A shoulder shot

Dorr Skeels campground on Hwy. 56 on the Bull River reservoir to Libby, MT.  Distance 29 miles
2:18 ride time, 4 hrs saddle time (including breaks). Total miles 352
Day 12
We had an easy (really) 29 mile ride to Libby, MT. It seemed like it was all downhill!  I think the next leg we'll be paying for that as it's up and down along Lake Koocanusa, the dammed up lake of the Kootenai River.
It is beautiful country with the Cabinet Mountains along side the road. We are in a wide valley so it's got a lot of wide open views.
We came down off Hwy. 56 to Hwy. 2 and immediately encountered construction.  It actually worked out in our favor
They had the traffic stopped to use one lane while they asphalted the other side. We decided to use the shoulder which was quite wide. We started and got ahead of the traffic going in our direction.  We sailed down the hill first down the shoulder, then in the center to avoid the trucks. The guys just smiled and waved at us and one said "nice bike".
Far different from Lorriann and Dale who were told to stay in the lane and go after the traffic. Ken's blog said that they wouldn't let him ride the day before and gave him a ride in a pickup. It pays to not ask in some cases.
Dave has had a flare up of an old rotator cuff injury. It turns out it has been sore almost since started but he hasn't been feeling it while riding until yesterday. It's been affecting his sleep at night. 

The staff at the hotel have been so nice. They gave us a ride to the urgent care center and came and picked us up. We went in to the new hospital in Libby and the doc gave him a cortisone shot in the shoulder. He mentioned that he recommended giving it a day ro settle down but also added that he is an ultra marathoner and he immediately mountain biked after getting a cortisone shot in his younger years. So we went with the more moderate recommendation of a rest day tomorrow since the numbing medicine will wear off and the shoulder will be sore. 

The mosaic was an art piece at the hospital. The artist is Kim Rust.

So we may lose the buddies we have been connecting with each night since I think they aren't ready for a rest day just yet. Although maybe we will find them again further on down the road. See you later Lorriann and Dale. We'll be reading each other's blogs.
I saw a really pretty moth that had reached the end of its lifespan. So at least it held still while I took a picture. It is a western sheep moth. Thank you to Carl who identified it.

http://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/82144-Hemileuca-eglanterina

Several folks have told us that Glacier Park had a snow storm last week that closed Logan Pass. The National Park website says that there were 60 new avalanches on the Going to the Sun Road that they will be clearing. They expect that they may be able to run shuttle busses only part way to the top starting July 1. So it looks as if we won't be going over Logan Pass (even though we are at least a week away from there) unless they really work some miracles. Of course we may be much slower than a week. Also not sure if we will be getting there around the fourth of July which could be crazy busy. 

Here is the road status. 

http://home.nps.gov/applications/glac/roadstatus/Aroadstatus.cfm

You'll have to cut and paste since my Blogger app isn't working very well right now.

There are some amazing photos of the current snowplowing. (Again you will need to cut and paste the address into your address bar).

https://m.flickr.com/#/photos/glaciernps/

Sometimes they clear the pass enough for just bikers and hikers to go through a few days prior to opening to cars. That would be ideal since we wouldn't be pressured to get to the top before 11 am (and share a narrow road with cars).

Our third state, Montana!

