Hit the trail: Day 1
We arose at first light which is 0530 in Eureka. Cloudy sky and cool temps, we walked across the street for breakfast. With bellies full of omelets and heuvos rancheros we returned to prep the bikes for the ride. We had left them on the trailer for security the night before. Paranoid, a little, but we sure didn't want to have come all this way to lose the bikes now. It took about an hour for loading and last minute checks and by about 0800 we were ready to roll. The border was a short 10 minute ride and a good way to test our cold weather layering since it was 50 degrees. We didn't cross into Canada because Perry didn't have a passport and the Canadians frown rather severely on some of the specialized equipment we were carrying.
We said our goodbyes and rode south. We by passed the first bit of the defined trail because it was nothing more than a loop around the airport. We aren't into the purest aspect of following the defined route and as you will see we deviated from time to time if it was to our advantage and made sense for our plan. South of Eureka we started with a nice bit of twisty paved road through some tree covered hills. At the end of this section I encountered the first of many routing challenges using Mapsource 2008 as the base in my Zumo 550 GPS unit. We were routed onto a small dirt trail and it soon became apparent that it was not correct. The road disappeared but it was obvious that at one time it had connected to the main highway. This would happen several times throughout the trip due to the map data being WAY past it's prime. It kept things interesting.
After our little misdirection we crossed back over the main highway and hit the first dirt of the trip. Heading almost due east we would continue until we reached the western edge of Glacier National Park. It was cloudy, had rained the night before which was nice to keep the dust down a bit.
The first obstacle we would encounter. Is this all you got?
Piece of cake.
Our first break would be in an area of a previous wildfire. It's a bit eerie feeling with all the dead standing timber but one of the many diverse environments we would find ourselves in over the next week.
This is a good time to introduce our mascot for the trip. We call him monkey. He's quite the motorcycle enthusiast and has accompanied us on many of our previous adventures. He was happy to come along on this one too.
This was at the first major intersection after getting on dirt. You can tell we were heading pretty much due east as we are still 6 miles from the border. Right after we made the turn south we met a Border Patrol truck heading north with lights flashing and in a hurry. Someone must have been smuggling donuts and LaBlatt Blue across the border.
There were so many lakes it wasn't possible to stop at all of them. So many beautiful vistas if we stopped to take pictures we would still be riding. Not a bad idea if you can pull it off but we didn't have the time to stop at every photo op on this trip.
Here is a shot of Perry along the west edge of Glacier National Park.
We pulled into a campground to get a view of this lake. I was getting a picture when Perry told me to look his way. Over his shoulder were two women standing at the side of a pickup truck pulling their clothes on. So, we dubbed this place Naked Lady Lake.
Here is the track profile for the first section of the ride just to show the elevation change.
We dropped down into Whitefish and topped of fuel tanks. We would do this at most every opportunity, just to be safe. From there it was a series of paved roads for quite a while. I'm sure they were dirt when the route was developed but like in so many other places all the good dirt roads get paved when more people move onto them. No matter, the countryside was wonderful.
As we were passing through Columbia Falls we encountered the next mapping SNAFU. We were supposed to go here.....
I'll take blame for this one. When planning the trip I combined the GPS tracks from the American Cycling Association and a couple of tracks I had pulled off of ADV and made some other additions based on things I wanted to see and do. In the process of rerouting I would try and check to make sure thinks like this didn't happen. But no problem. I just had to hit Detour on the Zumo and we were back on track in to time.
I believe this was crossing the Swan River.
We would take many of the same picture due to the nature of riding. You stop and the cameras come out.
In the Cold Creek area we ran into a nice little section of single track. Obstacles to keep cages out.
After checking the other side of the hump we went for it. Perry's KLR high centered a little but he was able to roll it on over. The added center stand made a nice hard point to teeter on. A little bit up the trail there was a good place to take a break.
This was the typical mid day snack for us. Summer sausage, pepper jack cheese, peanut M&M's, and Wheat Thins. Perry was seldom without his Diet Dew. I tried to stick with water but took a swig of Dew occasionally as it was always offered.
The stream provided a good opportunity to clean the face shield. Perry had not yet learned to drop back enough in the dust. That would change the next day as the dust would get worse in some sections.
This shortly after we broke out from the single track and got back on the road. I saw this over my shoulder and just had to stop.
As we got to the paved highway I consulted Karen, the young lady in my GPS with the friendly Australian accent, if she knew of any restaurants nearby. A mile away was a place called The Hungry Bear. So, we took her advice and ended up here.
It was 445 pm and the restaurant didn't open till 5 so we stepped into the bar.
We were just strolling through checking out the decor when a couple stood up and asked us, "Are you firefighters?" We were both a little stunned because we both are firefighters but were wearing nothing that said so. Perry, the more diplomatic one, politely asked how she could tell. They said by the boots and the baggy pants we were wearing. Huh? We both wore motocross boots and mesh over pants designed for street riding. But we also both wear suspenders. It was starting to make a little more sense. So we started having a conversation when another guy gets of his stool and offer to buy us a drink.
Nice folks.
I asked the bartender what they had and as she went through the list I heard what I had intended on looking for this trip. A local brew call Moose Drool. It was wonderful. Rich and slightly sweet, very smooth.
The bar was loaded with dead heads and even full dead critters. Nice bit of woodsy charm.
And more over the table we were seated at.
And to top it all off it was Friday which meant 13 dollar prime rib.
Oh, yeah, it was delicious. With our bellies full we had a few more hours of daylight so we rode on with a campsite in mind. We ended up in Seely Lake, a small village with all the amenities you could need. Perry wanted a shower so we checked at the Seely Lake Motor Lodge.
No rooms available but we were offered a spot to camp behind the lodge for $5 each and showers for $1.50. Deal! We pulled the bikes up onto a grassy knoll and hopped off. Before I could get started setting up camp I heard Perry calling for help, but he was laughing at the same time. This is what presented itself.
Mega Wedgie.
He had gotten hung up when a buckle on his Camelback got tangled with the cargo net holding his gear on leaving him hanging right next to his bike and he couldn't get loose. This is when friends come in handy. I came to the rescue and got him unhooked without damage to him or the bikes equipment. The camp ended up being a nice spot.
We even had time to relax a bit after the day's ride.
Total for the first day of 257 miles. Tomorrow will have cows, tunnels and ghost towns.