Blue Mountain! We went by there last time we were in Missoula, and this time, we’re here to ride! It should be fairly easy, but you never know about this stuff.

Got up kind of late, as usual, but at least today we had breakfast! Big mistake yesterday, not having breakfast. So, we got there around 11:30. It was not cool, but it was not HOT either, so a good day to ride. The climb was only about two miles, so it made for an easier day, and the climb was also not as steep as yesterday. The scenery, though, was spectacular:

Then, when we got back to the truck, someone had added a little something to a fence post:

That summed it up! Happy ride!

After that it was Safeway for food and fuel, and it was there that I saw this:

Looked interesting, so I got a couple of bags of them, since I’d never seen them. Put some on a pizza we baked later, and they were GOOD!

Tomorrow – Salmon, ID!

Ok, we’re back! Got settled in yesterday, and today, we go back to Rattlesnake. We’ll be doing a different route today than we did the last time here. THIS time, We’ll go the right direction!

The ride started out pretty well, though a bit late, and it was slow going. we took the split we SHOULD have taken last time, and it got kinda steep. We were NOT expecting that. I wanted to go all the way to the top and then come down the way we did last year, but we were both kind of out of it, so we changed plans, and came back down what they call “Ewok”, which is a trail that parallels the road all the way down to the parking lot – about a mile and a half run or so. Well, “all the way down” from where the road is, the trail actually came down from a lot higher up. Anyway, I was expecting a lot of wiggly, through the trees stuff, and it WAS, but what I did NOT expect, and it took a lot away from it, is that the trail was full of stutter bumps. Like divots, or holes, in the trail, that seriously disrupt enjoyment! For one, your tires lose contact with the ground, so turning or braking becomes a lot more iffy. So I slowed down, and that did take a lot of the fun out of it – that, and it’s a two-way trail, and I DID meet someone coming the other way, so that adds a little excitement as well. Here’s a photo just before going into “Ewok”:

That photo is of where we came from – we’d been flying down that road about half a mile or so, just after a pretty good downhill section. We came from over on the right side of those trees. The rest of the ride could have been a lot better, but for the stutter bumps.

Anyway – lunch! Found the Iron Horse Bar & Grill, so off we go to get something to eat. And here is where I got a bad taste of Missoula. Oh, no, not from the restaurant, but from the city itself. We park on the street, and there are meters. 30 minutes for a quarter. I put in four (4) quarters, so I can get two hours. Do I get two hours? NO!!! I get 1 hour and 54 minutes! Here’s a photo:

NOT HAPPY! Bad enough you cannot park for more than two hours, THEY RIP YOU OFF!

Lunch, however, was quite good – we both had the Nachos, and boy, do you get a pile of them!

I had a Guinness with them, The Bear had a Cold Smoke Porter. Which reminds me – that’s what we drank day before yesterday at Mooses Saloon, except at Mooses, THEY WATER IT DOWN. Both of them. Both brews felt very watery, and today cinched it. I’m going to find out where I can file a complaint.

Oh, yeah – today’s ride, elevation profile:

No wonder I hurt! Look at the last quarter mile of climbing, just before we crest! Yeah, I walked that.

Rain. HEAVY rain. Ok, off to Kalispell again, and this time, we remembered the lights, so we can show those guys what they’re going to get from Grady at TrailLED. They were impressed! Grady is sending them 10 lights to rent out or lend out during the race. I hope it gets him some orders!

After that, lunch at Mooses Saloon. Nope, I spelled it right. Weird place – looks like a biker bar, sawdust and peanut shells on the floor (bars in Austin used to do that, then the city council decided that was a “fire hazard”, so no more!), but screaming kids everywhere. What the hell is it with people bringing their screaming brats into bars? REALLY? Take the little bastards to McDonald’s folks, really!

After that, off to look for more trails – even if we can’t ride ’em, we can find ’em! That way when we return, we know where they are!

No photos today because I forgot my phone!

All done looking, we headed back to the trailer, gotta pack up, as we’re moving tomorrow. Back to Missoula!

Rain. Again. HARD rain. I guess we drive to Glacier NP!

The drive was pretty good. We took the main road that goes across to St. Mary’s. though we did not go all the way. We went just past Logan Pass, then turned around. St. Mary’s is on a Reservation, and I try very hard not to do those any more. Native Americans (who aren’t really, their ancestors came over from Asia) are doing a lot of things that I don’t agree with, so I figure I’ll just vote with my wallet. ‘Nuff said.

The rain started after we were almost all the way we were going to go, so I got some decent shots on the way out:

And a pano of that middle one:

I love the clouds in the mountaintops, or rather, the mountaintops in the clouds – Cool!

Ok … we have time. Why? What is our true nemesis? RAIN. And it rained last night, a long time, and it’s supposed to rain most of today. Oh, well. So, we’ll just go places!

First place is just outside opt the KoA – the town of Hungry Horse. And they have a mascot:

I’d be tempted to call that guy “Horny Horse” instead!

