Lakes and Huckleberries Sept 10-13

September 10 

We wake up and enjoy a delicious breakfast of whole wheat pancakes with huckleberries. What a treat! After this, Fred takes us to do all our errands with his minivan.  With the help of a car, everything happens quickly and efficiently. Unfortunately, at the laundromat the dryer burns a huge hole in my expensive down sleeping bag.  This was very sad.  Not willing to let go of such a prized possesion, I am able to patch it up with a lot of gorilla tape back at the house, and it looks like it will coninue to serve iits purpose- at least for now! In the afternoon I bake peanut butter chocolate chip cookies, Fred makes manicotti, and Martha makes a lovely salad.  Our stomachs are all very happy tonight.  Thank you again to Fred and Martha for opening your home to us.  We couldn't have enjoyed ourselves more in Kalispell!

- Tam

September 11th 

In the morning we enjoy another delicious pancake breakfast.  Turns out Fred is quite the cook! Around 10:00 we roll out and Fred and thier dog Sierra escort us to the bike path.  Luckily for us, this well paved path will take us far south of the city and away from the strip malls. After a smooth morning ride, we reach the Swan highway.  We've decided to take this road, even though it is 20 miles longer than our other two options, because it is supposed to be more scenic and have less traffic.  Pretty much the entire road goes through National Forest! It's not long before we reach Swan Lake, the large, sparkling lake which gives the road its name.  There's a whole community along its shores, and each mailbox has a plaque with the last name of the family living there. We also see a lot of swan related decorations- carvings, mailboxes, pictures, etc.  These give each driveway a personal touch. 

We stop for lunch on a small beach by the lake. Beautiful!  As we eat, the wind picks up.  The light tailwind we've had all day seems to be gaining force.  We must take advantage of this good fortune!  For the rest of the day we ride by more lakes, streams and mountains.  We even see a bear cub on the side of the road.  For the night, we stop at a small forest service campground on the side of the road.  As we explore the area, Cameron sees his first bear, a small black bear cub.  After dinner, we enjoy the evening by sharing stories around the campfire.

- Tam

September 12

It's a frigid morning.  Our water has frozen solid overnight.  

Cameron is up early building a fire.  By the time we've packed up our tent, the fire is perfect for toasting bread.  Unfortunately the people who camped here previously must have  cooked meat on the grate.  Our PB&Js taste like hamburgers.  

Sunlight through the smoke

I ride the first 20 miles of the day wearing all my layers.  That's how cold it is.  For awhile we bike on between the two beautiful mountain ranges we've been following, then they vanish as we enter the forest.  Here we wind up, down, and around the trees.  When we reach Seeley Lake, the landscape flattens out and we stop to fill up water and take off some layers.  Finally the sun is warming things up.  My body feels like a giant icecube that is painfully thawing.  

Leaving the lakes, our road takes us out into the plains and rangeland, typical Montana.  

Before long, we reach the junction to 200, the road that will take us into Missoula.  We find a beautiful lunch spot by the Blackfoot River.  It's cool and clear with many rocks and ripples.  As we eat, on the other side of the river I see a deer.

 At the end of lunch, I suggest we check the hours of Adventure Cycling, and we learn that they close at five and aren't open weekends.  It's 2:30, and we have 35 miles to go, but Cameron and Danny are determined to try and make it by 5.  Instead of racing into town, I decide to go my own pace.  The ride into Missoula is very enjoyable, but there's a headwind blowing so progress is a bit slow.  Right off the bat I spend a long time climbing a large hill.  Right before the top, I see a road biker coming in the other direction, and he waves and shouts, "You're almost there!"  I was, and it was pretty much all flat or downhill from there.  The road drops into the Blackfoot River Valley and follows the river into the city.  Not only is the water beautiful, there are forested rocky cliffs rising impressively along its sides.  I see two boats filled with happy fishermen floating leisurely down.  Seven miles out of the city, I almost turn onto the main highway because I see a sign for the road I've been following.  But then I see there's a frontage road, and backtrack in order to ride on that.  The frontage road turns out to be great.  I follow another river past a golf course and several cute residential neighborhoods.  There are a ton of cars going the opposite direction (presumably leaving work and heading home), but only a couple going my way.  When I get close, I find a bike lane on the side of the road.  Hooray!  From there I follow bike lanes and bike paths all the way to Cameron's friend's house.  Upon arrival, I am greeted happily by Lindsay, Danny, and Cameron.  We have a wonderful evening eating delicious food and sharing stories with Lindsay and her son Eli.