Monday, June 23rd
Clark Fork to Dorr Skeels Forest Service campground on Bull Lake which is a reservoir lake of the Bull River
42.5 miles average speed 10.7
(Max speed 32.4)
4 hours riding time but on the road for seven hours (we were poking along taking breaks and pics)
We have ridden 323 miles. Day 12 of our trip.
Today's ride was lovely.  We started with something that Adventure Cycling calls the "Heron Alternate". We left Clark Fork and crossed the Clark Fork River. The road was a little hilly but other than some huffing we made it without walking. Well no, we did walk once. Those river valleys are killers.
The route sheet said that the road would get very potholed. It actually just turned to a hard packed dirt once we entered Montana but it was fine to ride on with our 1.75 front tire and rear 2.0. (Read this as thick tires for those who don't know the lingo. Ok THAT'S  WHY WE DIDN'T REACH RAINY PASS...) The only problem was that when a car would come by (infrequently) the would be a checking cloud of dust. I pretended I was a cowboy on a range ride.  We're in Montana after all. The cars were very considerate and drove slowly by us.
Then we got on Hwy 200 which wasn't much fun. There wasn't much of a shoulder and what there was was uneven.  It was getting hot under the sun, although it wasn't humid, the sun is right overhead.
We finally came to the junction of 200 and Hwy. 56 and there was a nice little store. We had some cold drinks and some ice cream (which I regretted later since it sat like lead in my stomach. Ice cream is for when the ride is over!). I also charged up my cell phone. With all the pictures I take it tends to run down.
Hwy. 56 was wonderful.  The traffic was light. It started out with some hills. Dave was a bit grumpy with the Adventure Cycling description of "rolling". His shoulder was hurting but he hadn't mentioned it to me.
We met another cyclist, Mike, who is biking out to the coast. He had stopped and talked to Lorriann and Dale. (And I found out thru Ken's blog that he had talked to him too. Nice to meet other bikers who take the time to talk for a few minutes. He also described the terrain as rolling but the valley widened out and it truly was rolling. The snowcapped mountains were steeply rising all around us. Awe inspiring to be on a tiny little bike with all that splendor.
Stopped for a comfort stop and my legs were instantly covered with a new hatch of tiny mosquitoes which gave a preview of the night to come. I came out of the woods covered with bloody streaks from smacking them.
Also saw a sign  about a bear study which I have posted below.
We did come to an area of homes around Bull Lake. We tried stopping at a bar for some dinner. They were remodeling the kitxhen and only had hot dogs or pizza and they were out of cheese. No we aren't going to bike back when the cheese gets delivered.  We talked to a Harley rider who was interested in our trip but also tried to redirect us for the following days' ride. "No hills!" Yeah right.
Finally pulled in to the campsite next to Lorriann and Dale and immediately sprayed ourselves with Deet over the sweat and sunscreen. Wonderful sticky and fragrant.
But it was a beautiful site and once we at our freeze dried meal we felt better.  I discovered that I could do a washcloth bath in the latrine and the skeeters didn't follow me in there. Montana mosquitos do have one habit that I don't think Minnesota mosquitos have, they go into an empty tent even before you are in there!

Moving through Idaho

59 miles today.
We have had a full day of biking by the Pend Oreille river and then the Pend Oreille lake which is the dammed up part of the river. It has been hilly but beautiful with lots of overlooks of the Pend Oreille.  There have been so many eagles and osprey we have stopped counting them.
We are now in Clark Fork Idaho, very close to the Montana border. Tomorrow the route will bring us close to the Cabinet Mountains and our campground for the night will be a primitive Forest Service campground so I won't be able to blog tomorrow night.
We camped last night in Priest River. We had a $5.00 campsite especially reserved for bicyclists.
We've been connecting with Lorriann and Dale for the last there nights.  We haven't really biked together because we go different speeds but we are ending in the same towns at night and at the same campground last night and motel tonight.
Dinner tonight was in a gourmet restaurant here in the tiny town of Clark Fork. Funky little restaurant with fantastic food. I had a lamb shank, gnocchi and roasted vegetables. It came with wine, salad and French Onion soup! I hope I can climb the hills tomorrow.
We also met up with Ken, a guy that saw us struggling up out of the valley where we had camped the night before we were going to climb Rainy Pass. The picture of us was taken by him.
Even though he bikes much faster than us, we got ahead of him by using the U Haul. He had been a bit worried about us...Ken's blog is at www.Kensbikeride.com
It's fun to read the different blogs and see what different experiences people are having on essentially the same route.
The last photo is a three spot Mariposa lily which my friend Joan Young helped me find out by asking another of her friends!  The community on Facebook is so fun.
I'll post day after tomorrow when we hope to be in Libby, MT.

The first map is Montana.  The last one is Idaho.

Some miles and our second state!

Saturday June 21
Ione Wa to Priest River Idaho
59 miles
We crossed into another state today!
We finally had a mileage day. It was a really enjoyable day on a low traffic road following the Pend Oreille river. The weather started out chilly in the morning but warmed up into perfect biking weather, about 70. Later in the afternoon it was probably in the high 70's but with low humidity it didn't feel burdensome at all.
We did find ourselves drinking quite a bit of water so by late afternoon we were on watch to find a water source. We found a Bible Camp where no one was around so we filled up with ice cold refreshing water there.
The folks we met last night, Dale and Lorriann, took off earlier than we did but we caught up with them later in the day. They are another couple doing this as a retirement dream. We have some similarities, Dale is a former engineer like Dave and Lorriann is a speech therapist and graduate school teacher so in the social services domain. Like Dave and I, opposites attract!
Lorriann is keeping a blog and is a really good writer.  You can check it out at lorriannmahan.wordpress.com Unlike us they were able to make it over the passes and so we can live vicariously through their triumph!

