Powell to Livingston
Powell to Lolo Hot Springs – 21 miles
Average Speed – 7.5 mph
We never got to light that wood stove last night. Even though we had a window open in our cabin, the temperature never got so cold as to be uncomfortable. We didn’t get up early today as we knew that the day would be relatively short.
You can see that we cranked hard up Lolo Pass to achieve such a high average speed for the day. We started later today knowing that we were only going 21 miles. Our low average speed is a pretty good indication of how tough the climb over the pass was. As soon as the road started to seriously climb about eight miles out of Lochsa Lodge; it really became seriously steep in a short time.
My strategy was to take one mile at a time and then rest. This worked out very well. I used my granny the entire time and wished that I could shift down even lower. My front chain ring is 30-42-52 with a 32 in the rear, which makes it less than one-on-one. That means that I turn the pedals more than once for each revolution of the rear wheel, which supposedly makes it easier to climb. That’s all theoretical. In real life, all climbing presents a challenge for me no matter what the gearing on my bike. At least I made it over Lolo Pass without walking and that I owe to my clipless pedal system and the fact that I wanted to make it over without walking.
Until the Visitor Center at the top, the road just kept on going up. Some road workers told us that there was coffee and water at the center. The center is a marvelous log structure with exhibits of the area and a nice topographical model of the route that we have been following the past few days. We lingered at the top and asked some other tourists to take the requisite photo in front of the elevation sign.
It took three people to figure out how to work the camera – push a button – and we finally got our historic climb recorded. After chatting with some motorcyclists, we decided to proceed downward to Lolo Hot Springs. The ride progressed a lot quicker than the ride up, but sill wasn’t as fast as it could have been due our dearest friend of this trip, the headwind.
We crossed into Montana and lost an hour right as we left the Visitor Center.
We have cycled 661 miles up to this point and it will be almost an equal amount just to get to the eastern border of Montana. Montana is the fourth largest state, but the sixth least populated. And it seems that nobody lives in the eastern part of the state where we will have to travel great distances between towns.
We are staying at Lolo Hot Springs in a more modern cabin than we did last night.
We even have indoor plumbing, a fridge and a microwave. There is one restaurant in town and no store. We are a captive audience once again. Just behind our cabin are several teepees that can be rented for the night. There are also tent camping and RV spots. We are right across the street from the hot spring pools. I figured that a nice warm soak would be good for the quads and first went into the outside pool, which was not very warm at all. I read the rules about not spouting water, blowing your nose or spitting in the pool, but the little baby and kids made me think of the one rule that they seemed to have omitted, although later, I did see that babies are required to wear some kind of swim diaper. I didn’t stay too long in that pool because I obsess about what germs and other matter could be floating in that pool. I went to the hotter inside pool where little kiddies wouldn’t venture. And even though the temperature of that pool is likely more conducive to growing nasty things, I didn’t really worry about it and tried to stretch out my quads, which tolerated a hard workout today.
Lolo Hot Springs to Rock Creek – 61 miles
Average Speed – 12.5
Our computer seems rather picky when it comes to hooking up to wireless networks, which is time consuming and frustrating. The Lolo Hot Springs Motel had wireless and we just couldn’t get on. Beth, the manager let us plug in directly to the router and that worked, but miracle of miracles, we were finally able to connect to the wireless after downloading some new drivers for our network adapter. We aren’t sure if that will solve the problem, but we sure appreciated Beth’s help and her many stories about Lolo Hot Springs. New owners took over in March and Beth and her husband, John, are in charge of this vast complex, which includes cabins, teepees, a campground, the hot springs and a restaurant.
My soak in the hotter of the two pools induced a sleepy state and I easily adjusted to that hour that we lost. I had no problems getting to sleep at what might have seemed early on PST. As usual, the alarm went off way too early, but we had a long day with lots of activities planned. We were on the road before 7.
We made good time because we were averaging over 15mph on the way to Lolo, where our first stop was Traveler’s Rest State Park, the only verifiable site where Lewis and Clark camped.
The Camp Site
We had an informative tour with Loren, which will be available in a future podcast. I remain amazed at the intensive research and physical hardship that the Corps of Discovery seemed to take in stride. Even traveling by bicycle, I can’t imagine making maps or finding suitable trails.