- Tam

Danny's perspective: It took me 16 miles to catch up with Cameron, after leaving five minutes behind him.  My legs were burning crazily with the horrible headwind, but once I caught up we were able to draft and thus went more quickly. We really moved!  Even with the headwind we were only a few minutes late to the Adventure Cycling Association; we got there at 5:03.  Oh, well.  Next time I'm in Missoula, I'll stop by.  And it was not totally fruitless; it was a wonderful physical challenge to really hit the gas for awhile.

- Danny

September 13

We woke up and headed to the farmer's market.  We weren't planning on staying today, but Lindsay convinced us, and it would be nice to see Missoula.  What better place to start than the farmer's market?!

 It's situated, as is much of the town, along the shores of the Clark Fork, a beautiful river meandering through town.  Fly fishermen were already wading early in the morning.  We picked up some veggies and bread, and had a tasty waffle.  Then we ran some errands, stopping at bike shops, hardware stores, and grocery stores to get everything done.  Much of the time was spent planning and creating a preliminary design for a combination clipless pedal/regular shoe system.  Our cycling shoes allow us great efficiency when pedaling, but it also means that we have to carry two pairs of shoes.  Pedal clips, strapes, and cages exist, but we can do better.  The prototype had some flaws, and it's still in the works.  

On the way back from our errands, we stopped by two of my favorite places to stop: the local bakery and the bookstore!  I bought a book by Rebecca Solnit, an acclaimed nature writer, because my kindle is broken and I have to stop stealing Tam's.  We also got a loaf of honey white bread with exactly five ingredients, a nice change from the usual host of 40 you see on supermarket bread. 

Back at Lindsay and Tom's house, we enjoyed a great dinner.  She had been excited to make their favorite veggie dish, a tofu and rice mixture with a mildly spicy peanut sauce.  It was unbelievably good, and so was the ice cream we had afterwards.

Our stay in Missoula would have been much shorter, and much less pleasant, if not for the kindness of Lindsay, Tom, and Eli, who generously shared their space, food, and time with us.  Many thanks!

- Danny

3 Months: Just the Numbers

Miles biked: 3700 (roughly- we stopped keeping track)

National Parks experienced: 7

Flat tires: 1

Money spent: $1,923.75 by Danny

Bears seen: 23

Total time spent watching TV/movies: 2.5 hours

Bird species seen: 98

Holes in the tent: 0! Big Agnes sent us a replacement because of a defective zipper

Fastest speed attained: 41.6 mph by Danny

Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park, September 6-9

September 6 continued

After leaving Pincher Creek, we biked through rolling grasslands, steep ups and downs, until we reached Waterton Lakes National Park about 30 miles later.  This took awhile, as our road took us southwest into the strong wind, and we were happy to see the sign for the park.  

Just inside the park, we stopped at a bison viewing area.  There were no bison, but we did see a black bear.  How funny to see one so far out of the forest!

It was a few miles out of the way into the park, maybe 5 miles each way, but we didn't mind.  Biking into the valley where the lakes are was absolutely beautiful: big mountains, prairie grasses, sprawling blue lakes, and raptors everywhere.  We saw a number of red-tailed and swainson's hawks, as well as a kestrel.

Upon arriving at the village (there is an actual town at the end of the road, right on the shore of the biggest lake), we changed into hiking gear and headed up to the Bear's Hump.  It was a short and steep hike that gave a birds-eye view of the lake and the surrounding mountains. We could see clear to Montana!  (About 10 miles away.)

The view from the Bear's Hump.

Then we headed back and set up camp surreptitiously in a day-use area right by one of the lakes.  We're not supposed to camp here, but we set up late and will leave early and are well practiced in Leave No Trace.   The gibbous moon is bright on the water, and the sound of the waves lightly washing ashore will lull us soon to sleep.

-Danny

September 7 

A big day for our trip! 

1) We cross from Canada into the US.

2) We've been biking for exactly 3 months.

3) We biked off the British Columbia map that we've been on for the last month or so. 

A few things we'll miss in Canada:

1) The French writing on all the packages; makes things much more interesting when there are two languages to read.

2) The distances in km on the road signs. When you convert the km to miles in your head, the number is always smaller!

3) Dempster's! We've eaten so much bread and so many tortillas from this creative Canadian bakery. 