We  had a bit of an adventure with Dave losing his fanny pack and some guys finding it and actually driving it to us ! How nice!
We had stopped at a grotto called Manresa Grotto on the Kalispell Indian reservation. We stopped and had lunch and had a photo op.  In the repacking Dave left the fanny pack sitting there. For those who follow us on Facebook this is the second time this has happened.  It happened before we left home on one if our practice rides. The guys that found it called Matt in MI. Matt then phoned us and texted. It didn't ring on my phone but when I took my phone out to take a picture it looked like a family emergency.  Then Dave was going to grab his phone and found the fanny pack gone! So there we were thinking there was a family emergency AND no fanny pack with credit cards etc.
Matt had explained to the guys that we are crossing the country.  When we connected with them they volunteered to drive it to us!
The kindness of strangers has been just awesome on this trip.
I loved visiting the grotto and the caves on the hill. I've participated in a nine month prayer program based on St. Ignatius' Spiritual Exercises at Manresa Retreat Center in downstate MI so it felt meaningful.

The Jesuits were active converting the Native Americans to Catholicism at the turn of the century with all the changes that entailed. The tribe became less of nomadic hunters and fishers and became more farming oriented. Interestingly, later I saw a info board that explained this from a non Caucasian viewpoint with some of the sadness at the loss of culture. 
I'll post some pictures here.  We're just finished with breakfast so we want to head out. NICE to be riding.  We missed 210 miles of WA although we did follow the route in the truck. Rode 216 miles so far.

Our ride was in a vehicle today

Terry, one of the owners of the Methow Valley Inn, offered to bring us to the top of the next pass, Loup Loup. So our bike got to ride in another pick up to the top of the pass and partly down the other side and up another steep section.  On the ride Terry told us a lot about the Methow Valley and how many trails there are in the area for summer and winter sports as well as a lot about the climate and the landscape. It was really neat to hear so much about an area that we might have passed through without understanding it nearly as so well.
We started down the mountain to Okanogan.  Whew, what a downhill!  Dave was taking it slow because there was fairly new chip seal on the road so he didn't want to risk a skid out. We also stopped once to let the brakes cool.
On the way down we noticed several orchards where acres of cherry trees were entirely covered with netting. Later I spoke with a cherry grower and he said that netting costs about $20,000 an acre and ate to keep the birds away. He did not see the need for it. He said that he tends to let crows be, they don't actually do as much damage as songbirds,  but they do keep the smaller birds away.
He also said that the most damage to cherries comes from rain. The rain gathers on the stem end and swells the inside of the cherry but the skin splits.  He said that he and all the growers in the area use helicopters to dry the cherries if they have a big rain.
The area here is xeric, very dry. Their annual precipitation is 16 inches and half of that comes during the winter as snow. This compares with about 80 inches of precipitation up near Rainy Pass in the Cascades.
The land is sagebrush and Ponderosa and Lodgepole pines instead of the fir and hemlock we saw in the Cascades.

Another U Haul day

We did one more day with the U Haul trailer. I think we shouldn't  look at the damn elevation charts anymore! It psyched us out looking at the elevation chart from Colville to Ione. We drove it and although it would have taken some climbing effort, it was a gorgeous route. However I've been sitting out a thunderstorm in the tent and we probably would have been caught in that. 

But now the climbs look more moderate from here on.

Dave called a Warmshowers host this morning before we made the decision to drive the U HAUL to this town.  The guy assured him he would be available to drive him back to Ione after he dropped me off with the bike at the campground and then drove back to Colville to drop off the truck.  Then Dave tried calling and texting him and the guy didn't answer!
So Dave called another Warmshowers host, although he was almost ready to hitchhike. Luckily another lady was willing to drive him so he should be arriving here in an hour. Kinda angry at the first guy since we probably would have made a decision to ride the route if we knew Dave wouldn't have a ride. (Or at least I would have strongly advocated for that). 
So, tomorrow we will ride in the valley of the Pend Oreille river. I want to be back riding!!
The photo is of Crystal Falls. This area reminds me of home. Lots of forest, many streams, lakes and rivers. The Pacific Northwest National Scenic trail runs through here. Boy does that look rugged. It passes through every mountain range frome the Rockies in Glacier and through the Cascades. Then it heads down to the coast and into the  Olympia Peninsula. The area is fairly sparsely populated.  I wonder how they get volunteers.  Speaking as a North Country Trail  volunteer, I know how hard it is to get volunteers in rural areas.
The campground, Cedar Park in Ione, is really nice, very clean. The owner brought us some folding chairs knowing that bikers can't bring chairs! They also have the cleanest bathrooms I've seen yet along with a hair dryer, great for chilly days so you don't have to have a wet head. He even put in a microwave and coffee maker outside in the bicyclists' camping area for us. And mad we the coffee early in the morning!

 We saw some recumbent riders leaving Colville so maybe they will come here tonight.

