Day 17 (5/26/12) to Whitehall, Montana



Happy hour starts at 5.  I've always wanted to do happy hour at a gas station.

Terry on the downhill side of the Continental Divide at Homestake Pass, elevation 6393 feet, east of Butte, MT. Snowing and a dangerous descent.

Mari at Homestake Pass, Continental Divide.

Chain up area, but we didn't chain up. No one else did either.

"Me Like Um"  Is this PC or what?



Daily: 52.4 miles. Total: 909.9 miles. We had a late start, as Terry fixed Mari's third flat time. Terry's reward for each flat tire repair - a chocolate milkshake at the next restaurant. Cold, windy, wet, and snowy as we crossed the continental divide for the first of 4 times at Homestake Pass (6393 ft.) 33F - 41F while cycling. Motel at Whitehall.

Day 16 (5/25/12) to Anaconda, Montana



Terry on the way to Phillipsburg and before we climbed the hill to Georgetown Lake.





It's cold and it's been raining. We've been putting on the layers--prediction of snow today, and we're going up.




Mari with her plastic bags as glove covers.  Her overmitts had disappeared before ever being seen on this trip, and she asked for plastic bags at lunch. Di  the trick, sort of.  Problems with condensation, but they were better than nothing.




On the look out for snow.

Getting close to the top, near Georgetown Lake.



Terry nearing the summit near Georgetown Lake.




Terry taking a break near the top, before the snow storm.


 

Georgetown Lake, 6300 ft elevation.



Yes indeed, ski area.  Just on the verge of snowing.

Hello snow.

It's snowing but manageable on the bikes so far.

"Luke, this is your mother."  (Luke is Erik's camp name for English camp.  Ha ha)

Terry gets to fix another flat tire for Mari, but this time in the warmth and comfort of a warm, dry kitchen. Mari's flat occurred a couple miles from Anaconda, after coming down miles of road in a snowstorm.  A man offered us a ride into town, we took it, and didn't have to deal with a flat tire out in the cold, wet late afternoon. yay!

Daily: 51 miles. Total miles: 857.5 A challenging ride to Georgetown Lake, a ski area at 6300 ft. It snowed most of the day, with heavy winds. Temperatures 35-42 degrees F while cycling. It was brutal in the wind. Mari got her third flat tire at about 6:30 pm, about two miles out of Anaconda, and a guy going to a pawn shop gave us a ride into town to a motel. All motels within 80 miles were booked due to a state girls softball meet. We ended up luckily at a cottage of the owner of a B&B. This worked out great!

Day 15 (5/24/12) to Drummond, Idaho

Terry looks rather imposing

Lovely flowers among the rocks

Bear country!

Put your urine here

Terry gears up for changing Mari's flat tire.  Her second one in two weeks.  Three little pieces of cable, boo.

The motel toilet.  One had to carefully approach the toilet in order not to crash into the counter.  One could just sit on the toilet and eat, play chess, work on the computer, etc. and maybe even stay there all day if so inclined. This toilet is not for the robust.

Mari and Terry at Mark and Audrey's house.

Mari and Audrey, shirt tail relatives.  Audrey is Mari's dad's wife's son's wife's sister's daughter. ha ha

The Tesicle Festival!      The Testy Festy.

Daily miles: 55. Total miles: 801.5. Cold, and wet. Close to freezing. The last 20 miles a headwind. Terry fixed a flat tire on Mari's bike at 6 pm on a cold, windy section of the road, about 30 minutes this side of Drummond.

Day 14 (5/23/12) to Missoula, Montana.

Our cozy cabin at Lochsa Lodge.

The Lochsa Lodge.

The Lochsa River.

Terry getting close to the top of Lolo Pass, 5233 feet.

Mari close to the top of Lolo Pass, 5233 feet.

Rider in the rain

At the edge of the Lolo Pass visitor Center.  It had been snowing for an hour and we just headed out, ready to bike in the snow. When we arrived at the Montana border sign, the snow stopped.




Up close and personal with Mari.   Kinda scary.

The snow stopped at the Montana border at Lolo Pass. That was okay with us.

We kept our eyes out, and later saw a mama moose and two baby moosettes, but couldn't get a photo in time.

Missoula!  Biked up and over Lolo Pass to get there.

Mark, Audrey, Roman, and Zoe in Missoula.

Daily: 59.6 miles. Total: 746.5 miles. Crosses Lolo Pass, snowing, wet, cold 33F. Stayed with relatives Audrey and Mark, Zoe and Roman.

Zoe let us use her room, and even showed us how to use her karaoke machine in case we wanted to do karaoke before we went to bed.  Ha ha!

Day 13 (5/22/12) to Powell Idaho (Lochsa Lodge)

Terry at Lowell, on the Lochsa River. It was raining from the get go.

Mari looking lovely on the Lochsa River. Tired of the rain.

Apgar!! How does it rate on a scale from 0-10 upon arrival, and then again after the first five minutes?
  Health care humor, ha ha.

Lochsa River (upstream from the Middle Fork of the Clearwater)

Lochsa River, looking swirly.

Chris Peterson, who surfs this on a surfboard.  Catch his video on vimeo:  Crashsurfstheriver.

Lochsa River

Kayakers on the Lochsa River in the rain.

Kayakers on the Lochsa River.

A tributary of the Lochsa River.

The water level is not far from the bridge deck.  Locals had said the water level is high right now.

Happy to get to the Lochsa Lodge for the night. No camping for us! Been in the rain almost all of the day, and with climbing elevations, it was cold.

Daily: 65.5 miles. Total: 686.9 miles. Rain. Uphill all day. 3441 ft. Elevation. Dinner in lodge and nice cozy cabin.