June 28

 Today we rode into Wyoming and Yellowstone National Park.  We stopped several times to walk on a trail or boardwalk to view various geysers or hot springs.  Quite a remarkable landscape.  In late afternoon we headed for our primitive campsite inside the Park at Goose Lake.  We met a young guy on a bike who said he camped at that site before and woke up in the morning surrounded by Bison.  Sure enough, when we got to the site there were piles of Bison droppings all around.  We pitched our tents in the best spot we could find and then had to filter water from the lake because we were really low.  I was surprised that there was no water availability all day.  The next morning came and no Bison came to visit us.  But as usual, it was in the low 40's and Brian and I were both very cold in the morning so we built a nice fire to warm up while we packed the bikes.

Fire Canyon Road in Yellowstone.

Thermal springs in various colors dot the landscape.

Grand Prismatic Spring

Our campsite for the night.

June 27

 Last full day in Montana.  We had a (relatively) easy ride into the town of West Yellowstone.  In the morning we rode 11 miles to get to a campground with a café that, we heard from other cyclists, served the largest pancakes ever.  Well, the pancakes were indeed quite large and a wonderful start to the day.  We each had one pancake and didn't even need lunch later in the day.

After today Brian and I will be crossing into Wyoming and Yellowstone National Park.  For the next 3 nights we will be pitching our tents wherever we can find a good spot in the woods.  Therefore, I don't expect we'll have cell service, and certainly not WIFI, so there will probably be no blog posts for a few days.

Another beautiful river.

On the far right is an Eagle in a nest up on a pole.

I usually don't post food pictures but this pancake was something special!

June 26

 Today started up the same steep grade as yesterday.  It took us 40 minutes to go 2 miles.  Going up these mountains I curse them for being so high and so steep.  Of course, later on, as we are happily gliding down the other side, I quietly forgive the mountain it's previous indiscretions!!

After a nice 10 mile downhill ride we stopped in the town of Ennis for breakfast.  After breakfast we headed south toward our next destination and had a terrific 15 MPH wind at our back all day.  Fantastic.

Another night of camping.  It was a challenge setting up the tents in all that wind.  Tomorrow is our last full day in Montana as we will roll into the town of West Yellowstone.

reaching the crest of the hill in the morning.

Another scenic overpass on the way down the hill.

June 25

 57 miles to Rambling Moose Campground just outside Virginia City, MT.  Today we met another bicycle tourer, Ken, from California.  He's riding to Cleveland to see his brother and will be riding with us for the next 3 days.  Most of today's ride went pretty well except for the last 7-8 miles which was up an extremely steep grade and against the wind.  We really struggled.  For several days now we have noticed tremendous amount of irrigation used on grassland for cattle.  The use of that much water worries me - it seems unsustainable.

After setting up our tents we walked into Virginia City for dinner and to look around the old gold mining town.

Irrigation of grasslands everywhere.

Brian and Ken in Virginia City.

Random pictures of Virginia City.

June 24

 Today's ride went better than I expected.  I started packing up my tent and belongings at 5:30am because the temperatures were in the mid 40's and I was too cold to fall back asleep.  After Brian got up and packed we went to a cafe in Wisdom for a ham/egg/cheese sandwich to start our day.

We were worried that we wouldn't have a place to stop between Wisdom and Dillon - the entire 66.7 miles.  We usually like to stop along the way for a snack or to refill drinks.  Luckily, the "town" of Jackson was 18 miles from Wisdom.  We thought Wisdom was a small town, but not compared to Jackson.  The whole town was less than two blocks, but luckily, we were able to get some warm Gatorade from a car shop with a broken vending machine.  After that, we didn't see signs of civilization for another 42 miles.

The ride today called for 66.7 miles and climbing over two mountain passes.  We started off kind of sluggishly but slowly got into a groove.  The mountain passes were long, slow, tough rides up but were a joy to ride down the other side.  Very little traffic on the road today.

The landscape here is just so impossibly large that it's hard to judge the distance or scale of things you see in the distance.  Quite often we would see a car or truck come around a bend in the road ahead of us and yet it would be several minutes before that vehicle passed us.

June 23

 Today was a cheat day  We had over 4100 feet of climbing scheduled.  However, I was a bit worried that the road had no shoulder going up the mountain, and I was also concerned about that much climbing this early in the trip.  So I stopped in the local grocery store in Darby and found some kid with a pickup truck (everyone out here has a pickup truck) who was willing to drive us up the mountain.  Driving up the mountain in his truck made me so happy we decided to get a ride - it was really steep.  After he dropped us off we had another 27 miles to ride to Wisdom.

Wisdom, Montana, population 96.  The town seems essentially empty but there are 2 places to eat and one cafe/bakery.  We stopped in the cafe and talked to the lady behind the counter.  Because the town seemed so empty I asked her how many people come through Wisdom.  She said "Oh, summer time is crazy here, so many people come through".  Again, seeing no activity in town I asked "so when does the summer season begin"?  She "Oh it started about 2 weeks ago - we've been so busy."  Apparently her idea of busy and mine are a little different!!

We are currently at 1.2 miles above sea level and will  climb another 2600 feet tomorrow on our way to Dillon, MT.

This Main Street in Wisdom, MT.

The border of Idaho at the top of a mountain pass.

On the road to Wisdom

June 22

 Not a bad day.  Rode about 56 miles but no big hills to contend with.  Started off in the mid 50's but soon went up into the 80's and topped off at 93 degrees.  Hot, hot, hot.  Tomorrow we'll make our way to Wisdom, Montana which is 1.2 miles above sea level so the high temperature there is only expected to get to 78 with lows in the mid 40's at night.  Will have to bundle up in the tent tomorrow!!