Yes, the recumbent riders did arrive. They are from Ellsworth Maine, very close to Bar Harbor. Fun to talk to them. They will go across Lake MI on the ferry too. Last year they toured completely around Lake MI so they know Michigan quite well. They have the Bah Haba ( Bar Harbor) accent down pat.
One of the photos is the Country Commandments that are in the restroom.  There are only 9 though.  Points to you if you can tell which one is missing!
Another photo is of us cleaning tar out of our shoes.  The ride down for Loup Loup was a little hairy with new loose seal coat (read: tar and stones, ugh, a biker's nemesis.)

Wow, the mountains overcame us

Monday, June 16. Marblemount to Colonial Creek campground. 26 Miles
Tuesday June 17, Colonial Creek campground to somewhere just north of Easy Pass. 20 miles.
Wednesday June 18, Near Easy Pass to Swamp Creek, milepost 155, 6
miles.
149 total miles

Monday: Our ride from Marblemount started in a drizzly rain but eventually cleared up to a cool but mostly dry day. The route had a mostly gentle grade until we got to Newhalem, and then it started to climb. We went through a couple of tunnels, one of which was long enough to be dark. This had a button to push to activate some flashing lights to warn cars that a bike was in there. We were walking and pushing the bike and I stayed to the side so our flashing lights and reflective triangles could be seen. We were doing quite a bit of climbing through a beautiful gorge and the Skagit river dammed into a lake (Gorge Lake) and then Diablo lake, another Skagit river resevoir. I had plenty of time to notice wildflowers, goatsbeard and lupine were everywhere. Then we descended steeply to the valley of Diablo lake where our campsite was.
This is a pretty campground, although it is heavily forested with huge hemlocks, Douglas fir and cedars which made it chilly as the sun was behind clouds and the lake is glacial meltwater. We had bought freeze dried meals in Sedro Woolley,  so we made dinner and then turned in early after putting our food sack and toiletries in the bear box.

Tuesday: We way overestimated our abilities in the mountains. No injuries but we don't seem to have enough horsepower to climb these passes. We spent Monday, Tuesday, and half of today trying to summit Rainy Pass. We got within about 3 miles of the top of Rainy Pass on Wednesday. We were about 7 miles from Washington Pass. That may not sound like a lot but we climbed from our campsite at 1000 feet on Tuesday morning to about 4000 feet (not counting ups and downs) and ran out of leg power and lung power.
We then took stock and realized that at the 6 miles an hour we were averaging, (a lot of that walking, pushing the bike) we weren't going to be through by nightfall and that was if our bodies didn't quit.
We took stock of our food; 4 packets of oatmeal, 3/4 jar of peanut butter and 4 granola bars. We were also out of water but we had brought a tiny little water filter which we used to fill up our bottles. The water was everywhere, rivulets dripping down from rock walls to cascades of water rushing down the hillsides. It probably could have been ok since it was probably snow meltwater, but we don't want to risk Giardia.
At about 3:30 we decided to camp and conserve our strength, rest and start back at it in the morning. It was a challenge to find a level patch of ground to pitch our tent! We found a tiny partial clearing under a big western hemlock (but definitely not the tallest one there). We had a meager supper of one packet of oatmeal with some peanut butter and coffee creamer. It was hot which felt good since the air cools fast when the sun starts going behind the mountains.

Wednesday: Today we broke camp, filtered more water and then started again after a breakfast of one oatmeal pack each with some trail mix and peanut butter. We decided the granola bars and peanut butter would be the snacks/lunch/pick-me-up for the day.
We took our time, the road didn't start out too horribly steep, but the altitude was a definite drain on our lung power. And our sleep was probably not 100% restful since we kept sliding downhill!
We got to milemarker 155 (Rainy Pass is at milemarker 158) AND in one of our rests/discouragement breaks, a fellow biker with a pickup stopped to ask if we needed help! We had already decided the day before that if anyone offered, we would accept a ride gladly. Peter took us to the top of Rainy and Washington Passes and down the other side to the nice little town of Twisp, WA. The views are spectacular!
He and his wife own a Bed and Breakfast, the Methow Valley Inn, which we decided to stay at and here we are being spoiled by wonderful accommodations and beautiful gardens.
We are going to ride around the next pass, Loup Loup, and in towns on the other side we're gonna look for another ride or perhaps rent a U Haul truck one way to drive over the next two passes after that, Wauconda and Sherman passes. At this point we think we had no realistic idea of the scope and magnitude of these mountain passes for the lack of conditioning we have and we can't realistically negotiate them in any reasonable amount of time. So we're gonna cheat a little to reach our end goal. I'm getting tired so I will post a few pictures but check our blog later for more.