Wednesday June 11, 2008

Hi Cousin! Great to talk with you on Saturday! I am thrilled to follow along on your adventure. I know you will make your NC goal, Enjoy the journey!

Safe travels,

Mike

rabbits
Mood:  quizzical

I just read your postings, well scanned them. Haven't you had any run-ins with some crazy rabbit or bear or something?

 Hope you are having a great time!

WT

Day Seventeen-Wednesday, June 11th
Mood:  not sure
Now Playing: Could I make it over both passes?

There was no sense in getting up too early because the earliest I could eat breakfast would be around 7:30 AM.  There was about an inch of snow on the ground, none on the road.  Hmm.  Maybe I can make it over the passes after all.

My new Jackson Hole friends, Jim and Betty Walton, were leaving at 9:30 AM, so here was my plan.  I would leave at 8:30 AM, knowing that if something went wrong, they would be coming by a little over an hour later, and could rescue me.

It was 11 miles to Big Hole Pass.  Hardly anyone was on the roads.  At     8:40 I took off.  It was windy and snowing, just like yesterday.  I made good time, hoping to make the summit by 10:30.  A little over 2 miles from the pass, Jim and Betty eased up and asked if everything is okay.  I assured them that I was fine.  I made the summit aound 10 AM.

The truth is I felt confident that I could reach the summit.  I just wasn't sure what kind of reception the summit would give me.  And I was nervous about the descent.  It would be cold, but, hopefully, not slick.

It was cold and slick.  There was a long descent, and I refused to go over 15 mph.  I was freezing.  After 1/2 hour of this, I was shivering pretty bad.  Finally the road leveled off and I could pedal again, getting those legs moving, the blood pumping, and shivering a bit less.  Now the intense cold wind was the obstacle.

Before scaling the second pass, Badger Pass, I knew I needed some fuel (food) to drive the engine.  I found a spot  where, mysteriously, the wind stopped.  Immediately I pulled over and started to quickly get a sandwich out, when just as quickly the wind started whipping again.  I ducked down in the ditch using the big saddlebags to block the wind, but it was an exercise in futility.  I was freezing there.  Three bites of the sandwich and I was back on the bike pedalling hard.

Badger Pass was almost anticlimatic.  It was only 600' shorter than Big Hole Pass, but it was much tamer, and I got there in no time.  From there on out, it was 14 miles, all downhill to the outskirts of Dillon.  A measure of how different this was over the part between the passes, I, at one point, just took my hands off the brakes to see how fast the bike would go.  At 45 mph, I slowed it down again.

When I got into town, it wasn't even 1 PM yet.  48 miles and two mountain passes and done by 1 PM.  That probably won't happen again. 

In Dillon, I had made arrangements to stay overnight with a fraternity brother of mine, Roger Norris-Tull.  Roger is the program coordinator of Health and Human Performance for the University of Montana-Western.  We had not seen each other in 40 years.  There was a lot of catching up to do.

Roger developed a love of the wild outdoors while living in Alaska and spends much of his spare time building a cabin in a very remote property on Grasshopper Creek, that is way, way off the beaten track.  He loves it.  And, lucky guy that he is, his wife, Deleena, understands his need and supports his project.  She is the director of Science Education for the same campus.  They are two, very talented and special people, who I, by the grace of God, was able to visit for a day.

Roger took me out to a ghost town called Bannack.  At one time, Bannack was the Territoral Capital.  It was formed because of a gold strike.  It died quickly when other strikes were made.  But the buildings are still standing.  Because of the dryness, the wood is still preserved.  It was fascinating to walk into the hotel, with its huge winding staircase, and look at all of the rooms.  Bannack is an amazing treasure, much like Nevada City and Virginia City which I would be seeing tomorrow.

The next day, Thursday, I was to ride to, and stay in, Virginia City.  Then, I had another steep pass to climb on Friday, part of a hurculeon 84 mile effort, all on an uphill grade, to get to West Yellowstone.  So when Deleena mentioned that she had friends in Ennis with whom I could stay, I was somewhat interested.  When it was explained that if I would go over the pass tomorrow to Ennis, then it was only 64 miles to West Yellowstone, a far more manageable distance.  It just meant that I would have a longer day tomorrow, closer to 80 miles.  She called her friends and they gladly welcomed me for tomorrow evening.  It was a very special and gracious effort on her and their parts.  I am just amazed at people's generosity.

