my Apple Watch) for 5:30 figuring I’d pack everything up, then go have breakfast at the cafe in the casino. Which is actually called Lincoln’s 50,000 Silver $ Casino. When I woke up, it was 6:15! I had slept through the alarm (it’s not very loud). In all fairness to my body, with the recent change to mountain time, my body thought it was 5:15. So I didn’t get to breakfast until 7:15. 

French toast, eggs, and hash browns (that’s not beer, it’s apple juice). I couldn’t eat it all, but I did my best. 

In the parking lot, I talked to another couple from Everett. They were on their way home from Yellowstone. It was funny, they were similar to Mary and Tom, but just a bit younger.

I headed back to the Route of the Olympian. I would follow this almost all the way to St Regis. It was about 18 miles of gentle downhill. 

I stopped here to do my morning stretches. Not a bad place!

There were quite a few potholes, sometimes tough to see in the dappled sunlight. 

St Regis

I’m not sure where there would have been camping in St Regis. The Community Park had a sign that said no overnighting. I saw on WhatsApp that Chris (Welsh guy) had stayed in a hotel in St Regis. 

I stopped at the travel center for some chocolate milk (quick hit of calcium), and some cranberry juice. I finished the two little donuts I had from yesterday (you know I’m not eating as I usually do when there are leftover donuts!).

With a belly full of liquids, I started up a 2 mile climb. It turned to gravel. Just as I started, I had today’s deer sighting.

She was a little scrawny

The road was really dusty, and there were a fair number of cars. Dust bomb protector to the rescue (my buff)!

At the bottom of the other side, it went back to pavement. 

Horses of the Outfitters Ranch

I was riding by this mountainside that had a purple hue to it. I thought it might just be my glasses. What do you think?

Does it look purple?

In the town of Superior, I stopped for some lunch at Soup and Sandz. I had been thinking about what to do with this saddle issue. At the cafe I texted Makaela, and asked her to go to my house and take my Brooks saddle off of Billy. I’m having her send it to the post office in Butte, MT which is about 275 miles away. I’m actually having her put on it “Hold for Great Divide Mtn Bike Route rider”, even though that’s not what I’m doing, I’m sure they will hold it if they think I’m doing the GDMBR. I probably could have put Trans Am because the Trans Am goes through Butte too. I’ll probably stay at the Butte KOA. Funny thing, it will be my third time staying there, riding three different routes!

I had 10 more miles to Forest Grove River Access campsites. In that 10 miles, the Garmin Climb Pro was initiated for three climbs! Fortunately, they weren’t very long or steep. 

There are 4 first come first serve campsites here. I’m the only one here. Several rafters have come in and loaded up. A motorized boat put in and headed up river. My guess is they’ll be back later today?

It’s a nice campsite on the Clark River

I cleaned up in the river, and washed my shorts in a ziplock bag. Water has been filtered. There is a fee here, but I can’t figure out which one I’m supposed to pay. The fees are all about fishing. I’ll just wait. If someone comes to collect, I’ll ask. If not, it’ll be another free night of camping. Tomorrow my plan is to get close to Missoula, but not to Missoula. I refuse to pay $72.00 for a tent site at the KOA. I don’t care how nice it is! When Doug and I stayed there on the Trans Am, we split the site with 7 other people (6 tents). We each paid $12. That’s reasonable. I have my eye on a spot on the river about 10 miles out. 

Now my butt just has to hold up for about 5 more days before I can go back to Brooks!