Part 4

<BODY BGCOLOR="#000000" TEXT="#F7F7FF" LINK="#FFFFFF" ALINK="#000400" VLINK="#FFFFFF"> <div> <FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#CC3300" FACE="Arial" ><B>Dave's Cross Country Bike Tour 2004</B></FONT><FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#FFCC99" FACE="Arial" >   </FONT> |   <A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Daves Cross Country Bike Tour 2004"><U><B>home</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Daves Cross Country Bike Tour 2004"><U>Dave's Cross Country Bike Tour 2004</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id2.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Intro"><U>Intro</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id18.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Home Answering Machine Diaries"><U>Home Answering Machine Diaries</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id4.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Part 1"><U>Part 1</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id5.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Part 2"><U>Part 2</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id19.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Part 2 Pics Continued"><U>Part 2 Pics Continued</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id6.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Part 3"><U>Part 3</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id20.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Part 3 Pics 1"><U>Part 3 Pics 1</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id21.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Part 3 pics 2"><U>Part 3 pics 2</U></A>   |   <B>Part 4</B>   |   <A HREF="id22.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Part 4 pics 1"><U>Part 4 pics 1</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id23.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Part 4 Pics 2"><U>Part 4 Pics 2</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id8.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Part 5"><U>Part 5</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id26.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Part 5 pics"><U>Part 5 pics</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id9.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Part 6"><U>Part 6</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id27.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Part 6 Pics"><U>Part 6 Pics</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id10.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Part 7"><U>Part 7</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id11.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Part 8"><U>Part 8</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id12.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Part 9"><U>Part 9</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id28.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Part 9 Pics"><U>Part 9 Pics</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id24.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Reunion"><U>Reunion</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id29.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Reunion Pics"><U>Reunion Pics</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id14.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Part 10"><U>Part 10</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id30.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Part 10 Pics"><U>Part 10 Pics</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id15.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Part 11"><U>Part 11</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id16.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Part 12"><U>Part 12</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id17.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Part 13"><U>Part 13</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id31.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Epilogue"><U>Epilogue</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id25.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Schenck/Gump"><U>Schenck/Gump</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id13.