 Will McMahan

Hi Will,

Just want to let you know that the I'm thinking of you and I'm keeping you in my prayers! The class is asking about you and are missing you in "your spot" everyone is amazed at what you are doing! I hope the journey is going well and look forward to reading more about your adventures!

God is good all the time. All the time God is good!

Buffy

Day Sixteen--Tuesday, June 10th
Mood:  a-ok
Now Playing: An imperfect day. What the hail!

I peeked out the door of my motel room, and it looked pretty good outside. It had rained last night but it wasn't raining now, The sky had typical clouds with blue breaks. My plan was to have breakfast in Sula, five miles up the road. I wanted to leave the motel by 6:30 AM, ride to Sula for breakfast, and be climbing by 8-8:30 AM.

As I got on my loaded recumbent, I marveled at how comfortable the ride was. It is sort of like bicycling from a reclining chair. Your are laid back, and you pedal parallel to the ground.

Two miles down the road it started to hail. So much for my understanding of the sky. I had never ridden in hail before. It wasn't bad. i could hardly feel the tiny particles. Why couldn't Montana have snowflakes instead of these pesky buggers? Oh well, I can take it. Hmm. The hail is increasing in size. Now I'm starting to feel it. My God, its now the size of marbles. Ouch, this is beginning to really hurt. Ouch.  Ouch.  Ouch.  I'm getting pelted, laid out flat on my bike, as if the hail discovered a nice target. Quickly, I scurried off the road and hunkered down behind a tree as the wind became this fury, first going one direction then another. I had to keep moving around the tree to find the lee of the wind at that moment. (Note to self: next time I think its going to hail, remember to wear a protective cup.) After a couple of minutes, the wind quieted and I got on my bike to get to the restaurant. The road was white with hailstones, but not slippery.

Soon I reached Sula, a town which consists of a Country store/restaurant/campground. That's it. Unsure as to whether I would vbe able to go further (its snowing now) a hot breakfast still was what the doctor ordered. The cook had quit two days earlier. So breakfast was coffee, a couple of packaged danishes and some juice.

My new strategy was to sit this snowstorm out--stay at the campgrounds overnight, if necessary, and inquire of pass conditions as travelers came down the hill. This was the first place at the bottom of the pass, and people would want to gas up, replenish supplies, etc. The information I received from travelers was not good. So I sat and waited. Around 9:30 the snow stopped (it was only an inch or less), the wind had died, and things were looking up. Would I be able to go over the pass? It would probably take three hours, and a lot can happen in that time with this mountain weather during that time. At 10:15 AM, the sun was shining. A motorcyclist fresh off the mountain gave a positive report. I brushed the snow off my bike, turned it around facing uphill and started riding again. Chief Joseph Pass, here I come. As ironies would have it, a half mile down the road, I had to stop and apply my 50 block suntan lotion to my face.

It was a long climb, and it was getting colder with the elevation. It snowed lightly, not sticking to the road, and the wind swirled a bit, but nothing serious. A little after 1 PM, I crossed over the pass and headed downhill. The next town was Wisdom, 27 miles away, some of it downhill. In bicycling (actually in everything, but it is accentuated in bicycling), food is your fuel. You need to eat. Alot. I hadn't eaten since that sparce fare around 7:30 AM, and I didn't have anything for lunch but some Trail Mix and stuff. About 12 miles outside of Wisdom, I stopped to put some sustenance in my body (a Power Bar and some Trail Mix), then hurried on to Wisdom. I wanted to stop by the Big Hole Battlefield on the way to Wisdom. The decisive battle between the U.S. troops and the Nez Perce tribes was fought there. The Indians won the battle but at an onerous cost of lives, which spelled their demise and eventual surrender. Chief Joseph is the one who said "I will fight no more forever." As I was eating, I realized that it was nearing 3 PM. I still had to eat in Wisdom and then ride another 22 miles to Jackson, where I had reservations.

I looked behind me towards the pass from which I had just descended. There was a solid line of snow headed my way, and it seemed to be in a hurry. I jumped on the bike and took off.  I fyou saw  the movie "Hidalgo", about a horse race across the desert, the hero outraces a huge sandstorm, gaining shelter seconds before being engulfed.  That was the movies.  This was reality.  It caught up with me 6-8 miles outside of Wisdom. The wind and snow seemed to come from my right. It was bitterly cold. I had a headband that would cover my ears but it was soaking wet from perspiration, and I had taken it off.  Putting it back on (would a wet headband be an improvement in the wind?) my ears warmed up in seconds.