A few advantages we're excited about in the US. 

1) Camping is significantly cheaper.

2) We can use internet and gps on the phone. 

Journal: 

We wake up on our lake shore after a quiet, restful night. The wind is already whipping up waves. We get on our bikes and head towards the US border! We start by climbing long huge hill after long huge hill. The crossing is at Chief Mountain and they sure make you work to get there! 

Even though it's a a challenging morning, I'm glad we are crossing at this place because it has some interesting history. In 1932, Canada and the US teamed up to combine Waterton Lakes and Glacier into the first International Peace Park. This park is not only a symbol of the peace between Canada and the US, but it also showcases the importance of countries working together to promote conservation and sustainable land use. Fish and bears don't recognize park boundaries. 

At the border we have to wait in a line of cars,  but when it's our turn the guy only asks a few questions then lets us through. 

US-Canada border crossing. 

After crossing we bike down the Chief Mountain Parkway into Montana ranch country. We encounter cows and horses in the middle of the road. I guess they don't get much traffic here. 

Montana!

Horses in the road.

Once we're out of the mountains the wind really picks up. It varies between a headwind and a crosswind. I'm not sure which one is worse. I'm constantly shifting my gears and my balance to stay upright and keep moving forward. This continues for the rest of the day. 

We stop for lunch in a little town called Babb, then continue to the start of the Going to the Sun Road in Glacier National Park.

Just inside the park we stop at the visitors center to figure out our plan for the park. Unfortunately since my backpack is currently in for repairs we'll be limited to day hikes, but we're still really excited! At the center there is also lots of educational information. We learn that predictions show all the glaciers melting by 2030. They're going to have to re-name the park! 

Our headwind.

Biking a windy 6 miles into the park brings us to Rising Sun campsite where we go for a freezing swim in St. Mary lake and watch the mountains turn gold in the setting sun. We also meet Cameron, a touring cyclist who has just come across the US. After chatting for a bit, we decide to bike together for the next few days! This should be fun. 

-Tamara

September 8

We got on the road early to get started up Logan Pass.  Cameron was with us as well.  The road took us first past St Mary Lake.  Fog on the water hid the lake at first, and as we climbed up higher onto the shore, we could see a little island poking through the mist.  The higher mountains beyond gave the whole scene a very picturesque air.  

As the morning continued, we turned away from the lake and began to climb.  It was 6% grade pretty much the whole way, so not very steep or strenuous, and the cars were courteous, giving us a lot of room on the narrow road.  We passed Siyeh Bend, a large switchback in the road, and continued up.  Now we had great views of the whole valley below, and the clouds hanging down there gave us the wonderful feeling that we had come up much higher than we actually had.  The road was cut into the side of a sheer cliff, held up at times with huge retaining walls of hand-cut stone masonry.

  Part of the road was being rebuilt, and the workers on the side of the road were chiseling and hammering the rocks by hand.

At one point we saw three mountain goats way up on the hillside.  They must have been miles away.  A group of three older folks stopped when they saw us looking through our binoculars, and they found a group of six more!  We enjoyed talking with them; they speculated that travel at such a young age is a new thing, that our generation is fortunate to have the opportunity.  We agreed.  They also told us that the top of the pass was just ahead, and we, expecting to climb up all day, were pleasantly surprised.  

At the top was Cameron, cheering us on, and a visitor center with a full parking lot.  We quickly changed into hiking clothes and set off on our hike to Hidden Lake.  It was a boardwalk that went out a few miles to an overlook and a lake, but we quickly decided, due to the large amount of people and the accessibility of the nearby mountains, to hike a nearby peak.  Oberlin Peak had a supposed mountaineer's route up to the top involving a little bit of scrambling, but really it was just a steep trail, easy to follow.  A half mile or so in, we saw a mountain goat a hundred feet ahead and coming down the trail towards us.  We froze, hoping not to scare it off, but soon realized that it didn't care at all that we were there.  It continued to amble down the path, and we moved a few feet off the trail to let it pass.  We then followed it and enjoyed watching it for a few minutes.  It did not care that we, nor other people, were near.  At one point, two hikers almost walked into it and stumbled back in surprise.  The goat continued munching on grass apathetically.

Of the two trails up to the top, we chose the steeper one up.  Some fat marmots greeted us along the way, similarly apathetic to our presence as the goat.  We soon reached the top and looked out over a 360 degree panorama of Glacier National Park: thousand-foot vertical rock faces, striated horizontally with snow, glaciers near and far, the goats and marmots, far below, and our road, descending to the valley over a vertical mile under our feet.

