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Today we were running from the rain, enjoying the plains and biking our longest day of almost 84 miles. We are in a hotel in Chinook tonight and the town  is quite small .

today we headed out with a tailwind. We are now in the plains with only very tiny view of the beautiful Rockies . I believe we can see the hills of Canada to our left. We had a pretty sky today. We had second breakfast in Shelby. Very small town. It was where the Jack Dempsey and  Tommy Gibbons fought. The town thought it was going to make a bundle and loaned money to investors but they could sell tickets and 4 banks went bankrupt from lending money out to make a profit and that did not happen.

we left there and cane to a toad that was under construction for 8 miles. It actually slowed the speeding trucks down and the rest of the way was easy.

We had a nice tail wind today- not as strong as yesterday but still nice to have. We are in the small town of Chester. It has a laundromat and a couple of options for dinner do we are all set..

 

We knew there would be a good tail wind today so many took time for breakfast at 6:30 and then headed out.  Before we could enjoy the tail wind we had a 5 mile  climb at a 7% grade.  On the way up we stopped to see a  site with sculptures of tipis and history about the Blackfeet native Indians that lived in the area.  There was also information about the fire in 2003 that destroyed 34,000 acres of forest.  New growth can be seen but it is slow.

We started our downhill and were soon in the high plains.  It was great to have the Rockies and all the climbing behind us but we will miss the mountains beauty.  As we headed on east toward Cut Bank, our destination for the night, we had a 20 to 30 mph tail wind.  We could coast and be going 20 but pedaling we would go 25+.  We went through only one town, Browning, where we had subway for lunch.  Browning is in the Blackfoot Indian reservation. 

After we arrived in Cut Bank we learned that the people here believe it is one of the coldest spots in the US.  I think the jury is still out on that?

It was a great, and FAST, day!

 

Bicycles are only allowed on “Going to the Sun” road from where we are staying to the top at Logan’s Pass until 11am.  So after a quick PBJ breakfast we were on the road by 6.  The climb up to the pass was a 16 mile consistent 6% grade; very doable.  It was cool but the sun was coming up and it turned into a beautiful day.  When we reached the top it was very windy and coming down a side wind pushed us around making it a bit uncomfortable.  Scenic highlights of the ride included Heavens Gate mountain, at 8,900 feet one of the tallest in Glacier National Park.  We also rode past the “Weeping Wall” which is a rock cliff next to the road having a continuous waterfalls nearly the length of a football field.  On our descent from Logan’s pass the scenery changed substantially from rocky cliffs with snow and waterfalls to greener valleys.  Halfway down I saw a grizzly bear run across the road just behind 3 of our riders.  I was about 50 feet behind them when it happened.  The bear ran into the brush on the other side and a rider behind me got a picture of it.  When I told the riders who it went behind they were totally unaware that it had come so close to them! Really ? Anyway ,Great day,Great ride!

Today we had off! What a wonderful place to be Glacier. This morning we took a ranger hike up to Avalanche Lake following the creamy blue glacier Avalanche River. The lake has been formed by steep canyons that had avalanches into the lake almost every year. There is snow at the top of the 8000 foot mountains and they create beautiful waterfalls. It is quite serene .  In the afternoon we rented an aluminum boat and traveled around the perimeter of Lake McDonald viewing beautiful more beautiful mountains and their reflections in the lake. To top off the night we went to a program about the building of the Road to the Sun road. Tomorrow we bike it!

We got up early today to beat the rain and get to Glacier National Park before the curfew of 11am of not biking in the park. I guess they enforce this rule as there is so much traffic in the park and no shoulder for biking so it is hard for vehicles to pass.Needless to say, I was kind of tired and didn’t wake up til 6:15 and had to rush to get out but we left around 7 ish with very cloudy skies, but it was a nice ride north with the Rocky Mts with low hanging clouds to our right. They were still majestic. The rain caught us about 10 miles from the park but we were prepared with rain jackets so we were ok. We got to the part of the park that has the curfew and it was 10:50 but we figured we would enter anyway as as there was some confusion amongst some of the rangers if there was a curfew . It was drizzling and only had 8 miles to ride and it was slightly downhill and we averaged 19/20 so we made it to our motel by 11:30 without any incident. Whew! I guess they could confiscate your bike if caught.
The McDonald lodge hotel is on the lake and we took a walking tour of the lake led by a park ranger. The lake is pretty long and surrounded by hills and mts. Tomorrow we have off and hope to explore the area.

today was about beating the rain. We got up early as the forecast for late morning was showers. We started from our hotel to the Exxon gas station where I had a homemade glazed donut and OJ! Yum! We headed out and saw many deer and a freight train go under the bridge we were on. We made it to Plains where we stopped at the Butcher, deli and bakery all in one and had another donut which was actually just as delicious!!! We got a deli sandwich to go and headed up what I called “Devils Tower” straight  up, plateau, straight down. After that we had a few heartbeat hills and we arrived in Hot Springs where our hotel has a couple of hot mineral spring pools that are 90 plus degrees!

June 20 Northern Tier Wallace , Idaho- Thompson Falls, Mt 59 miles

Woohoo, we are in Montana! Up, up and away through 2 passes which sound like a cut through to the other side of a mountain but, nope, it’s a Lot of pedaling!!!First was Dobson at 4,118 ft. Second was Thompson at 4,850. I listened to a lot of music as I was moving slower than butterflies! But it was beautiful ! Beautiful tall pine trees,  clear babbling streams, a moose in a pond eating greens, clean mountain air and only a few cars! Plus we have a nice dinner in town accompanied by guitar music, a pretty rainbow and sunset at Thompson Falls! It’s all good! 

Today was a choice of many trails to the destination. We decided to take a ride from the top of the lake to the southern dude of the lake and ride the Coeur D’Alene Trail from Plummer to Wallace. It was a great choice. The rail trail was nice and flat and all along the lake and marshes. We passed over many bridges, saw a lot of birds, lots of boat houses, and many homes along the trail. The temperature was in the 70’s with a slight wind. The sky was blue and the swallows were chasing bugs along the trail as we passed by.  For dinner we ate BBQ and after we walked back to hotel and saw a mother and baby moose along the way. It was a nice day!