Soon I was in Wisdom (certainly a place which was named for any of my traits) and had a hearty hamburger and fires at Fetty's Cafe. I met another bike traveler outside the cafe. There was 6-10 inches of snow forecast for tonight. I had miscalculated the mileage to Jackson. It was 18 miles, not 22.

I got on the bike and started pedalling hard. The wind was still blowing, the snow parallel to the ground. The oddest thing happened. You would think that this had to be the worst weather in the world. Snow was building up on my whole right side, about 1/2". My right lens of my glasses was snowed over and when my left started to become obscured, I took them off. Yet, I was perfectly warm. Somehow, the heat I was generating was exactly equal to the cold. I also went fast, for me. Although the wind was coming from the side, it seemed to help propell me faster somehow. It was a slight uphill grade for all 18 miles, yet I managed 14 mph for most of it. Ten miles out of Wisdom, the snow stopped. the sun came out. The snow dropped off my right side, and I arrived at the Jackson Hot Springs Lodge, the biggest surprise to me, in terms of lodging, since I left Everett.

The lodge had a huge main hall with  a wrap-around balcony on the second floor, the walls filled with heads of what were once live animals.  A bar stood at one end of the room.  A large stone fireplace with a fire blazing beckoned one to sit for a while in the stuffed chairs.  Much of the flooring was of a dark wood, set up for dancing.  I'll bet they have some grand shindigs here.  At the end of the grand room, opposite the bar, was a door that led outside to an outside swimming pool that was fed by hot springs.

After checking in, I was walking the bike past the front in order to get around back to my cabin.   A voice shouted out "Hey, where in North Carolina are you going?"  (There were a number of stickers on the bike that say "North Carolina or Bust!)  Out into the driving wind walks this distinguished looking gentleman in swim trunks and tee shirt.  I'm fully dressed, and very cold in the sub-freezing wind, as we chat.  Having been soaking in the hot springs pool, he seemed oblivious to the cold.  I am the one that finally had to break off the conversation.  A hot shower beckoned.

After showering, I went back into the lodge and found he and his wife in the pool.  This neat couple, Jim and Betty Walton, live in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, and were returning from a week spent in a cabin in Stehekin, Washington (Stehekin is a very remote town on the far end of 60 mile long Lake Chelan.  It is accessable only by boat or hiking overland).  We had a nice chat which continued later in the dining room.  It is just amazing what wonderful people one meets in the most unusual of places.

Tomorrow held a special challenge.  I had two mountain passes to go over that day, Big Hole Pass, elevation of 7,250',  and Badger Pass, elevation of 6,700'.  This is, of course, is predicated on the assumption that the roads would be ridable, and the passes safe.  The prognostication of lots of snow makes me wonder if I would get out at all.  Oh well, I could think of worst places to be stuck than the wonderful Jackson Hot Springs Lodge.

Will McMahan

Day Fifteen--Monday, June 9th
Mood:  happy
Now Playing: Preparing for the launch
Today went as planned. Because of the short bicycling distance I was able to take my time getting ready.

First things first: I picked up the hand warmers, stopped by the grocery store to get some "on the road" food, and headed for the bike shop to see if they had any long bike pants. They had one pair left. Whew!

The staff there asked where I was staying that night, and I replied "the Rocky Knob Lodge". Only the bike mechanic had heard of it. He said "I know it! I got married there!" Now I knew I was in trouble.

At $37/night, I was not expecting much, and it did everything to live down to my expectations, When was the last time that I used a TV set that had thhose two knobs: VHF and UHF? I couildn't remember how to work it. It didn't matter because I slept early and long.

Tomorrow was a big day. The weather wasn't looking good and had never attempted to ascend a mountain pass of over 7,000'.

Will McMahan

Day Fourteen--Sunday, June 8th
Mood:  energetic
Now Playing: What does this day have in store?

My plan for the day was to have breakfast around 7 AM, and head for the town of Hamilton, about 58 miles south of Missoula. This being Sunday, I didn't think there would be much traffic. In fact, since I was leaving wso early, if there was a church having their sunday service when I drove by, I thought I would stop in, bicycle clothing and all, and worship with them. For the longest time it seemed that all the services were at 10 AM or 11 AM, so i would be a ways up the road before stopping.