How fortunate that their President was interested in the sciences and natural history. Not to mention any names, but some Presidents probably wouldn’t know the difference between science and a sceance.
Right across the street from Traveler’s Rest is the Holt Heritage Museum. What a treat it was to hear the stories that Ramona, the owner, had to tell. She and her husband, Bill, were both involved in rodeo. Bill was a rodeo announcer and Ramona was a rodeo secretary. They have collected a treasure trove of artifacts relating to rodeo and the West.
We enjoyed a personal tour as all guests would because this museum is open by appointments only.
The building that houses the museum is set up like the main street of a frontier town. Ramona and Bill have done an excellent job of displaying their collection and make it come alive for their visitors.
They are hoping to combine the museum with the Traveler’s Rest so that visitors have easier access to the museum and so that the state park will be the one stop spot for learning not only about Lewis and Clark, but also about other Western history and traditions. A podcast about the museum will follow soon.
From the other side of Lolo Pass, we received recommendations for a good Mexican restaurant in Lolo. We thought that we would be at Heraldo’s way too early for lunch, but as it turned out, we arrived there just five minutes before opening time. The owners were both surprised and pleased to hear that their restaurant is so well loved. We definitely have to agree with all those who recommended it; the food was excellent. The restaurant is moving into a bigger spot and should reopen in August after closing in June. They will have a full liquor license when they move and a much larger dining area.
We had read that the ride from Lolo to Missoula on Route 93 was rather unpleasant. After having been in an area where most of the noise emanated from the rapids in the river, it was nerve wracking to hear and smell the many vehicles that came extremely close to the white line.
When we finally got closer to town, we got onto the bike path, which contrasted greatly with the insanity on 93.
After a few miles on the path, we noticed another cyclist and greeted him. He asked where we were going and then offered to lead us to the library. This saved us lots of time as we didn’t have to refer to our map constantly. He also knew a better way than the one we had planned. Jeff was on a mountain bike and after he dropped us off at the library, he was heading to the trails.
Missoula must be one of the friendliest cities that we have ever visited. Almost as soon as we parked our bikes in front of the library another guy came up and started talking. I left him to chat with Robert so that I could get online. I had to move three times before I finally had a steady signal. Because of this, I spent way too much time in the library considering we still had to bike 20 more miles. As I left the library and tried to leave another woman walked up to us and wanted to chat. She told us about the many campgrounds around and we talked about our trip in general. When she finally went on her way, another cyclist pulled up and talked with us for some time about the best way out of town. He used to live in Cincinnati, but had been living in Missoula for several years.
He did ask if we had visited Adventure Cycling headquarters. We may be the only transcontinental cyclists on record who didn’t stop in and have their photos taken.
When we finally left Missoula, it was near 4:00 and we decided to take the shortest, straightest route, which was I-90. It was absolutely awful. Although cyclists are allowed, there are spots where we actually had to ride on the highway rather than on the shoulder, because there was no shoulder on some bridges. We got off onto Route 200 and stopped at a truck stop, where a couple with a trailer spotted us and told us that they had bicycled from Charleston SC to Charleston OR 20 years ago. They had just bought new touring bikes and were planning a future tour and wished us well on our journey.
We left the truck stop and then found Route 210, a frontage road that ran along I-90 for about 10 miles. Although some traffic insisted on coming as close to us as possible, it was still more comfortable and quiet than the interstate. At Clinton, we had no choice but to get back on I-90 and ride the last six miles to Rock Creek. The traffic calmed down since Missoula and there were no spots where we had to ride on the highway proper, so it wasn’t as stressful as those first miles out of Missoula. Believe it or not, we had a tailwind at this point, so we were going 15-17mph.
We are staying at the Rock Creek Fisherman and Mercantile Motel, which is right across for Ekstrom’s Stage Station Restaurant.
The restaurant is an old log cabin and is the office for a campground, which looks very enticing, except for the sign about the bears. The people there helped us find our motel instructions as the owner wasn’t here.
Stage Station Restaurant
When I asked if they had wi-fi, they didn’t know what I meant until I explained and then they said that this was Montana.
Lucky for us, the campground has a nice laundromat and it also is just across from our motel. We hadn’t done laundry since Pataha, which was almost a week ago. Having clean clothes will be a real treat, although we weren’t in any serious dirty laundry situation. I try to wash out a set of clothes every night just in case we can’t find laundry when we need it.
