Moving to Montana Soon

Cambridge is situated along the Weiser River. Yes, Kathy and Marty, the Weiser. There used to be a train track that ran along the Weiser, of which 84 miles have been turned into a gravel trail suitable for hikers, bikers and horse riders. As our next destination was to be New Meadows and the trail ran for 44 of the 48 miles from Cambridge to New Meadows, we decided we would at least try the trail for part of the way.

We left Cambridge on Monday the 13th, just as it was starting to rain. As we donned our rain gear, we confirmed our decision from the previous day. We had asked a few locals about the trail condition and had been advised that it may be a little soft but with the wide touring tires on our bike it should not be a problem, even if wet. So off we went on the Weiser River Trail in full rain gear and a steady drizzle. We were pleasantly surprised to find a firm if not slightly rough gravel surface, firm bottoms to the rain puddles, and the tires only made small impressions where the gravel was thin. We progressed well, although slower than on the highway, enjoying no adjacent traffic, much wildlife (deer, quail, turkey) and an occasional glimpse of potentially brightening skies that would quickly disappear. Small streams would at times pass beneath us as we crossed over refurbished rail bridges, fed by the rains that had been falling for the past several days, including this day.

As we came to a small grove of trees just short of the next bridge, I could see that the gravel was getting thin and our tires were beginning to make bigger impressions. Pedaling and steering became more difficult and we struggled to keep our momentum and direction. After fighting both issues for a little ways, it became impossible to steer, the mud had caked around the fork and was beginning to fill the chains. We stopped and began pushing, which was almost as difficult since the mud continued to suck at the wheels and build up on the brakes/frame. On top of that, we couldn't get good footing. With both of us pushing for at least 50 yards, we finally got onto a firm surface again and surveyed the situation: unrideable until we clean it up some.

So how do you clean up a really muddy bike without a water hose? Use your handy collapsible bucket and water from the river. Getting down to the river was a bit of a problem where we were at, so we pushed the bike along for a while until we found a spot where I could get to the water and pass the bucket up to Teresa, who then poured it over the brakes, tires, chains, etc. After several buckets full, we had cleaned it off well enough to ride.

Praying we would not run into a similar situation again, but very wary of the potential for muddy conditions, we continued along our way. Not far up the path, we entered an open range area where cattle could cross the path freely. We passed a gravel road and entered another bridge and saw a small herd of cattle, probably about 15, resting on the path at the other end. I had once had an opportunity to herd some escaped dairy cattle down a country road near Modesto during one of our training rides (Teresa did not appreciate it at the time), so I just started hollering at them to get up and get moving, which they did. Slowly advancing on them and continuing to shout - yipee ti o ti ay - we gradually moved them ahead of us. Every few steps, they would look back to see if we were still coming and, seeing that we were, they would trot and moo forward. This lasted for a couple hundred yards, until finally a clearing opened and they could get off the path and we could return to our normal trail progress.

It wasn't much farther, however, and we ran into the second stretch of mud. Hoping that it wouldn't be as bad as the first we again pedaled as hard as we could to try to get across it without stopping. But no, stretch was too long and the bike again filled up with mud. So we went through the motions again: push the bike to a spot along the river where we could get to water; fill the bucket; pour it on and wash it down; fill it again; and so on. Finally clean enough, we pushed on. When we started to mire the third time, it was getting pretty irritating and I was losing my cool. However, before it got too bad, we found our way out of it without harm.

We were now determined to get off the trail as soon as the opportunity presented itself (we hadn't had a chance to get to the main highway since we got on the trail). After 16 miles, and 3 hours, we reached a point that ran within 20 yards of the highway, and we left the trail. 4 miles and about 15 minutes later, we arrived in the town of Council, had lunch and coffee, and agreed that we were glad we took the trail for the experience, but would avoid trails during wet weather in the future.

So we pushed on from Council, continuing to follow the Weiser most of the way to New Meadows. The scenery was spectacular through the wooded hills/mountains, and occasionally we could spy the trail running alongside us or under us as we crossed over the river from time to time. There were a couple of canyons we passed through with very narrow or non-existent road shoulders that we would have preferred to be on the trail for if the conditions would have been
better, but as it was the traffic was light and drivers very courteous/patient.