There was a bike trail along the highway that I was having trouble finding. while asking for directions, a fellow, upon seeing my Seattle Seahawk, asked if I was from Seattle. Come to find out, he and his companion were from Darrington. They were building a home for a client nearby.

As I passed through the samll town of Florence, I saw a sign for a Florence/Calvert Creek Community Church. It was not visible from the highway, but I turned off, figuring to go 1/4 mile, and if I did not see the church then I'd get back on the highway. The road came to a "tee" and off to the right was a nice looking church with a full parking lot. This would be the church I would attenc today. I entered the Narthex, only to find that the service had started earlier, and that everyone was seated. Like many churches, the proceedings were broadcast into the narthex, so I was able to worship, in my bike clothes, alone in the narthex.

The pastor was just commencing his sermon. It was on Noah, and how Noah "walked with God" in his daily life. The pastor challenged us to step out of our daily routine, and ask God how to walk with Him. I felt the message was directed to me.

After the service, I was cordially invited to have coffee in an adjoining room, where I was able to meet many nice people, the very first of whose daughter went to massage school in Everett. Upon asking for information on available restaurants up the road, a couple invited me to their home for lunch. I spent a very nice time with John and Joann Haven. John is a retired Physical Therapist and Joann is a practicing nurse. They built their home themselves and did a beautiful job of it. John has a gift of woodwork and liked to hand build kalaidescopes. After a delicious lunch, I bid them farewell, and headed south.

Hamilton is one of the larger towns south of Missoula, and there were two objects that I wished to get before the stores closed: a pair of long bicycle pants (my leg warmers were prone to slipping down, and with some passes to climb, I didn't want to take a hand off the handle bars to fix them while riding) and hand warmers, a brilliant idea by my bride, Karen. Figuring that the stores would close at 5 PM, I hustled to get there by 4:30 PM.

Apparently, there are still some towns where most stores close on Sunday, and Hamilton is one of them. I would have to wait until Monday morning. Fortunately, the next day was going to be my shortest one so far, mileage-wise, about 30-35 miles. So leaving mid-morning would not be a problem. The reason for the short mileage was because I have a major pass, Chief Joseph Pass, to climb the next morning.

Will McMahan

Day Thirteen--Saturday, June 7th
Mood:  hungry
Now Playing: What a great little town, Missoula

It feels a little strange to have a rest day--and no you can't have it back!  I recognize the need for one's body to repair and recuperate so that is not the issue.  All of a sudden I don't have a schedule and goals (well maybe a few).  I just get to look around. 

This morning I rode over to Walgreens Pharmacy to pick up a prescription.  It was a nice 7 mile round trip to get the legs a little stretched out.

Being Saturday morning, Missoula had a Farmers Market happening, and a Craft Market too.  The latter was one block away.  The other was a few blocks further.

 

The rest of today will be spent making arrangements for next week:  securing lodging, checking gearand the bike, cleaning and wiping out and  my panniers, studying the maps until they are firmly engrained in my memory (if anything ever gets firmly engrained in my memory).  For the first time that I can recall, I have become a close watcher of the Weather Channel.  It is amazing that the East and West of America can be at such odds weatherwise--extreme heat East, and unseasonal cooness West.  The West is the part that I'm watching closely.  Low temperatures at West Yellowstone is in the mid-twenties.  I don't want to get stuck out on the road.

An interesting thing happened in Spokane (you do remember Spokane, don't you?).  I have not brought any books along because of weight, not even any devotional literature.  Instead I installed audiobooks onto an MP3 player (okay, okay, I wasn't able to get them installed myself.  I took them to someone with a higher technological IQ--my 11 year old grandson Andy, and he did it in 20 minutes.)  Lying on the pillow in my room at the Spokane Apple Tree Inn was a small three month devotional booklet whose name escapes me.  but it has become part of my daily devotions.  I have seldom been verbal about my beliefs, but I do believe that that small pamphlet was there for me.

I will probably not be able to update this log for a few days.

Mood:  celebratory

Good to read about your adventure!!

We are praying for you!

Do enjoy the roses along the way -- and all the other fine parts of Gods great earth!

