Into The Big Sky Country

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Oh Montana!!!!! I am quite sure that God spent extra time creating Montana. We rode from Clark Fork Idaho to Libby Montana today. It was 68.6 miles, 2,861 feet of elevation gain and maximum grade was 6%. Every corner we rounded and every hill we crested (there were a lot of them!), we had to stop to take a picture. I know Minnesota is called the land of 10,000 lakes but I have never seen as much water in lakes and rivers as I have seen in north eastern Washington, northern Idaho and now especially in northwestern Montana. Our route followed a river the entire day and snowcapped mountains were everywhere. Kevin was fishing many times along the way. He did not catch anything but the scenery made for a great time. We stopped for lunch at a little restaurant in the middle of nowhere Montana called Halfway House Bar and Grill. It started over 125 years ago as a rest stop and halfway point for people and horses traveling from Noxon and Troy Montana. Bull Lake which is close to the restaurant was considered halfway between the Clark Fork River and Kootenai River. This was called the Great Northern Tote Road and there were several stopping points along the way and set up next to homesteads. These were to allow people to rest and horses to feed. We saw one of these places before we reached the restaurant and took pictures not knowing the history at that time. The route was very hilly and tiring but the scenery kept me going. I was so grateful for warmer weather and sunshine most of the day. Kevin followed us most of the day and while he was waiting for us to catch up to him, of course he would throw a line into a lake or river. We met up with Gale and Margaret at the pull out for the Kootenai Falls and Swinging Bridge. They had already gone down to the swinging bridge but not the falls. Kevin did hike down to the falls and took some beautiful pictures of these falls. The trail to the falls is about ¼ mile over a swinging bridge. Barry, Phil and I still had another 11 miles to ride in order to get to Libby Montana. When we crossed over into Montana we moved into Mountain Time which meant we lost an hour of riding. That being said we did not see the falls but kept riding. I do think Montana is God’s Country. Things look so different or perhaps you just see more when you are riding a bike through this gorgeous country. “Oh Lord, How great are your works” Psalm 92:5 I thought about this verse all day and was filled with joy looking at these wonderful things.

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Photos

Getting ready to leave Clark Fork ID
The owner of the Hotel took the picture with her dog in fore ground

Comments

[Jan Hoover]

Beautiful falls!
You write such a nice Blog, really enjoying. Beautiful pictures as usual.