We ate lunch up there then decided to head down when clouds started rolling over the pass.  It was forecasted to snow in a few hours, so we figured we should get down from our 8000 foot perch.  We kept our eyes open for goats on the way down, and right at the bottom was a female goat and a juvenile.  They were as uncaring as the other goat we saw, so we stayed for a few minutes.  It was a pleasure to share an alpine meadow with two wild mountain goats.

The descent down was incredible!  It warmed up noticeably as we went, and the views were no less gorgeous than the other side.  I found myself wanting to pass cars; they were driving slowly and cautiously on the narrow road, and I, on a bike, had the ability to go faster.  Don't worry, I didn't pass any cars and kept a safe following distance.

6% Grade, Next 11 Miles

We stopped at an informational sign at "The Loop," the one switchback in the road.  The sign explained that there were two possible routes over Logan Pass: a series of fifteen steep switchbacks straight up, a challenge of engineering that would demonstrate "man's mastery over nature," and a gradual climb with one switchback that would give sweeping vistas and blend in more with the rock.  Fortunately the later plan was chosen.

At the bottom, an exhilarating ten miles down the road, we began to follow Logan Creek.  The crystal clear water flowing over blood red rocks was a sight to see, and the tailwind made pedaling easy.  We arrived soon at Avalanche Campground, our planned stop for the night.  The campground was technically closed, but a ranger had told us we could primitive camp there for free (no facilities).  We left our things at the site and set off for Avalanche Lake, a popular and highly recommended hike.  The trail was two miles long and followed Avalanche Creek.

 Under the clear water and along the walls were sculpted red rocks, burnished smooth by eons of rushing water, and along the trail were giant boulders.  Though we hadn't climbed in a long time, all three of us enjoyed playing around on the boulders.  The lake was somewhat unimpressive, as we've seen literally hundreds of alpine lakes, but the waterfalls were nice.  The best part was the quiet: at this late hour (7 pm or so), no one but us crowded this popular destination.

Back at the campground, night was falling, the temperature was dropping, and the wind was roaring. Huge cedars and hemlocks were being whipped around like toys, and every few moments a large branch would fall nearby.  We considered moving or looking for a pavilion but figured that even a roof would not stop one of these giants from falling on us, should it decide to.  We heard a large tree fall nearby, the branches crackling as it fell then a deep, earth-shaking boom like thunder as it hit the ground.  Fortunately none fell near us.  

Cameron said this was the best day of his trip, and I don't want to rank ours, but it certainly was incredible!

-Danny

September 9
We woke up at our campground relieved that the wind had died down from the craziness the night before.  It was still a tailwind, though, and we were happy to bike a beautiful few miles along the shores of Lake McDonald.  We arrived soon at Lake McDonald Lodge, a historic stone building with a roaring fire in the fireplace. 

On this cold day, we enjoyed the warmth for a few minutes before heading across the street to Jammer Joe's pizza, pasta, and salad buffet.  As always hungry cyclists, we seek to eat at all-you-can-eat buffets as often as possible.  Cameron had not yet had one on his trip (this would be our fifth), so he was as excited as we were.  And the food did not disappoint!  We stayed for an hour and a half, polishing off as much pizza, pasta, and salad as we could fit.

With bellies full, we biked out of Glacier National Park and onto some larger roads.  The town of Columbia Falls was a bit tough biking, as there was no shoulder and a lot of traffic, but we made it through.  We made it through the Hungry Horse Valley as well, passing lots of advertisements for huckleberry pie, huckleberry fudge, huckleberry ice cream, everything.  Tam tried some huckleberry fudge but didn't like it.
Our ride to Kalispell was fast because of a strong tailwind (thank you, wind gods!), and we soon arrived at Fred's place.  We had met Fred about 2,000 miles before, in the Yukon, and he invited us to his place when we got to Kalispell.  He and his wife, Martha, greeted us warmly and welcomed us right in.  They were heading out to dinner, but they showed us around and left us to take showers and have some spaghetti.  What a great change from the cold winds!  When they returned, we shared some stories and talked until late in the night.   - Danny

The Plains, September 5-6

September 5

Where is Crowsnest Pass?

The fates have changed! When we get up it's sunny and we have a tailwind. Has this ever happened before? 