Rock Creek to Deer Lodge - 62 miles
Average Speed – 11.5
Need I say more?
We didn’t leave very early this morning because the day seemed tame in comparison to yesterday. Don’t know what we were thinking. We left shortly before 8 and it wasn’t long before it started raining. We took refuge for a short while at a rest stop and then ventured on. It drizzled and then the wind picked up. We finally got a strong wind out of the west. Too bad that we are heading south now. It took some real maneuvering to keep the bikes from drifting over into the highway. At one point, we seemed to have been caught in a windy whirlpool and pedaled hard to make progress. Simultaneously, we were gaining altitude.
The thunder subsided and we dried off and stopped in the small town of Drummond, population 318, according to the Wagon Wheel Cafe where we ate a better breakfast.
Looking for a good used cow? Go to Drummond.
That gave us energy to combat the strong winds and carry on to our next rest stop – Garrison Junction, which is exactly as it name describes. It is the junction of I-90 and Route 12. Fortunately, there was a small store and we stopped for a rest and carried on into Deer Lodge, our home for the night.
Right outside of town is the Grant-Kohrs Ranch, part of the National Park Service.
We took a short tour of the ranch and also toured the well-preserved ranch house, but cut our visit short because a tour bus pulled up.
Well, it was also getting late in the day and I had seen a sign for an A&W and a root beer float sounded really good after the challenging day that we had.
We stopped at the Safeway and picked up some bagels and finally found some sparkling water. Looks like we will have to frequent the Safeway from now on as they have their own brand of sparkling water and even though it only comes in one flavor, lemon-lime; it was nice to find it. Robert did a double take when he saw Vernor’s on the shelves. Didn’t know that it could be found outside the Midwest.
We enjoyed a nice dinner at the Broken Arrow Steakhouse with Sarah from Gold West Tourism and her husband, Pat. We had a very enjoyable meal with them and hope that we convinced them that we aren’t totally crazy for doing this cycling adventure. They recommended a frontage road that we could follow to avoid I-90 for awhile.
We carefully watched the weather reports for tomorrow. Thunderstorms were predicted for the morning. The plan is to leave later in the morning after they supposedly will have moved out.
The annoying bit of the weather forecast is that there is a winter storm watch for Monday and snow is predicted. That just doesn’t seem right.
Deer Lodge to Butte – 40 miles
Average Speed – 11 mph
We have been very fortunate weather-wise as far as precipitation goes. It really hasn’t rained since we left the Portland area. The temperatures have usually been in the 70’s although we have had some much warmer days. Imagine how thrilled we were to hear that thunderstorms were predicted for today. After our ride in the rain yesterday, we weren’t looking forward to another day of being splashed by passing vehicles.
The forecast last night said that the thunderstorms would happen in the morning and that occasional rain would follow in the afternoon, so the original plan was to wait out the storm and leave in the late morning or early afternoon. When we got up this morning, there was no sign of storms at all, so we bolted out of bed, checked the forecast, which now said that the thunderstorms would be in the afternoon and packed up as quickly as we could. We made it out a little after 7, hoping that we would make it to Butte before the rain did.
Pat and Sarah had recommended taking the frontage road out of Deer Lodge and all the way to Warm Springs where we would have to return to I-90. This made for a very pleasant ride, although the Interstate wasn’t too bad on a Sunday morning.
We did our usual gradual climbing until just before Fairmont when the road started to steeply climb.
I just love these climbs. I had a nice long visit with granny again and had flashbacks to climbing Lolo Pass. This was a much shorter climb, but equally challenging in spots.
We passed many herds of antelope grazing in the nearby fields. One herd obviously thought of us as predators as they quickly jumped from where they were kneeling on the ground and took off running across the field. It seems a little odd that they were threatened by us, but hadn’t paid much attention to the many semis and other vehicles that were passing.
We did beat the rain and got to Butte before 11 AM. We had cranked out 40 miles in decent time and without strong winds or rain. The forecast for tomorrow remains the same as predicted yesterday – A Winter Storm Watch is in effect. This is May 20, right?
