Day 4 - Eureka, MT to Polebridge, MT

Another fabulous day on the GDMBR;-). Mike and I spent the night at a decent but cheap motel on the outskirts of Eureka, MT, and we managed to get a good night's rest and then be on the road by 6:45am.  We headed south on the main drag into town where we hoped to be the first customers at Cafe Jax, which came highly recommended. As it happened, we were about 2 minutes behind our Kiwi friends from Fernie! So we joined their table and all shared a big chow-down for breakfast.  Between the 5 of us, we probably polished off 10,000 calories.  Given the climb ahead, it probably wouldn't last til lunch! Jax definitely lived up to their reputation- if you're ever in Eurek, it's the best! :-)

After the hearty refuel, we all headed south through a mix of pine forest and ranchland. 
About 10 miles south of Eureka, we turned east to begin climbing over the Whitefish Divide - a 2700' climb over about 15 miles.
 The first 8 or so miles were really nice- smooth tarmac pavement at grades of 3-5%; then things got a bit more challenging -- good smooth gravel at 5-8% for the next 3 or 4 miles, then really "chunky- monkey" crushed stone at 8-9% for the last mile.  Tim, a Kiwi from Christchurch, and I summited together, and we settled in for lunch while we waited for the others to catch up. Miles was next, with Mike not too far behind, as he struggled a bit with his narrower tires on the really rough surface.  We waited a further half hour or so, but Ingrid never showed, so we're not quite sure what may have happened to her!! She's been having navigation problems almost every day, and refuses to stay with others and forging off on her own... We figured she'll find her way at some point ??

Meanwhile, while waiting on the others, I got the chance to get a good look at some of the great wildflowers growing up at 5300' 

Eventually, we all set off down into the Flathead River valley on the western edge of Glacier Nat'l Park.  The views into the park along our 15 mile descent were spectacular!

Once into the valley, we turned south for about 10 miles where we parted ways with the Kiwis, as they headed back west for a further 30 miles up and over Red Meadow Pass and back down to Whitefish, where they had a hotel reservation.  Mike and I decided to skip Whitefish and deviate from the standard GDMBR route by continuing south to the truly unique hamlet of Polebridge, MT.  Consisting of a general store, a saloon, and a few rental cabins, it has a permanent population well under 100.  A very cool place that I'd read about, and I further the recommendation!

As I write this, Mike and I are sipping beers in the shade outside the saloon, and we'll be staying in one of the cabins for the night.  Tomorrow we'll head south from Polebridge and rejoin the GDMBR in Columbia Falls;-)
Cheers!

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