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Guestbook"><U>Guestbook</U></A></div> <div> <IMG SRC="00758020.png" border=0 width="600" height="2" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> Part 4</div> <div> <IMG SRC="02c4fa00.jpg" border=0 width="335" height="416" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> Map Courtesy of Adventure Cycling Association -  <A HREF="http://www.adventurecycling.com" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.adventurecycling.com"><U>www.adventurecycling.com</U></A></div> <bR> <div> Missoula to West Yellowstone, MT</div> <bR> <div> 7/8 Thurs. 7:00  PM MDT - Phone Conversation with Winnie.</div> <bR> <div> Hi!  I’m calling from Stevensville, south of Missoula,</div> <div> about 40-50 miles. The weather is great.  Yesterday I saw a</div> <div> moose- a big bull- 2 miles after Lolo Pass on the right hand</div> <div> side. I didn’t stop to take a picture, since I’ve heard</div> <div> they can charge.  I didn’t want to chance it.  At Lolo Hot</div> <div> Springs I got to take a shower; that felt nice.   Then it</div> <div> must have dropped down to 32 degrees over night, because</div> <div> there was ice all over the top of my tent when I got up in</div> <div> the morning.  I guess at 4000 ft., it never gets totally</div> <div> warm.</div> <bR> <div> I was so looking forward to Missoula.  But then it was a</div> <div> little disappointing and hard in a way.  The Adventure</div> <div> Cycling Office was nice, but hard to get to.  I was a little</div> <div> overwhelmed by seeing so many people, buildings and the</div> <div> traffic.  I’m not used to it after being alone on isolated</div> <div> roads for so many days.  Then I got lost; there were no</div> <div> street signs. Anyway, I’m glad to be out here on a country</div> <div> road again.  I’m going on to Hamilton 22 miles from here</div> <div> to camp.</div> <bR> <div> Tomorrow’s a big day.  I’ll need to get up at the crack</div> <div> of dawn because I need to make up time. I’ll go through</div> <div> Darby, Sula, and maybe Wisdom (over a pass).  I’ll have to</div> <div> go over Chief Joseph Pass which is 7,241 feet- my highest</div> <div> pass yet.  It’s named for one of the famous Nez Perce</div> <div> chiefs.</div> <bR> <div> I’m learning some of the local history.  It’s the</div> <div> bicentennial year of Lewis and Clark coming through this</div> <div> area.  The Nez Perce helped Lewis and Clark when their party</div> <div> was starving, but later on, this led to the Indians’</div> <div> demise.  The terrain is unbelievable.  I can’t imagine</div> <div> what it must have been like for the Nez Perce tribes to have</div> <div> been chased by the US soldiers for years through this land.</div> <div> Well, gotta go so I can make my next destination before</div> <div> dark.</div> <bR> <div> 7/10 Sat. 8:00  PM MDT - Phone Conversation with</div> <div> Gwendolyn-Jane (Winnie’s mom).</div> <bR> <div> Yesterday, July 9th, I made Chief Joseph Pass.  I made two</div> <div> small passes today.  Tomorrow it’s the “No Name Pass”.</div> <div>  It’s the last pass before Yellowstone. I hope to make it</div> <div> to just outside Yellowstone by tomorrow night.</div> <bR> <div> I have lost a lot of time in the mountains- so many storms.</div> <div> Big ones with incredible lightening. Really scary.  People</div> <div> have died in these storms because they weren’t in a</div> <div> protected place.  I’ve been lucky though.  In the last two</div> <div> storms, I found one place that had a small depression in the</div> <div> earth, and in the other I found a Department of</div> <div> Transportation shack.  My years in backpacking have taught</div> <div> me not to take chances with the weather, or take foolish</div> <div> risks.  It’s better to stop, find shelter, and wait it</div> <div> out.  My legs are fine.  My body is fine.  My only complaint</div> <div> is that I’m behind schedule.  I may have to interrupt the</div> <div> trip by catching a bus someplace to catch up.  But I won’t</div> <div> make that decision yet.  I promised Winnie I’d give it a</div> <div> little more time.  I just don’t want to miss my family</div> <div> reunion.</div> <bR> <div> **************************</div> <bR> <div>  <A NAME="712_mon__800__pm_mdt___phone"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A>7/12 Mon. 8:00  PM MDT - Phone Conversation with Winnie</div> <bR> <div> I’m two miles west of West Yellowstone; and will try to</div> <div> find an Internet today.  I’m heading for Hebgen Lake on</div> <div> Rte 287.  There’s only 20 miles more until I say goodbye</div> <div> to Montana. Then I’ll be into Section 5 (of the maps).