Snow accumulations with up to 8” above 4500 are possible. This poses a bit of a dilemma for us. Butte is at 5550 and Homestake Pass, which we had planned on crossing tomorrow is at 6375 and right at the Continental Divide. This appears to be the highest point of our entire trip. The predicted high temperature tomorrow is 44 degrees. For Tuesday, the high will be 48 degrees. It looks like we may have to hunker down here in Butte for a few days. We definitely don’t want to ride in snow, nor do we want to risk hypothermia.
We are staying at the Best Western Butte Plaza Inn. Supposedly, there is wireless throughout, but we can’t get it in our room so have to go to the lobby. This isn’t the first place where we have been that we had to move elsewhere to get wireless reception. Too bad that they don’ t have adequate hubs or whatever is necessary to get signals to all the rooms. But, internet access somewhere in the building is better than no internet access at all.
Since the start of our trip we have met many people who wonder about bicycle touring and have asked many questions about it. Some are baffled by what they consider a long distance or short distance that we cover in a day. Usually, we figure that an hour by car – and that doesn’t count in Montana where the speed limit is 75mph – is the typical distance that we cover per day by bicycle. One person suggested that we visit a tourist attraction that was only 25 minutes away by car. This was after we had already reached our destination for the day. A round-trip of 50 miles in addition to the day’s mileage would be quite some feat. Others think that we are racers who can easily cover 100 or more miles per day and in just a few hours. Still others are amazed that we can go more than a few blocks with all the gear that we are carrying.
Robert reminded me today as we were slowly cranking up a hill about a book I had read where the author had chronicled her trip across the US by bicycle. He reminded me how this woman claimed that she maintained an average speed of 25mph. Skeptic that I am, I didn’t believe it anyway, but wonder how her editor let something like that slip. Maybe she jumped on that early bandwagon of fictionalizing memoirs. 25mph is the speed that Tour de France racers maintain or exceed. I admit that I did go 25 mph today down from that climb out of Fairmont, but that was definitely no average speed and that descent lasted an insignificant amount of time as they always do. As you can see above, we averaged 11 mph today, which we find acceptable and have no need to adjust just to make it look like we are speed demons or some super athletic jocks. But, I was wondering what a little bit of testosterone would do to improve my climbing skills. I could at least yell in a deeper, hairier voice.
Well, the rain has started and we had planned on going into town. We are located outside of town, but the motel has a shuttle service that will take us in to town if we want. It’s a perfect solution for cyclists and others without their own transportation.
We made a run to the Big K to get some gloves for Robert and to replace a shirt that I left somewhere along the way. We stocked up on energy bars so now we are ready for any type of weather.
Butte to Bozeman on the bus
Guess we really impressed the lady sitting on the sidewalk in Bozeman to elicit such a comment from her. Little did she know that we had ridden the bus from Butte and were simply walking our bikes to our hotel. We weren’t dressed for cycling and had the wrong shoes on, but hey, it seems like just walking with a loaded bike makes a good impression.
Our plans for today started last night with the winter storm watch and prediction for several inches of snow. Although we are adventurous, we don’t take risks and riding in the snow would be a risky venture and unpleasant as well. Then again, taking the Greyhound was somewhat of an adventure, but I will get back to that later.
We slept in this morning and expected to awaken to the snow that was predicted to start at 6 am. The skies were blue and we were wondering if the forecast for snow was some kind of hoax. Although the skies were blue, the temperature was only in the 30’s, definitely not ideal weather for fair weather cyclists. We already suffered through the rain and hail those first days out of Astoria and really had no concerns about the weather this late in the month and this far from the rain forest. What were we thinking? The locals say that the snow should have held off until Memorial Day as seems traditional. One guy said that every Memorial Day weekend, some locals go camping in the Homestake Recreation Area and find themselves buried in snow.
We went to downtown Butte for a tour of the historic district and the mines with Old Butte Historical Adventures. Butte is literally built on mines and we were fortunate to have Dick, a geologist as our guide. Copper mining was king here and the scars from the mines prove that. Pit mining predominated, although underground mining initially developed.
The Berkeley Pit
Many headframes stand stalwart on the hills above downtown where many of the mines were located. A viewing area overlooks the Berkeley Pit, an extensive area over a mile in diameter and with a depth of 1800, with 1000 feet of that being severely acidic water.
