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!

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. 

6/22-The Best Day!

Last night no one ever showed up to the RV Park for me to pay. Interestingly, this morning when I went over to use the restroom it was locked (it had a keypad, but yesterday it was open). There was a guy watering the grass. I said, “ Could you remind me of the code?” He told me what he thought it was, but he wasn’t sure. It didn’t work. He tried too. Then he said he knew for sure what the men’s restroom was, so he let me in there. Whew!

I finished packing, and hit the road…well…the trail. I had about 6 miles to Wallace. I got there too early for anything to be open, not that I needed anything. I did take a couple of photos.

The trail goes under I-90

Big ol house

Look, I’m at the center of the universe!

From Wallace to Mullan was another 6 miles. When I got to the Mullan trailhead, 

I could look up and see Jerry and Judy’s house (Jerry had shown me a photo of it yesterday). Just like Judy said, the bridge was being replaced, so I went down another block, then up and around to their house. 

Such a beautiful front yard!

Just after I arrived, Jerry came out. I said hi, and he showed me inside. They are doing a major renovation of their house. It’s going to be amazing! They are doing all the work themselves (I’m jealous of that ability). Jerry had to make a trip to Couer d Alene. Judy and I sat on the porch and chatted the whole time! It was great! You see, this is what I love! Particularly, as I am doing this trip essentially solo. It’s nice to have more than just a few minutes conversation with people I meet. Judy grew up in Portland (I grew up just across the river in Vancouver)! 

Jerry got back, and we visited some more. For a brief time the power was out, but it came back on, and I did my laundry. I asked if I could take them to dinner, and we went to the Outlaw for burgers. 

I’m sleeping in the kitchen on the floor (remember…renovating) on a nice cushy mattress! This has been the best day of the trip so far! I’ve told Judy she has to send me photos as the house renovation continues, and she will be reading my blog! We haven’t done photos yet, but we will in the morning. Oh, and I’ll try to remember to get a photo of the back garden. It’s beautiful!

6/21-A Moose on the Loose on the Solstice

I left my campsite at Chetcolet early in the hopes that I might see a moose along the trail. 

The big bridge over the lake

It does a stair stepping up and down the other side. 

In the 8 miles to Harrison, not a single moose. When I reached Harrison, there were all the guys. Paul, John, Gary, and about 5 other guys. The first thing Gary said to me was that he was quitting. He was having problems with the dreaded saddle sores. He may rejoin the guys in Pittsburgh for the GAP and C&O. I feel bad for him. That’s no fun, and there’s just not much one can do except keep one’s butt off a bike saddle. I told the guys I was looking for second breakfast. The bike shop in Harrison is also a cafe. I went there, and everyone joined, even Vivian and Ken. 

All the bikes!

Paul, Gary, John, me, Vivian, and Ken (the guy in the way back introduced himself, but I can’t remember his name—he was riding from Portland to Spokane and taking the train home)

Back on the trail, Vivian and Ken passed me on their e-bikes. They were going to Wallace. I had thought about staying in the Inn in Wallace, as it was supposedly under $100, but really didn’t want another hotel stay just yet. Turns out the price was way more than $100. Also, there is some motorcycle rally thing going on, so there probably wasn’t any room anyway.

Bye Vivian and Ken!

I was cruising along. When I was coming along a marshy area, I looked to my right, and there it was!!! Bullwinkle!!! John came up behind me and stopped to see what I was looking at. 

Yay, I saw a moose!!! It started moving, so we took that as our cue to get going. 

John and I rode together for several miles. I asked him how he came to be doing the GAWR, since he’s from Iowa. Also, how did the guys all get together, considering Gary is from South Carolina, and Paul is from Australia. They met on a Eurovelo route. A couple of other guys from the Eurovelo group suggested doing a Trans America trip. John put together a WhatsApp group. The other two guys bailed, but Paul and Gary said yes. 

The Roger’s Creek Water stop. They also had Rice Krispie treats! Jana and I stopped here when we were doing the Idaho Panhandle Ramble.

We stopped at one of the trailheads for a snack break. Paul rolled up shortly after. He took off, and so did John. I used the restroom. 

Not long after I started going again, I came to this little fella. 

It was sitting in the middle of the trail, a hazardous place to be for both it and any cyclists that might be looking around for moose! I shooed him off the trail with my foot. 

I played leapfrog with a few e-bikers. This being Sunday, there were a lot of bikes out on the trail. I’d say 85% were e-bikes. Also lots of recumbents.

Wanda’s namesake fish, the cutthroat

One of many bridges

Fly fishing on the Couer d Alene River

Crossing under I-90

Old zinc mine in Smelterville

As I was coming into Smelterville, I saw there was a Walmart. I was a little low on food (dinner stuff mostly), and I knew Walmart would have what I wanted. I pulled off and picked up a few things. 

The next town was Kellogg. 

I have no idea where these gondolas were going.

Is the jackass the mascot of Kellogg?

I wanted to go to the bike shop. I saw a couple on bikes and asked where the bike shop was. It was just a bit ahead, but it was closed. I got to talking to Judy and Jerry. They live in Mullan, and told me to stop by tomorrow if I needed anything. Because the next section is Lookout Pass, I asked if I could do a short day tomorrow to their house, and camp in their yard. That would set me up to go over Lookout Pass. They are remodeling their house. I said I could help them. Judy said, “Or you could rest!” I have their address, so I’ll go there tomorrow. 

A few more miles down the trail, and I pulled into Osborn. 

The Blue Anchor RV Park was my destination for today. When I got here, no one was in the office. There was a map of the park that showed where the tent sites are. I figured I’d just go set up, and when someone shows up, I’ll go see about paying. So far, no one has shown up. I took a shower. I’m going to do laundry in Wallace tomorrow as I pass through. There is laundry here, but I suspect it’s quarters, and there’s no one to get change.

It’s not the best campsite, but if it ends up being free, it’s not the worst campsite either! It’s sandwiched between I-90, and Mullan Rd. Might be a little noisy tonight.