Keep peddeling and keep smiling

 Arlie 

 

Day Twelve--Friday, June 6th
Mood:  energetic
Now Playing: This Riding Downhill Stuff is Pretty Cool

This may sound a little anal, but now that I am on Mountain Time, I want to leave and arrive at the same time as I did on PST. Which, if I explained it correctly, if I wanted to leave at 8 AM MST, then I would need to leave at 7 AM PST.  Oh well, one less hour of sleep.

One nice thing about last night in Superior is that, even though this is a small motel, it had a commercial washer and dryer.  I hadn't intended on using them, until I realized that most of my clothes still smelled of smoke from the motel room in Coeur d'Alene.   So it was nice to have everything fresh again.

My goal today was to get to Missoula and secure a motel room within reasonable distance to the American Cycling Association (ACA) office, and preferably one with a computer on which I could write in this journal.  Not sure where the ACA office was, I called a little after 8 AM and was informed that they would not be open tomorrow or Sunday, and they closed at 5 PM today.  this news changed things a bit because I was told that this was a rite of passage for all bicycle travelers through Missoula (I'm not sure why), and that meant that I would have to hussle to get there in time.  Several locals said that there several long hills on the way to Missoula, so I anticipated some slow pedalling at times.

Weather was cloudy and a bit cool.  Forecast was chance of rain.  I hit the road a little after getting off the phone with the ACA.

It was probably my imagination, but it seemed that I was still traveling downhill.  Lookout Pass was 4,800', going downhill to Superior, which, according to one local, was 2,800', and Missoula is around 3,150'.  so a bit of climbing would be necessary.

The ride started off well with a reasonable pace that would eat up the miles until climbing would be necessary, a rate of 12-15 mph.  It seemed to be a bit downhill, which is nice now, but would mean more climbing to get back to Missoula's 3,150'.  I had an 11 AM lunch at a cafe in a small town called Alberton.  Less than 40 minutes later, I was on the road again.  I have to get there before 5 PM.

Those that know me know that I am careful about what I eat, following a low-fat diet regimen with small portioning.  this way my weight has been stable for years, yet if I want to indulge in something fattening, I could do so without guilt.  So it may come as a surprise that I have thrown that out the window for this trip.  I need the calories to run the engine, and I don't care if its a hamburger or fried chicken, as long as it is filling.  This may be an error in judgement, but it seems to me that, with all of this physical activity, there won't be much of a chance for fat to be stored.  A typical example was lunch today.  I had the special:  Patty melt, french fries, a cup of split pea soup and a large glass of milk, and lots of water.

As I was leaving Alberton, I met an interesting couple who were bicycle touring westward.  they had started in Dallas, journeyed to Yellowstone, went up into South Dakota, then to Missoula and west on I-90.  They were headed to Vancouver, B.C., then to Calgary.  I don't think that was their fianl destination.

The rest of the trip to Missoula was very picturesque, and I'm still going somewhat downhill.  Oh, those hills are going to be big ones.  Actually, I was 27 miles to Missoula from Alberton, and the miles went by quickly.  There were a few small hill, but soon I was circling Missoula on I-90, and the big hills were non-existent.  Believe it or not, I arrived at the Adventure Cycling Association office a ltittle after 2 PM.  There I bought a special sweat band headpiece (I'll explain later) and relaxed.  The ACA photgrapher walked into the conference room where I was and wanted to know if I was the owner of the large touring bike.  I said yes, and he wanted a photograph of the bike and I for his collection.

Hmm.  Where to stay for two nights.  I opted for the cheapest alternative and it was only a block away.  I needed some stamps--the Post Office was one block west.  I needed a computer--the library (where I am right now) was one block south.  I needed a replacement part for my hydration pack--it was three blocks south (a long ways, but I need the exercise:)

There are a couple of dozen restaurants within 5 blocks so I ate but not so fully since I would not be cycling much tomorrow except for around town (by 10 PM I was ravenouosly hungry).  Coincidently, Friday night was the first of their evening Art Walks where all the galleries stayed open.  It was fun strolling around.

 The next portion of my ride, starting Sunday morning carries a little dread with it.  The unseasonably cool weather has lowered the snow level down to 5,000'.  In the next six days before stopping in West Yellowstone, I have 4 mountain passes to ranging from 6,700'-7,300'.  Snow is a likelihood, but I am hopeful that it will not stick to the road, and also that I will not get too cold from the perspiration that climbing causes.  We will see what Sunday brings.

Will McMahan