OH! That’s his TAIL. Ok. Hungry it is.

We went to check out a place called Herron Park – it’s going to be used for the 24-hour race:

And here’s a pano from the trailhead:

Then, we tried to go to some other trails, but it was a no-go. Literally! We tried to take highway 93 North out of town, but there was construction, and it was NOT moving (traffic was backed up all the way to downtown!), so we bailed, and went to look at the ski resort trails. Well, those sucked – they really want you to rent their downhill bikes and gets lift ticket, and that’s just not us. We’re not THAT lazy just yet, we still like to earn our downhills. On the return, traffic was backed up A MILE south of town! Evidently it had not moved AT ALL since we bailed on it. That’s just all kinds of wrong, right there.

Anyway, back to Glacier NP, for a presentation on wolves, which was VERY interesting, and in the process, I got some nice scenic shots:

Beautiful place!

Tomorrow? Depends on the weather! Ride or drive.

Ride again today – maybe twice!

First, Pattee Canyon Road Trailhead (pronounced “Patty”), where we want to do the Sam Braxton National Recreation Trail. Kind of like the Northshore of this area. Here’s the map:

We decided not to start at this main trailhead, because it was up a ways from the bottom – we preferred to start close to the bottom so the return would be easier. Unfortunately, that Canyon Trailhead does not have a map kiosk. Started our ride at the Canyon Trailhead, and headed up … and up … and UP. Finally, we got to the start of the actual Sam Braxton, about  mile up:

A bit overgrown, but we’ll see how it goes! And it goes up … and up … and UP:

Look at that up-slope! It was hard to ride, but ride it I did, all the way up! Had to stop a few times and catch my breath, but always got back on the bike and rode on. Hard to start on such a steep hill, but I managed to do it each time. I feel good about that! At the top of that steepest part, we realized that The Bear had a passenger:

Lazy butterfly! At least on this ride, we got great payback – the downhills were not so steep that we couldn’t enjoy them. Also close to the top, I took a pano:

And a still a bit down from there:

And of course, just to prove it really is a NRT:

Nice ride down! A short ride, but as I said, we’re going for two today. Next up? Blue Mountain! Here’s a map from the trailhead:

Lots of trails, and pretty flat, so it should go well! Here’s a pano of the parking area:

And here’s one of the trail area itself, from that same vantage point:

As I said – relatively flat! But … see those clouds? Yeah. Rain. Blue Mountain will have to wait for another trip.

On the way home, stopped by the grocery store to fuel up and get a couple of food items. Wandering the aisles, I saw this, which is just ALL KINDS of wrong:

I like chili – really do! I bet I’d even like “Cowboy Chili” … sounds manly! BUT – no way in HELL a cowboy is going to put Quinoa … well, ok, maybe the new-age cowboys MIGHT … but CINNAMON? Nah – don’t see it!

Ride day! And hopefully, a good ride – not long, maybe, but lots of climbing. We HAVE to get our riding ability back!

So, we’re going to go back to Rattlesnake Recreation Area and try to find the trail we couldn’t find last time. We’ll see how it goes.

So, how did it go. Not so well. I looked at the map and came up with a plan – a good one! Forgot one little detail – always, ALWAYS verify on the map that you are going the right way when you get to an intersection. Did I say ALWAYS? Yeah, I meant that. So, I missed a turn. Took us back half-way up the trail we took up last time – you know, the one from HELL. At least we knew not to go THERE. Well, we DID go up a little bit, to get to the Wallman Trail. I thought I read that that one was not TOO tough – not a lot of climbing. Yeah, well, I might have been confused about that as well. It WAS a very beautiful ride, extremely scenic on the way down – here’s a shot of that:

See? Beautiful! The first half-mile was flat, as was the last (since it was the same trail!), but that was all. If I thought the climb was steep, the downhill on the other side was even worse! Ok, very glad we did not ride it the other direction, because it would not have happened – we were not about to take our bikes on a two to three mile hike up a hill – did that last year, thank-you-very-much. And the bad part is, it was SO steep, it was not any fun to ride, as you were always worried about slipping on the rocks, or the brakes giving out, or overheating, or … constant worry. What do I mean? Here’s the elevation profile:

Click on it to get a close look at the numbers! Now, once the REALLY steep part ended, THAT last part was fun, but way too short. Almost 1,700 feet of climbing, all told. Whew! And only nine miles! Great ride, though! Oh, and a steady, STEADY climb – that little dip at the 3.5 mile mark? That’s where I rode back to check on The Bear. There was no respite, ’cause I just had to do it again!

Ok, ride done, BEER! Went to the KettleHouse in the South part of town, and they had a pretty good Bongwater Hemp Porter. A little on the bitter side, but otherwise very good.

After that, GSD – stuff for the trailer, skull caps to see if they work better than the sweat bands, and food. Can’t wait for tomorrow – maybe TWO rides!