Wednesday 17 June, 2009
Sandpoint to Jct MT-200/ MT-56
After re-crossing Long bridge into Sandpoint, we met Tim, Bill H., and Kevin at the Sandpoint WalMart. Morale is low because of the way the group seems to be split and the dodgy start to our longest scheduled day so far—82 miles.
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| Long Bridge from the Sagle side of Lake Pend Orielle |
However, the first 35 miles are beautiful as we continue to travel along the shore of Lake Pend Oreille (pronounced Pon de Ray). Some of the front riders report spotting two moose in a marshy area of the lake, but the moose moved behind brush before they could be photographed. Traffic was somewhat heavy, but the miles ticked off. After a bit we were passed by the group of young riders who had shared our campground last night. We caught up with them in Clark Fork and Diane made a brief video which appears on her website. They are 16-18-year-olds from New England biking across America raising money for cancer research.
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| Lake Pend Orielle, Tim's photo |
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| Group of young riders on a cross-country charity ride for cancer research |
From Clark Fork we took a longer, more scenic route away from the traffic we had been encountering that morning. Before we got halfway through the 14-mile scenic route, however, a cold rain soaked us. Bill U. and I were starting up a long hill when a guy came by in a small pickup and offered us shelter in his unfinished house, “first left” down the road. We thanked him but refused his offer. I had climbed the hill and was waiting for Bill at the top when a red pickup pulled up next to me. Bill was in the front seat and his bike was in the bed. I said, “Hi Bill. I see you got a lift up the hill. Are you getting out here?” Bill told me that he was in Steve Frost’s truck, and that Steve was the same guy who had offered us a ride earlier. Steve had gone home, gotten a larger pick-up and returned. Steve told us that Tim, Rick, and Diane ahead of us had taken him up on his offer of getting out of the rain at his unbuilt house. So . . . I put my bike and BOB in the back and got into the pickup with Bill.
The gravel lane to Steve’s house was only a mile or so down the road. When we got to the head of Steve’s drive, Diane, Tim, and Rick were there. There was some hesitation. Diane was afraid to go down the drive with Steve, particularly when she saw an opened can of beer fall out when he opened the pickup door. Finally, we left Diane at the entryway to flag down Kevin when he arrived, and the rest of us went with Steve to his half-built house. Steve was a custom log home builder who operated Logworks School of Log Building—www.logworksschool.com. We sheltered from the rain, ate some snacks, met Steve's wife and enjoyed his hospitality for a couple hours until the sky cleared. I had a great shot of this aging hippie, but it, too, was lost.
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| Steve Frost from his log home website |
As we entered Steve’s dirt road, he explained that elk used his property for a calving ground, they were presently calving, and we were sure to see some. Sure enough several elk and calves crossed the lane ahead of us. Steve’s property faced the Cabinet Mountains and when finished he was going to have a breathtaking view of them from his l.r. He had several horses and a darling sturdy colt that he played with.
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| Internet photo of elk and her calves |
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| The colt that Steve played with; the first of my photos that survived |
By the time the rain quit and we left Steve’s, we were hours behind on our 80+ mile day. The next 4 or 5 miles of road in Montana were rough but worth it. Field after field of daisies and wildflowers with the Cabinet Mountains as backdrop made up for the rough road. Soon we were at an intersection. We continued to the right, following Rick into the town of Heron, crossed the RR tracks mentioned on the route sheet, and then pedaled down the road to a beautiful lake fed by a waterfall. But the road turned to gravel. This stopped me and Kevin. We pulled out our route maps and realized we had taken a right when we should have taken a left. We were 3 or 4 miles off course and on a dead-end road. With no other options, we headed back.
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| Field of daisies with Cabinet Mountains in background |
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| Kevin and me climbing a hill on the rough shortcut; Tim's photo |
In front of the Heron General Store we stopped for a break. I went around back to the bathroom. The bathroom door was rotten, half off its hinges, and dilapidated. I expected the worst, but when I opened the door, there was a pristine bathroom with fluffy rugs, a flush toilet, a tile floor, and some pleasant smelling, foaming hand wash. You just never know.
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| Internet photo of the Heron, MT general store |
Chain/derailleur problems further delayed the group, so when we made it back to MT-200, we knew that stopping at the nearest campgrounds was our only choice. Exhausted, we arrived at an RV campground down a hill near the intersection of SH 200 and SH 56. We were 25 miles short of our 82-mile destination. Bill H. rode down and scouted out the campsite. We set up our tents just before it began raining again.
After showering, we traipsed in the rain back up to the shelter of the laundry room and its overhang to cook our dinner. Since we were in the middle of nowhere, we fixed a couple of Mountain House instant meals and invited Kevin and Bill Hickman, who are not carrying camp food, to share them. Bill Hickman’s and Tim’s gear and tent were wet so they spent some time drying their things in the laundry. Despite the rain and the unridden miles, this was an interesting day. I particularly enjoyed meeting Steve Frost and riding the flower-filled fields before the Cabinet mountains.
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| Rick watching water boil on my little stove; Bill Hickman, waiting in the laundry room door |
Don't know what's in store for tomorrow, but tune in.