Pretty Toxic
When we were in Deer Lodge, I noticed a sign for pasties, something that I thought was only found in the UP. Our guide from Historic Butte Tours informed us that the Cornish workers also mined in Butte and they brought along their traditional pasties with them. A pastie is basically like a pot pie totally enclosed in dough. You don’t need silverware to eat it and it’s easy to carry down to the mine.
You can look at the remnants of the pit mines as either a blight on the landscape or an important part of Butte’s history. I found it interesting that Butte was known as the richest hill in the world. Besides copper, molybdenum, silver and even a little bit of gold were all found in the area.
We looked at the mines and then focused on the downtown area and its historic buildings, one of which is a speakeasy that remains much as it was when it was abandoned years ago.
The Rockwood Speakeasy
Watch later for a podcast with more details of the tour of Butte.
After the tour, we enjoyed lunch at the Broadway Cafe that looks over the area. If you eat here, be sure to go to the back room for a panoramic view. Our view today was of brooding grey clouds, but the view must be spectacular when the skies are clear.
Brooding Storm
We planned on taking the Greyhound to Bozeman to avoid the predicted snow. The bus station had strange hours and the website says that tickets are sold on a first-come, first-served basis. So much for planning. I tried the national headquarters number and got caught in automation hell. The bus was scheduled to leave at 2:45 so we got there early just in case we had to remove the pedals from our bikes and turn the handlebars. The clerk at the station told us he wouldn’t sell us tickets until the bus driver said that we could take the bikes onboard.
Snowing at the bus station
When the bus finally arrived a half-hour later than scheduled, the clerk asked the driver about the bikes. She said that there wasn’t enough room, but that there was another bus at 5:45, which was not indicated on the schedule posted on the website. When the driver opened the under bus storage, Robert ran out to offer to help her move around some of the luggage so that we could make the bicycles fit. By this time, it was snowing hard and an ideal time to be moving luggage around. The driver accepted the offer and the bikes went into the belly of the dog, but the driver kept reminding us that she was only taking the bikes because we were not doing a long haul ride because the official policy is that bikes need to be boxed. When we boarded the bus and she came to collect our tickets, she reiterated this policy again. Perhaps it was so the other riders wouldn’t try to bring their unboxed bicycles on the box.
Now, I did take a bus to and from college, but I think it was Indian Trails or something like that. I don’t really know if I have ever been on THE DOG. Waiting in the station, I thought of “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest”. There must be a Greyhound subculture that I don’t totally understand.
While in the waiting room, I spoke with a guy who claimed that he was paid $61,000 to check out missions. If I understood the guy correctly, he donated money to the missions that treated its clients well. He was traveling all over the country evaluating a variety of missions by posing as a potential client.
Another guy told us of his bicycle travels across the country on a three-speed bike. I certainly didn’t envy him at all. He hadn’t toured for years, but hadn’t forgotten his tours many years ago.
Cell phones have become a new security blanket for many people. The woman in the seat next to us in the bus spoke loudly, dropping the f-bomb frequently. Good thing that there were not any children on the bus.
As we approached Homestake Pass, more and more snow covered the ground, but because of the white-out, we saw very little of the surrounding area. Shortly after leaving the pass, the snow suddenly stopped, turning into rain, which eventually subsided as well. We should have had much better weather in Bozeman, but the current forecast for Bozeman is for rain mixed with snow tonight and tomorrow and a whopping high temp of 44 degrees. What a bummer.
We enjoyed dinner at the Emerson Grill, located in a former school. We dined with Cindy and Brady and learned much about the area and the state. The mushroom risotto was excellent and filling. Our dessert was a rhubarb and apple crisp with fresh rhubarb from the garden of our waitress.
After dinner we returned and checked on the weather. We will stay put in Bozeman another day and hope that the snow subsides soon.
Bozeman layover
Montana is in the Northern Hemisphere, right? We woke up to falling snow and cool temperatures, but our plans for the day include inside activities in the morning. Maybe the snow will let up and the sun will shine and raise the temperature to 70. Maybe not.
We heard that Butte got 7″ of snow. Good thing that we got out of there.
We went to visit The Museum of the Rockies and were totally absorbed by its excellent displays. The temporary exhibit runs through September and features reproductions of King Tut’s Tomb.
