Today we took a rest day, we hung around after sleeping in at the Big Larch Campgrounds. A day to do laundry, ride to town for groceries and swim in Seely lake itself. I checked over the bikes, lubing chains and adjusting brakes.
It felt great to not HAVE to ride today!
Todays stats;
saddle time 42min 41sec
average spd 11.2 max 19.3
dist 8mi total dist 420.9
climb 1,200ft tot climb 31,800ft
Wed 7-16-2003 Seely Lake to Big Nelson Campgrounds on Cooper Lake
Even before we started I had to fix a flat this morning! Still we left at 0800 on a sunny day. It turned out to be soo hot! We climbed along the dirt roads up to the Cottonwood Lakes where we startled a great blue heron as we came around a corner.
After passing the Monture Work Center we left the Lolo National forest and entered agricultural valleys. We had to cross one valley floor with no trees in the hot sun that took us at least and hour. Upon reaching the shade ot the trees on the other side I pulled out my rain fly and we laid upon it waiting away the heat of the day.
Even though we were only a few yards from the side of the road the guy spraying for noxious weeds did not stop spraying as he passed! Of the few cars to pass noone stopped to ask if we were ok. So as time went by we shifted our position to stay in the rotating shade and talked of cold drinks and ice cream in the intense heat.
After a couple of hours we packed up and left headed to camp on a dusty hot dirt road. At one point while I was in the lead a truck passed by without slowing filling the air with foul dust. Some half mile later as I rounded a bend I saw the same truck pulled over. I thought he was checking his mail when out he gets and says to me " I am sorry for all the dust, would you like a popsicle?" Well I could not believe it and of course enthusiasticly said yes! As he was getting them out of his cooler Lynn arrived to which he also offered a cold popsicle. As we stood there sucking them down he explained that he was heading home after grocery shopping, hence the bag of popsicles. Turns out he is a trainer of sled dogs and his family moved here to do just this.
It was not much further to Cooper Lake where the camp is nestled on the shore. We set up camp and rinsed clothes cooked dinner and swam in the warm lake, Since we had seen bear tracks earlier in the day we made sure to do a bear hang, this time out over the water.
Stats;
saddle time 4:31:56
avg spd 9.1
max spd 29.1
dist 41.3
tot dist 464.9
climb 2,580
tot climb 34,300
Thurs, 7-17-2003 Cooper Lake to Lincoln
It was an early 0730 start on a cloudless day! We were to find out on our arrival in Helena that Montana was experiencing its worst heat wave in many years. Sometimes ignorance is bliss!
We spotted deer in the marsh and had a 2 mile ride from the camp to the road. Once there it was a 6 mile climb to the top of Hucklberry Pass, which we accomplished by noon.
Our typical day would consist of up at maybe 630 eat oatmeal and break camp and start off riding. We would stop to rest and pee together and to take pictures. A Cliff bar break always occured around 10 to 11 am followed by more riding and a lunch of bagles with peanutbutter and honey.
Then more riding and another Cliff bar around 2-3pm and usually around 4-5pm we would roll into camp. Here we set up tent and bags do wash or pump water and cook dinner. Dinner usually consisted of some type of storebought dry food like Lipton's rice or pasta sides. So all we had to do was boil up water and simmer. Sometimes after leaving a town we would have a piece of fresh fruit with our lunch.
But I digress, on the way to Lincoln on the HOT day we encountered a fellow on on old Shwinn 10spd riding out in the Helena National Forest which we had now entered. He was about 10 miles from town and carried no water. He said he just drank out of the creeks......
Lincoln, Montana used to be the home of the Unabomber. There is not much there I can see why he picked this town. By the time we arrived it was 96 degrees F! So tinto the only place in town the Subway/store/gas station! Hey they had a/c in there! So we spent the next hour and a half eating and writing postcards in the relative cool of the Subway.
After recovering enough to go out and about Lynn and I took in the sights about town and in the sporting goods shop we met a Dutch couple who were doing the Divide going South to North.
We then found camp for the night at the towns Hooper Park that was setting up for the big flea market the next day. After setting up camp we went grocery shopping and the kind lady gave us some free fruit!!
Back at camp we ran into another Divide rider going solo named Alvin. He had left his food in his tent and the critters had gnawed a hole into his tent to get at it.
In a town an I am not cooking dinner so I went to the Pitstop a 50's themed restaurant where I had the 4cyl burger and a huckleberry cone. The cone was sooo good when I got back to camp I made Lynn ride over and get one! At $1.50 and they were HUGE!
Stats;
saddle time 2:57:46
avg spd 7.6
mx spd 30.9
dist 22.5
tot dist 489.6
climb 2,250ft
tot climb 36,400ft