</div> <bR> <div> I’m still considering my options about being behind</div> <div> schedule. According to the timetable I set for myself, I</div> <div> should be in Rawlins (now 3 days away on the</div> <div> Wyoming-Colorado border), but it’s hard to make up that</div> <div> time. I might have to take a bus or train or hitch a ride.</div> <div> I’m considering which places to miss. (Note from Winnie:</div> <div> He’s started calling this possibility a “portage”-</div> <div> which is the term canoers use when they have to take the</div> <div> canoe out of the water and walk over a section of land to</div> <div> another river, pond, whatever.)  It’s kind of depressing</div> <div> to think about it, like I’m not being true to the</div> <div> cross-country trip somehow.  But it’s too beautiful to let</div> <div> those thoughts in…  I think, “Oh, I may not make the</div> <div> whole trip on the bike.”  Then I say to myself, “Knock</div> <div> it off, Dave, it’s just too pretty all around you to be</div> <div> like that.”  Everyone I meet says, “You’re movin’</div> <div> fast!  When did you start? June 26th?  You’re kidding me!</div> <div> And you’re here already! Wow! You’re flying!”  So</div> <div> according to everyone else I’m doing great.</div> <bR> <div> The most important part is I know in my heart that I’m</div> <div> physically capable of doing what I set out to do.  I mean,</div> <div> what can you do about the lightning storms?  That’s</div> <div> what’s got me two days behind.  I talked to this BLM</div> <div> (Bureau of Land Management) woman as we watched another</div> <div> storm brewing in the distance. She said, “Are you going to</div> <div> do that pass now?  You’ll be up there on the pass when</div> <div> that storm hits.”  Every day I’ve done at least one pass</div> <div> with a 7% grade (that means I’m in my lowest gear for 4-5</div> <div> uphill miles).  I’m getting pretty good at this.  So, I</div> <div> told her I use the 5-second rule. I watch for the lightening</div> <div> to strike, and then start counting until it thunders.  If</div> <div> it’s under 5 seconds, I don’t go up the pass.  “I like</div> <div> that, that’s a good rule,” she said.</div> <bR> <div> Today is the first day of cloudless skies.  What a relief!</div> <div> It’s so dry I’ve been drinking a ton of water.  I did 85</div> <div> miles yesterday.  Mountain miles, I call them, including a</div> <div> Category One Pass.  It was a great descent into the</div> <div> beautiful Madison Valley.  I sure hope the pictures turn</div> <div> out!</div> <bR> <div> About 10 miles after the Dillon KOA, I came up on some</div> <div> wetlands. I saw white pelicans there.  They’re so big with</div> <div> black on their undersides.  They fly with their wings</div> <div> straight out and soar like eagles. Three or four took off</div> <div> from the marsh and flew right over me and caught a thermal.</div> <div> They are really good soarers.</div> <bR> <div> Yesterday was a big day for old mining towns.  I stopped in</div> <div> Virginia City where they’ve kept many of the old buildings</div> <div> and preserved it well.  It has a gold mining exhibit and</div> <div> stage show.  It’s a very cute tourist trap, but not over</div> <div> done.  I stopped at a bakery and got apple pie and, of</div> <div> course, had to have a scoop of vanilla ice cream with it.</div> <div> I’ve really been trying to stay aware of my calcium intake</div> <div> and so add milkshakes and ice cream whenever I can.  I</div> <div> remember reading that the Tour de France riders suffer bone</div> <div> loss from weeks of punishing riding, so I’m trying to</div> <div> watch out for that. (Note from Winnie: Oh, right Dave, when</div> <div> have you ever needed an excuse to eat ice cream!)</div> <bR> <div> I was riding mostly through Alder Valley all day.  A lot of</div> <div> it was impressive, but it was ugly in one way.  In the</div> <div> 1890’s they dredged up the whole valley looking for gold.</div> <div> There are huge piles of gravel everywhere.  They found gold-</div> <div> tons of it- but the landscape suffered.</div> <bR> <div> I had the coolest place to camp last night, in a place</div> <div> called Cameron (believe it or not, named just like the town</div> <div> near us in NY).  Cameron, Montana.  It’s just about the</div> <div> only place between Virginia City and West Yellowstone.  It</div> <div> is amazing how far apart towns are here and so desolate in</div> <div> between.</div> <bR> <div> I was riding out on a long stretch with mountain ranges in</div> <div> the distance on either side.  