Blogs from Montana, United States, North America - page 6

Another great day on a bike! We woke up early and broke camp with enthusiasm. Pat , Becky and I were on the road about 7:10 and as per the last week we had very little wind to contend with. The route from Darby to Missoula is basically downhill and we were able to make great time. We covered 66 miles in about 4 hours and 40 minutes which is one of the fastest of my tour. The serendipity is that we were able to ride on a bike path for the last 48 miles which really made for an enjoyable day. Although the scenery was very pretty, it was very similar to the last few days in the Bitterroot Valley. Once arriving in Missoula, we went to the Mecca of bicycle touring, Adventure Cycling Headquarters. ... read more

This was another great day off. I slept in to 7am. Then I moseyed over to the Crossing Restaurant and settled in with seven other riders going every which way. Maurice and Fran were going west. Lloyd and David were headed west as well. Ed and Mike going east and Paul and his dog were going east. I felt bad that I was going to cool my heels today, although I guess I could have gotten up with Pat and done his 50 mile fun ride at dawn. Really, he did. Nope R & R for me. About noon, I jumped in the back seat of Jane and Pat’s Surbaban and we drove a beautiful 120 mile loop on Hwy 43 around the Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest. It was absolutely beautiful. Once again during the drive we ... read more

Planning this trip was a whirlwind; whether or not we were going anywhere was uncertain until about 3 weeks before today, but after quickly renewing Swathi's passport and booking some last-second flights, hotels, and campgrounds, we made it happen. The first leg of the journey was an early morning flight from Cleveland which landed at Glacier Park Airport (probably the smallest airport I've ever visited) in beautiful Kalispell, MT just before noon. Immediately, we headed to the local Walmart to stock up for the 6 nights of camping ahead of us. Just a few hours in Montana was enough to validate some stereotypes about rural Western America - we passed multiple trucks with the word "Jesus" or the Ten Commandments proudly displayed, and I counted at least four people, two of whom had young children with ... read more

Today we had another short ride to Virginia City. We did have one major 1800’ climb, and then it was all downhill to the RV Campsite where Jane had reserved a spot. ( Once again I have been able to set up my tent at their campsite.) This gave us time to explore historic Virginia City. One great thing about low mileage days is the opportunity to be a tourist. Virginia City grew as a result of a Gold Strike in Alder Gulch in 1863, and within months the city exploded to 20,000 prospectors, business owners, prostitutes and thieves. Everything except lawmen. It became a lawless town, and robbery and murder became commonplace. Vigilante Justice was the way justice was done. Finally Congress declared the region as Montana Territory, and the bill was signed by President ... read more

As a pure coincidence, it turns out Pat and I are both ahead of schedule. He is meeting his daughter Becky, and I am meeting Bruce Tipton in Missoula on July 30. That gives us several extra days to get to Missoula. We decided to just do fewer miles per day and enjoy the sightseeing. Today was the first, and we easy peddled to a campground called Driftwater Resort, situated about 37 miles from our start. We spent most of the day riding along Hebgen Lake, and it was just beautiful. In 1959, a 7.5 Earthquake centered on the lake caused 28 fatalities and a huge landslide that blocked the Madison River thus creating a new lake called earthquake lake. There were numerous turnouts and side trips that allowed us to see how the earthquake altered ... read more