Dinosaurs on Wheels

So we started off this morning well, from our encampment at the Riverside Inn, clothes washed, warmed up considerably.  We had a nice breakfast at the Ennis Sunrise Cafe, a nice family run place that serves a great breakfast combo.  We talked to the owner, Chef Ryan, and he had bought the Cafe about a year ago.  You could tell he really loves the work; he had a restaurant in another nearby town, but always loved Ennis.  The state bought up his property to widen a highway, and this Cafe went for sale, so it all came together for him.  I don't know about his other meals, but his breakfast was great. Our cabin at the Riverside Inn We knew that today we would have a relatively easy day.  It was 72 miles to get into our target - West Yellowstone, and a steady climb, no high passes.  We took off and I was not very happy with the Montana highway department this time around.  The highway was busy, but they had a shoulder of about 4 feet.  2 feet of w...

Well, who would have guessed that what we would be facing as we cross America in the last few days before summer begins would be - hypothermia?   We are getting closer and closer to West Yellowstone, the aim of this part of the trip.  We hope to make it by tomorrow evening.  Today took us from Dillon, Montana, over to Ennis.  Last night we stayed at the generic FairBridge Inn, located on the edge of town.  We had a nice dinner at Sparky's, a car-themed restaurant.  By the time we left dinner, it was, you guessed it, raining.  All during the night it came down in buckets.  We left a little bit late this morning, trying to wait out some of this rain.  Sorry, that's just not going to work.  We took off and rode on down the road from Dillon toward Twin Bridges, about 30 miles away.  After 30 miles and about 10 wardrobe changes (rain pants on, rain pants off, jackets on, second pair of gloves applied, etc.) trying to regulate our te...

Today we opted for a short day, only 51 miles.  I'm glad we did, because the only other option was to go another 50 miles down the road.  There is little between towns here, so options, including dry options like hotels, only exist in certain places.  We've been planning and re-planning, over and over all week, to try to figure out how to get into West Yellowstone, the next big target on our trip.  The problem we had was that we could have done this in 3 days, but all 3 days would have been 90 to 100+ days, and we're going through cold and rainy weather that rivals winter at home.  So today we left our bunkhouse in Jackson, headed toward the (relatively) big town of Dillon.   All day as we rode, we were either in a drizzly rain, or not far from it.  As we rode through the Big Hole Valley, the mountains on both sides of us were inundated with ominous clouds.  The forecast for Jackson, where we were leaving, called for snow within the next day....

Our place at the Mountain Spirit Inn, and yeah, it was cold We woke up this morning at the Mountain Spirit Inn in Darby, MT to a very cold morning.  It was in the 30's, and in some neighboring areas it had snowed.  We are still looking up at mountain tops that are covered in snow and some are accumulating more.  Welcome to June in Montana. Metal sculptures for sale in Darby Knowing the nature of our ride today, we went to the local convenience store to pick up something for breakfast, and a sandwich for lunch.  Pat picked up a jacket to supplement the dearth of cold weather gear he brought.  He keeps picking up stuff as I try to get rid of items.  I tossed a couple of things on Sunday, including a complicated light system that had to be charged with a specific charger, the battery, and all weighed too much.  I replaced it with a little USB-recharge-able light "stick" found on sale Saturday in Missoula.  Much better.   Our route today was...

Today was a day that started off strong and ended with a whimper.  We left Missoula today after breakfasting on a fine meal from that Scottish restaurant with the Golden Arches, munched on in our room at the Campus Inn. Calories are calories. As we were leaving the hotel and it was raining so we donned our best rain apparel, including the new items purchased yesterday such as the new seat cover, the new waterproof gloves, and the new shoe covers. Of course within 10 minutes we were removing half the items as it grew warmer and drier eventually immediately.  We went back through Lolo and ride south, headed eventually toward Yellowstone Park within the week. We felt very happy that the state of Montana has seen fit to provide bike only lanes from Missoula all the way to Hamilton, a nice 45 mile off-the-highway path. Thanks Montana, you put the state of Ohio to shame. E we’re taking along in a very nice valley between two separate sides of the Bitterroot range. Because of these s...

Friday morning, and we departed the Lochsa Lodge after the nice night spent in the rented cabin near the Lochsa River.  We were promised a "steep climb out of the valley," out of the Bitterroot Mountains.  The Lolo Pass is where the Corp of Discovery, the Lewis and Clark Expedition traveled through on the way to the ocean.  Of course, the Corp didn't listen to the advice of the Nez Perce Indians and left the mountains before the last of the snows were gone.  Bad move, and they got stuck in the mud and almost starved to death.  We listened to the experts and followed the map and didn't leave until the last of the snow was (hopefully) gone.   The lovely Lochsa Lodge Up we went, to the top of the Pass.  It was a beautiful day, and the Pass came about 14 miles into the 56 mile day.  We stopped at the Lolo Pass visitor's center, but of course it was closed.  We met a family and their Great Dane who were looking for a double waterfall called SnowSh...

No, not that Deliverance.  There were no banjoes playing or anything bad. What I mean by deliverance:  Some days I feel like I am delivering this 100 pound bicycle and pack to where we're going.  Through rain, or through an arid landscape, riding along trying to get to the next stop.  The strength of our legs, along with the stubborn will to push along to the next stop.  Riding along and having a truck drive by in the rain, kicking up huge sprays.  At times like that, my focus is about 10 feet in front of my wheel, concentrating on what is immediately in my future, dragging this heavy pack to the next stop. Then there was today. Today, the bicycle delivered me to a place that was just one of the most beautiful rides in the most beautiful places I have ever been.  Only on a bicycle could I have experienced this as we did.  In a car you would have zoomed on by this, without taking in the sounds, the smells, the experience, that only a bicycle can de...