All of a sudden I came up on</div> <div> some rows of buildings. You almost could have passed it if</div> <div> you’d blinked.  It was one of these Mom and Pop camp</div> <div> places.  I walked into a bar filled with motor bikers.  It</div> <div> felt weird, me in my spandex.   The place had 5 RV’s</div> <div> camping and I was the only tent camper.  There was a really</div> <div> nice, gray kitty cat.  It looked like they had cut mats out</div> <div> of his long hair.  He was such a nice cat.</div> <bR> <div> Today I had lunch at the Grizzly Bar and Grill.  I was the</div> <div> only one there, and they had OLN on the TV (The Outdoor Life</div> <div> Network broadcasts the whole Tour de France everyday).  So I</div> <div> got to see part of the Tour de France, interviews with Lance</div> <div> and George Hincapie, and part of the stage! The waitress was</div> <div> a nice person, too.</div> <bR> <div> I saw lots of packs of antelope today, and 3 Osprey or maybe</div> <div> they were Ferrigenous hawks.  I’m not sure.  I need my</div> <div> hawk book.  And I saw lots of sandhill cranes. Oh, I also</div> <div> saw a jack rabbit.  It was the first live one I’ve ever</div> <div> seen.  I’ve seen lots of dead ones out in Wyoming along</div> <div> the road.  They’re big, and they have big ears. (Note from</div> <div> Winnie: As we were chatting on the phone, Dave kept getting</div> <div> distracted by an osprey on the lake near where he was</div> <div> calling from. He kept digressing from his stories to keep up</div> <div> a running commentary on what it was doing.  Then another</div> <div> joined the first, and he thought that was so cool, the</div> <div> conversation never really got back on track.)</div> <bR> <div> I’m psyched because Yellowstone is 14 miles after West</div> <div> Yellowstone.  Today has been all uphill- from 5,000 to 7,000</div> <div> ft- one-half of it into a headwind.  It was brutal.</div> <div> There’s a lot to look forward to.  In Yellowstone, there</div> <div> will be biker-hiker campsites.  (But we’re prohibited from</div> <div> some areas because of bear activity). These biker-hiker</div> <div> sites are the cat’s meow because you’re likely to have</div> <div> other bikers and hikers to talk to, we share food (“Hey,</div> <div> what you got over there?” “Looks good.” “Wanna try</div> <div> some of this?”), and stories about where to stop coming</div> <div> up.  I tell 2-3 west-bounders a day what the best places to</div> <div> camp or eat are that I’ve found.</div> <bR> <div> I met this one cool guy today, he reminded me of Hank at</div> <div> work, the same age, same way of talking.   He was riding a</div> <div> recumbent bike like me.  We stopped and talked.  I don’t</div> <div> always talk to the west-bounders I see because they’re</div> <div> motoring like me, trying to make their day’s goal.  But</div> <div> when I see someone else on a recumbent, we stop and talk.</div> <div> It’s neat.  If Hank could have been a recumbent rider,</div> <div> this guy would have been him.  I’ve seen lots of riders in</div> <div> their 50-60’s, they’re so fit.  I met these guys- one</div> <div> from the Netherlands and one from NY.  They have pins they</div> <div> wear from all the countries they have cycled in.  By looking</div> <div> at their collection, it seemed they’d been to just every</div> <div> country in the world.</div> <bR> <div> My favorite meal so far, hands down, was in Mitchell.  It is</div> <div> almost impossible to beat. It was so surreal and quaint and</div> <div> the food unbelievably good.  The best part of this</div> <div> experience, is how much this effort and experience sharpens</div> <div> your senses, and sense of appreciation.  It is really cool</div> <div> to see and smell things.  It’s a feast for the senses.</div> <div> Every once in a while, like every couple of days, some guy</div> <div> pops out of his RV next to my tent, looking at me and all my</div> <div> gear on the bike, cooking my dinner over a camp stove, and</div> <div> says:  “That looks like a lot of work, heh, heh.”  I</div> <div> usually say, “Yeah,” and leave it at that.  But last</div> <div> night I finally had to retort, “But I get to eat whatever</div> <div> I want and not gain weight.”</div> <bR> <div> I also like that I can sneak up on things in their natural</div> <div> state, whatever they happen to be doing and see them just as</div> <div> they are.</div> <bR> <div> I’ll call from the other side of Yellowstone.  Parting</div> <div> words from Winnie: “Honey, remember, don’t get gored by</div> <div> a buffalo.”</div> <bR> </BODY>