We finally arrived in New Meadows and contacted a campground 4 further up the road to see if they had vacancies and groceries: no groceries, but plenty of room. So we bought groceries in town and rode the final 4 miles to Zim's Hot Springs, totalling about 53 miles for the day. Nice old log cabin lodge, two hot spring pools of 96 and 105 degrees F, showers, and the only other camper was an RV. Camping was $10 and it was $5 each to use the pools, showers, etc. We set up camp, showered and spa'd, cooked dinner, gave the bike a very good cleaning, and planned our next several days. By the way, if anyone is interested, Zims is a great opportunity if you can wrest it from the family that has owned it forever. Needs considerable updating, a good marketing plan and connections with all the outdoor activities that take place nearby (fishing, hunting, rafting, skiing, etc). Could be a really great attraction catering to many interests, including those who just want to spa and relax.

The plan we evolved was to hit it hard for the next four days to make it into Missoula, MT by Friday. Two reasons: the services were very limited between Grangeville and Missoula; and we needed to get the bike worked on in Missoula. We had 260 miles to cover to get to Missoula, which would have been 5 of our usual days. 5 days would have landed us in Missoula on Saturday. Bike shops generally don't service bikes over the weekend, so if we didn't get to Missoula by Friday, we would have to wait until Monday for service and probably not ride until Tuesday. Too much down time in Missoula, we wanted to save that for Glacier NP. So, to get there by Friday, and to incorporate the issue about limited services, we agreed try to ride 63 miles on Tuesday to White Bird (mostly downhill), 72 miles on Wednesday to Lowell (3000' climb at the beginning of the day), 66 miles to Powell Junction on Thursday (3000' of gradual climb), and the remaining 61 miles to Missoula on Friday (with 2000' climb over Lolo Pass to start the day).

Fortunately, the first three days proved to be very good weather-wise. If fact, Tuesday grew rather warm, hitting almost 80 (warmest we had seen since we started the trip). Leaving New Meadows, we cruised downhill along the Little Salmon River for an hour, covering good distance before second breakfast. As we approached Riggins, the Little Salmon joined the Salmon, a very powerful and fast-moving river. It was salmon season, and the sides of the roads were often full of parked vehicles owned by the horde of fishermen in the area. I understand the catch had been good up until that day, when the weather turned warm. The rainy, cool weather that had been our bane had been good for fishing. We continued to follow the Salmon all the way down to White Bird, a small town that has been there forever and is famous for the nearby battlefield where the Nez Perce Indians defeated the U.S. army who was chasing them north as they tried to escape into Canada instead of being put into reservations. We found a great little RV park to setup our tent between the river and the gazebo (in case it rained during our meal).

Wednesday morning, after breakfast at the Silver Dollar in White Bird, we left the Salmon and began the 3000', 13 mile climb up White Bird Hill. Fortunately Old Hwy 95 is still quite passable so we did not have to use the new highway, which is very steep and without a good shoulder. While about 3 miles longer, the old highway is the best way for bikes: the grade is less than 7%, the view is terrific, and there is zero traffic. We saw one car the whole way up, which took us about 2 and a half hours to complete. Cresting at about 4200', we descended into Grangeville for lunch, then took the steep and winding Harpster Grade down to the South Fork of the Clearwater River and Hwy 13. Following the gradual descent of the river in Kooskia was delightful, and coffee and groceries awaited us there. Since this was our last point to stock up on supplies before the section of limited services, we made sure we had plenty of snacks, oatmeal, bananas and a full dinner.

From Kooskia we joined US 12 and turned upstream on the Middle Fork of the Clearwater. We had been warned about heavy truck traffic and poor shoulders on this road, so we were quite concerned and alert. Surprisingly, this was one of the lightest trafficked highways we have been on. We ended the day at the point where the Lochsa and Selway Rivers join to form the Middle Fork of the Clearwater, called Lowell, staying at the Three Rivers RV Park and enjoying a hugely delicious and filling BBQ rib dinner. We had earned it, after 72 miles and the big climb at the start of the day.

Thursday was spent riding up the Lochsa River for 66 miles. They were right, no services, although there were a few campgrounds. A really neat old ranger station and museum provided a place for our second breakfast of bagels with peanut butter and a banana. There was a 23 mile construction zone which slowed us a little and provided some good jolts where the road had been cut across, and three places where construction reduced the road to one lane with pilot vehicles taking each direction through in turn. They are shoring up the edge of the road which is eroding into the river, by digging everything out, then placing steel cages at the edge and filling them with rock, over which they add fill and then pavement/shoulder material. Hope it works, and hope they can add a little shoulder in the process. Perhaps this had something to do with the little traffic. Perhaps the economy, too.