Again, today's ride was good.  Brian got into a some bicycle trouble about 1.5 hours in.  His back rack lost a bolt, but luckily the base wasn't stuck in the bike, so we were able to put in a new bolt and continue on our way.  Today we saw dandelions about as big as your fist, and we've passed casinos everywhere, each about the size of a small gas station.  A few houses and businesses we pass have these archways at their entrance made of three pieces of wood - two on each side of the driveway and one on top connecting them.  Reminds me of the archways you see in China, just much less ornate.  We are surrounded by snow capped mountains seemingly on all sides.  We passed countless streams and rivers of the most wonderfully clear water.  If it gets any hotter I'll be jumping in!  

Clear, cold streams everywhere.

Huge dandelions.

We were riding on the Bitterroot Trail most of the day.

June 21

Great day today!  We left Lubrecht Experimental Forest at 8:45am in temperatures around the upper 40's, so we layered up before starting. We left the forest and climbed for maybe a quarter of a mile, then went downhill 600 ft over the next 8.5 miles.  We were glad we layered up, because the wind-chill made everything extra cold.  But you can't beat a ride that starts with 8.5 miles downhill!  After 30 miles, we hit Missoula and stopped at Adventure Cycling headquarters.  This magazine is the one that inspired Doug to get into bicycle touring in the first place, so it was a cool opportunity to stop there.  They gave us a quick tour, offered us free drinks and ice cream bars, and took our picture to hang on the wall of bicycle tourers passing through.  By the time we left Adventure Cycling, the temperature was in the 80's.  We stopped for lunch at a spot nearby, then hit Big Dipper for more ice cream (recommended by someone we met at LE Forest last night and someone at Adv Cycling today).  Missoula is a nice town.  Not nearly as big as Kalispell, which has everything, but it has a bunch of trendy looking restaurants, stores, at least eight bike shops, and really nice bike lanes.  It was refreshing to see people biking everywhere, and bike racks that were actually being used.  After another 10 miles of riding, we got to Lolo, where we got to the Days Inn and carried our bikes up to our second floor room...

Adventure Cycling headquarters in Missoula.

The Bitterroot River

June 20

 Woke up to a light rain that persisted for about 2 hours.  The day started around 45 degrees and got up to about 55 degrees but I was cold all day with wet gloves and wet shoes.  At the 30 mile mark we stopped at a store and had a hot bowl of mashed potatoes with gravy, corn, and chicken.  That really hit the spot.  We also bought soup and pasta to cook for our dinner.

After 53 miles and 2203 feet of climbing we reached the Lubrecht Experimental Forest where we had a cabin reserved.  This particular forest is used  by the University of Montana, School of Forestry students for research.  

Our home for the night.

June 19

 First full day of riding and it was totally exhausting.  Apparently my planning was a little off!!  We did 69.7 miles and 2300 feet of elevation.  We got to our campsite 8 hours after starting the day.  Pitched our tents, took showers, ate some sandwiches, and went to bed around 8pm.  It was starting to rain at that point anyway so it was good we were in our tents for the night.  What a long day.

June 17

We got to sleep in today!  One of the few we'll be able to before we officially get started here.  There will be no sleeping in when we're camping - sunset is around 10:00pm and sunrise is 5:30am.  Today was spent checking out the local area and picking up some other necessities.  Really nice area around here.  There's a main strip right by our hotel with a bunch of small shops and places to eat, and 2 miles away is Walmart, REI, Costco, Dollar Tree, and anything else a bike tourer might need.  For lunch, we each had 20oz milkshakes from Norm's Soda Parlor.  The fuel of champions.

June 18

 Our last full day in Kalispell before the real riding begins.  Another bright sunny day.  We got up early and rode 18 miles to Whitefish for breakfast and kayaking on Whitefish lake.  The town of Whitefish was lovely and the lake was really beautiful.  Of course, magnificent homes rim the lake and extend up into the surrounding hills.

After getting back to Kalispell we began to organize our things for tomorrow and do a little laundry.  We will pack up and tonight to be ready to leave around 7am tomorrow morning for a hearty breakfast at a diner in town before our ride.  

I don't expect we'll have any WIFI until we get to Missoula on Monday - so probably no blog posts until then.

Beautiful countryside with a peak at Glacier NP in the distance.

Kayaking on Whitefish Lake.

Brian on the lake.

June 16

 We made it to Montana.  It was a long day of flights and then 2 hours of putting the bikes together and riding to our hotel in Kalispell.  But it was a beautiful sunny day here, around 72 degrees, and the mountains all around us are beautiful.  Tomorrow is an easy day shopping for provisions.  First thing on the list is Bear Spray!!

Time to put the bikes together and pack up the gear.

Remarkably, all the gear is packed in the bike bags.

Beautiful mountains all around.

June 15

 Busy last 2 days packing up.  Just when I think I've got everything organized something unexpected happens.  Like when I picked up 2 bike boxes at the local bike shop.  Everything looked good but it turns out one of the boxes was 3 inches shorter than the other one and that made it unusable.  Luckily the bike shop had another larger box for us to use.

In any event, we disassembled our bikes and got everything into the boxes.  I hope we remember how to put them together again when we land!!

Off to Montana in the morning.

It's hard to believe that the bicycle and all that gear will fit in that box.

Getting all the gear together.