Day 13 - Lima, MT to Island Park, ID

After our short day I to Lima yesterday, we'd planned on a long day through the Centennial Valley today. ...and LONG it was!  Not tremendously difficult, but a grueling 86 miles on gravel and dirt roads that fortunately were dry!

Things started out early as usual, but very cold - 32F.  We bundled up in almost all the clothes we had and set out into the morning mist before any wind kicked up!
We hit the dirt after about 15 miles and the bounced and dodged the next 65 miles or so to Idaho.  Once again the austere beauty of the vast Montana landscape was captivating!  I probably could have taken 100 photos along the way... But I'll keep this a bit more brief;-)
At the end of the Centennial Valley, we hit Red Rock Pass, our 4th crossing of the continental divide, and our entry into Idaho!  A nice milestone to mark the day :-)
About 3:00pm, a big squall rolled in from the south over the Centennial Range, and drop first some snow flurries, and then a good downpour of very cold rain.
The temperature went from about 55F to 35F in minutes, and fortunately I found myself just outside a campground with a small store that I ducked into just as the rain began coming down in sheets driven by a 30mph wind.  Sometimes it's better to be lucky than good :-). 20 minutes later, the storm passed as quickly as it came in, and I found myself peddling south down US Rt. 20 towards Island Park, our destination for the day.  We found a huge room that 4 of us are sharing for $43/ night, and a much needed shower and a rest before heading on the Wyoming tomorrow. Up next... The Grand Tetons!
Cheers from the GDMBR;-)

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Day 8 - Lincoln, MT to Helena, MT

Image
Wow. Today was one of those days you dream of when you're planning a ride like the GDMBR, where the weather is perfect: the terrain is challenging, but not so much that you're ruined at the end of the day; the people are all friendly, kind and generous; and the food is all delicious and even home-made! We began the day inauspiciously in the small town of Lincoln, with a damp chill in the air- 37F and foggy, but with a forecast for clearing sky's and warmer temps by mid morning.  After a big breakfast at Lambkins Cafe, Mike and I set off to tackle Stemple Pass-  a 16 mile, 2200' climb starting about 100 yards from the cafe.  Sure enough, within 45 minutes, the fog began to lift, and we each began shedding layers.   The road profile looked like a near perfect exponential curve, with easy grades to start, and the steeper and steeper pitches as we neared the top, with a good ...
Read more

Shakedown trip- 4 weeks to go!

Image
Getting close to time to head for Banff, but first a real test ride:-). 3 days, 2 nights camping at remote sites up in the Adirondacks.  About 30-35% gravel, with 3-4,000' of climbing over 40-70 miles each day.  It should be a pretty good test of both bike & body!  I started out about mid-day Saturday May 6 from Port Leyden on the Black River.  My route ran north along the Black River valley about 20 miles, then northeast into the Adirondacks Park to Stillwater Reservoir.  I got to the reservoir at about 5pm, and decided to catch a real dinner at the Stillwater Inn, where I enjoyed a really great burger and fries and a beer- Meier's Creek IPA even from back in Cazenovia;-) After dinner, I rode another 3 or 4 miles until I found a great campsite on a bluff overlooking the reservoir.  Camp went together pretty easily for the first time out in the wild, and I even enjoyed a pretty nice campfire before sleeping like a log.  Slee...
Read more

Day 31 - Pie Town, NM to Apache Creek, NM

Image
After yesterday's long slog along the GDMBR's gravel to Pie Town, last night we decided to consider a slightly longer route today, but sticking to paved highway instead of unpredictable gravel. Whether peanut butter mud or peanut butter powder, neither was something we wanted to experience at this stage of our journey! So after a pretty good night's rest at the Toaster House, we set off for Apache Creek along US 60 at about 7:00am.  Today we were not too worried about heat, as we would begin riding at about 7500' under oddly overcast  skies, and then climb to more than 8200' at Jewett's Gap, so for most of the ride we would see comfortable temperatures.  The wind was another thing though...but we apparently got lucky on that count for once!  The daily breeze didn't really kick up until after we got to Quemado and headed south.  Starting as a quartering tailwind, by the time we were descending along the San Francisco River, we had a full on tailwi...
Read more