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!