We were well pleased when we reached Powell Junction. We were able to stay in a USFS campground with electric hookups (charge our electronics) and walk a couple hundred yards to the Lochsa Lodge for showers and beers. The best of both worlds. We iced our weary legs in the ice cold snow melt water of the Lochsa, cooked dinner, and hit the sack.

It was raining slightly when we awoke, but quit before we got out of the tent. After our usual oatmeal and banana first breakfast, we loaded up and left for the 13 mile 2000' climb to Lolo Pass at just over 5200'. We had eaten just about all food except for the snacks we had planned for the day, so we were as light as we could be. Although the sky threatened, the climb was dry and very light with traffic, a real blessing. We reached the summit in a little over two hours and crossed over into Montana, leaving Idaho and its very beautiful rivers behind. We had planned to have second breakfast at the resort at Lolo Hot

Springs, about 10 miles down from the summit in Montana. What a disappointment. I guess hard times have hit there, too, because the menu literally sucked. Most money we spent for a bad sandwich on the whole trip.

As we left the hot springs, the rain began so we donned our rain gear once again and didn't take it off until we reach Missoula, about 35 miles later. Only other stop of interest was at the Traveler's Rest State Park, an historic and archaeological park associated with a camp used by the Lewis and Clark expedition so many years ago, and which is very prominent in the entire region. However, with the rain and the need to get to Missoula in time to get the bike to the shop, we didn't remain long.

We arrived in Missoula around 3pm, a bit earlier than we had first expected, and so we went straight to the offices of the Adventure Cycling Association, of which we are members and who provided the maps and routing that we are using for this adventure. They receive bicycle travelers by taking their pictures, providing ice cream, internet service, local motel and bike shop information, and tours. They were intrigued by our gear set-up, and asked us to go out back where they take black and whites of bikes and riders for potential use in their magazine. As we complete our trip and our story, perhaps we will one day also appear in the mag.

We found a motel close by for a good rate, cleaned up quickly and got the bike to the Bike Doctor around 4:30. He looked it over, we agreed on the work to be done, and he said go get a beer or a coffee and come back around six. We got coffee at a nearby Safeway (Tully's coffee), made some phone calls and emails, then got back there at six. He was still working on it, but the shop was heading into TGIF mode, and so they offered us a beer as we waited. I love these guys! One beer later (darn it) they had the bike ready to go, and so we went.

After 8 days on the road, and 310 miles in the previous 5 days, we had earned another day of rest. Our "day off" in Missoula, Saturday, was anything but: Laundry, grocery shopping, errands, cleaning the bike (a total mess after the rain and road crap on Friday) and trying to get to the blog, plus running into other bikers and trading stories, etc. We also had to fit in Mass at 5pm. Got everything done except the blog, which is what I am catching up on now on Sunday evening after riding 55 miles to Seeley Lake, sitting outside the motel portion of the Seeley Lake Motor Lodge that we are camping at ($13.70 including showers and wi-fi) because the wi-fi doesn't quite reach the campground and I also need a power outlet. We did meet a really great touring couple, Steve and Sherri, who are from New Mexico and are biking there to Eugene and have done lots of touring in the past. They arrived at our motel Saturday early afternoon and saw our bike drying outside, which led to a conversation and eventually having dinner together. Great meal and conversation, and once again a late evening trying to post what Teresa had written several days before. Yes, a well deserved day of rest.

Today, we managed to avoid any rain during our ride, although it threatened often and is spitting again even now at 9pm. One cool thing we ran into unexpectedly today was after about 3 hours of riding, it was time for lunch and a good break. As we came down a long grade and reached the bottom we crossed the Blackfoot River. Upstream we saw a bunch of numbers hanging over the water, with striped pipes hanging down from them: a kayak race course! We pulled in to watch part of the Blackfoot Challenge kayak and canoe races, meeting some of the contestants and race coordinators. They string wires across the river from trees to hang the gates from, which takes 8 people 2 days of work to do to get them set just right. It can all come down in about an hour. Racers of all ages were participating, with several entire families competing. Quite unexpected and a totally new thing for us.

We will head to Swan Lake tomorrow, about 55 miles again, and then should be at the doorstep to Glacier by the end of the day Tuesday. We plan to spend Wed-Fri at Glacier, and will learn whether we can go over the pass there or take the detour on US2 around the park on Saturday. Not sure which we prefer: through the park is more spectacular but also about 1500' higher and definitely the nigh point of the trip - literally

Wish us luck, keep sending your comments, and especially thanks for all the prayers and blessings we have received.