We dodged the many school groups visiting, but were glad to see that students still have the opportunity to expand their horizons and enjoy such exhibits. The museum may be best known for its outstanding dinosaur display. More than just a collection of dinosaur bones, which I personally find interesting enough as I remember the Vernal, Utah Dinosaur Monument; this exhibit focuses on the entire growth and development of the dinosaur and its environment. Some fascinating finds in the museum include the largest T-Rex skull in the world, a female named B-Rex, the first identifiable female of the species and a bone fragment which contained both soft tissue and blood vessels.
T-Rex Skull
The theory that this museum emphasizes is that birds share common traits with dinosaurs. Guess that means that T-Rex would be like an Airbus, but since it is a non-avian dinosaur, guess it would never be airborne anyway. We briefly spoke with Jack Horner the paleonologist at the museum, which is part of Montana State University. He pointed out the similarities that birds and dinosaurs share, including things like hollow bones and feathers.
We were so absorbed in the museum that we didn’t realize that we had spent a few hours there. It’s definitely a place to plan on spending several hours. We never even saw the planetarium, which is also part of the museum.
A new exhibit called Dinosaurs under the Big Sky is scheduled to open in June.
We got a recommendation for a good Mexican Restaurant, so headed over to La Tinga. I was pleasantly surprised to have jamaica(hibiscus tea) offered as a beverage choice and ordered a glass of that along with a queso fresco and avocado taco and a cheese quesadilla. Robert had a carne asada burrito. We both agree that this food was as close to what you would get in Mexico.
La Tinga
The tortillas where freshly made as we watched from our seat at the counter. The salsa to add to the dishes was muy picante. If you eat here, remember to bring cash as they don’t accept checks or credit cards.
Bozeman to Livingston – 26 miles
Average Speed – 12 mph
Getting Started
This morning, the sun showed its face and nothing liquid came from the sky. It looked as if it might be warm, but the temperature was only in the 30’s, hence our plan to delay our start until late in the morning. Surely, the day would warm up. We had many starts in cold weather, but considering we would be crossing Bozeman Pass today, we felt that waiting for a bit of warmth was worth it. We knew that it would remain relatively cool, so only planned on riding to Livingston, a short 26 miles away.
Back on the Highway
The Climb
I questioned my ability to climb the pass since I hadn’t been in the saddle for a few days. But, a rest from the bike can be a good thing. We counted down the miles waiting for a severe climb at some point.
My altimeter was reading a few hundred feet less than the actual altitude, but I didn’t know that until we reached the top, which was not at mile post 319 as expected. What would a climb over the pass be like without a little bit of snow thrown in for good measure?
We really thought that we had seen the last snow. There was plenty of it on the ground and covering the mountains, but we hadn’t expected to be caught in the flurries.
The shoulder on this section of the highway left a lot to be desired. It required some technical riding, especially when it disappeared.
The temperature dropped and I became rather cold. We got off I-90 at milepost 319 and followed a frontage road, which had a steep climb up to mile 321, the true top of the pass.
We were a bit disappointed that there wasn’t a sign indicating the elevation or congratulating us for making the climb. Somehow I managed it to the top without ever resorting to using my smallest chainring. Guess that I re-energized during that two day absence from the saddle.
The Descent
I was nearly frozen and the wind in my face going down from the pass made me even colder. I pumped the brakes and tried to keep from getting too much of a cooling breeze on me.
From the top of the pass almost all the way down to where we had to get back on I-90, I did very little pedaling at all. From here on out, we seem to be on a downward trend. We plan on riding 60+ miles tomorrow to Reedpoint.
Livingston
We are staying at a Best Western, right near the interstate, but about 1.5 miles from the main business district. After I took a hot bath to warm up, we headed to the area near the depot and sought out the Northern Pacific Beanery. Unfortunately, when we entered this spot connected to the depot, we were told that lunch ended at 2.
The Depot
We headed across the street to Fiesta de Jalisco, which has several branches in this part of the country. The food was good and we never turn down a chance to eat Mexican, so that worked out well.
View from town
Once we headed back to the room, we tried to get online. The motel has wireless after all. As seems to happen more often than not, the signal strength is not good in the rooms. I am not sure why the places that advertise wireless can’t make sure that the wireless is accessible in every room. The two places that get it here are the lobby or the pool, which has an Ethernet connection, which I will use. Life is really tough when you have to haul your computer to some other place. The toughest part is that I have to put on my shoes.
