On the trail!!

I've made it to Lincoln, MT.  I haven't blogged in a few days because I haven't had service.  I just got service back yesterday.  I've been in the mountains of Idaho and Montana, where my new favorite berry is the huckleberry.  The only Huckleberry I ever heard of was Finn but now    I know you can put them in pie, pancakes, soda, cheesecake and anything else you can think of.

I spent one day riding along side of the Clearwater river.  It looked like the pictures you would  see in a Field and Stream magazine. One of the coolest things that I noticed was if someone lived on the other side of the river there were zip lines they would use to get their mail. I'm sure they fight to go get the mail there.  As I was riding along I came up on a young man that was stretching.  I stopped to say hello and find out the guys story.  His name was Jack and he was 70 years old riding the Lewis and Clark Trail by himself.  Last year he explained to me that he rode the TransAmerican Trail.  He was in amazing shape and didn't look 70.  He shared a story with me about riding up a hill and seeing 3 beautiful women.  As he was paying attention to the women he lost focus on climbing the hill and because he was clipped in he fell over.  He explained to me that it isn't a big deal to fall over just get back up and start riding again.

The next day the Clearwater River turned into the Lochsa River.  My goal was to get into the Powell Junction so I would have a place to stay and get as close to the edge of the Lolo Pass as I could.  As I'm riding I see a little black car come towards me with an arm hanging out.  It was my good friend Chad McKibben.  He got a flight and wanted to be around to help me get through the 140 mile stretch of Idaho's national forest and support me in getting over the Lolo pass.  I finished my ride in Powell that day and Chad and I got a little cabin to sleep that night.  It was called the Lochsa Lodge and it was very cool.  It had a pay phone to make calls.  As we were getting settled there my friend Jack from the trail came in and stayed there as well.  We had dinner with him.

The next day was a trip up the Lolo Pass.  I started out early that morning.  The Lolo Pass was about a 2000 feet climb up the 5,236 feet.  It took me 1 hour and 36 minute to climb Lolo Pass.  Even with that I'm not sure who got more exercise Chad or myself because Chad was running up and down the Lolo Pass trying to find the best picture opportunities.  He did an excellent job of capturing memories of going over Lolo Pass through pictures.  I'll share a few.

Once I reached the top of Lolo Pass I hit two mile stones:

and

I finished the day riding downhill into Missoula, MT.  I actually took a rest day the next day to rest my sore legs.  Chad and I spent the day in Missoula checking out what it had to offer.  We went to the Adventure Cycling headquarters and I ate the ritual free ice cream that they offer to all members who ride across the country and they took us a tour of the facilities. They also took my picture and hung it on the wall and I wrote in their book about my trip so far.  

Now that catches up to today.  Chad left this morning and my goal was to ride to Lincoln, MT.  The ride was 85 miles and 90% was climbing.  It looked like rain from the get go but luckily it was just a drizzle.  This was without a doubt my toughest day.  It was in the mid 40's and with the drizzle it wasn't the most pleasant ride.  I was in the saddle for 7 hrs. and 31 minutes.  I finished the day exhausted but as I finished up my first 40 miles I stopped to take a picture and a guy I met named Randy at Adventure Cycling rode up and we started talking.  We were going to the same place so we finished our ride together in Lincoln, MT.  When we got into Lincoln we stopped at a local cafe to get a bite to eat.  Many of the locals started talking to us and telling us about Lincoln.  Come to find out this is where the unabomber was from and where they found him. They were quick to tell us but they said that isn't what we want to be known for though. 

So far this has been an amazing journey from the beautiful scenery, all the support, and to the interesting people I've met.  You just never know who you are going to run into on the trail!