As we sit and eat breakfast, a man in the rest area comes over to ask if we eat bananas. He claims he bought too many and needs help eating them, so he gives us two. How wonderful! 

We've mentally prepared ourselves for a long climb up Crowsnest Pass, so we're quite surprised when a couple of minutes into our ride we see a sign marking the pass summit. What? We've barely climbed up at all! This beats Yellowhead Pass as the easiest pass ever. We start to descend and then it flattens out and we see another two signs marking "Crowsnest Pass" Have we not started the pass yet? We stop at the next turnout, adjacent to a gorgeous blue lake, where we see another sign labeled "Crowsnest Pass." Rather confused, I ask a friendly guy selling hotdogs where the pass is. He explains that there's no big mountain or anything. Crowsnest Pass is one of the lowest in the Rockies- a big open area between mountains. Happy to discover this, we bike onwards, enjoying the tailwind. 

The small communities here are very proud of their heritage. We pass several museums and historical sights. Most of this history appears to be linked to the mines in the area, many of which are still operational. One particularity interesting area we pass is the Frank Slide. This was a gigantic landslide that wiped out a local mine and town at 4 AM, killing many people in the process. Although this awful event occurred in 1903, the destruction is still evident. On both sides of the road are giant boulders and scree, and looking up at the mountain it is easy to see where a chunk (over a km long) broke off and slid down. We also pass the Burmis Tree. This tree is a limber pine that marks the eastern edge of Crowsnest Pass. It lived over 700 years before its death in 1970. Eventually it toppled over, but since local residents revere it as such an important landmark, it has since been propped up and supported in various ways. Today, that twisted tree still stands by the roadside. 

The towns we pass are pretty cute.  I see a nice little park by the river and a community campground.  On either side of the pass are stony, featured mountains blanketed in fresh snow.  

Quite a background for our ride.  As we lose sight of the mountains, we enter into the plains.  Danny comments that it's as if we've gone back to the tundra.  On either side are wide-open grasslands and farms.  The occasional river gives some texture to the landscape.  And sky, so much blue sky!

 As is often true in big, flat places, the wind is crazy.  Luckily for us it's mostly a tailwind.  There are times we also battle a crosswind.  The local communities have taken advantage of this: enormous windmills dot the hillsides.  There are hundreds in this area!  

We arrive in Pincher Creek earlier than anticipated and spend some time on the internet.  Outside the grocery store, we meet Edwin, a Pincher Creek local, fellow bicycle tourist, and ranger in Waterton Lakes National Park.  He tells us about the local campground and an all-you-can-eat Chinese buffet in town.  We spend a little time wandering Main Street, then set up our stuff at the campground and let everything dry out in the hot winds.  

Around 7 pm, my cousin Coltin and his friend AJ arrive from Calgary.  They've come to visit and go out to dinner with us.  It is great to see my cousin. At the Chinese buffet, we eat epic amounts of wonderful food over interesting conversation.  We hear about the oil company that AJ and Coltin are working for, and share stories from our trip. Thanks guys for driving down to visit! 

I also chat for a while with the owner of the restaurant.  Originally from southern China, she says she has little opportunity to speak Chinese here.  It's fun for me to practice with her.  As we finish eating, in walks Edwin with his brother Dan. They've come to invite us to breakfast at Edwin's place tomorrow! What a fantastic evening. 

- Tam

September 6

We slept well but were rudely awakened around 7:15 by the campground host demanding that we pay immediately, something we had forgotten to do but fully intended to do this morning.  I talked with his wife a little while later, as he could not have been more grouchy and unfriendly, and apparently she had talked him out of calling the police to seize our bikes!  Yes, we had neglected to pay the $20, but how ridiculous!  Reminding or asking us nicely would have accomplished the same goal.  Sometimes people are just grouchy.  

This was only a few minutes before our alarm went off anyway, so we got up and headed over to Edwin's place.  His wife Alice welcomed us in, and we sat down to a scrumptious breakfast of eggs, rice, homemade flax bread, homemade salsa, cheese, and tomatoes.  The food was incredible, and it was really nice as well to share conversation around a table with Edwin and Alice, Caroline (Alice's sister) and her husband Dan, and Edwin's old friend Dave. (Forgive me if I did not get all these relationships spot on.)  A big family style breakfast!  

Edwin, Alice, Dan, Dave, and Caroline

Dave and Edwin, the park rangers of the group, gave us some tips on where to go in Waterton Lakes, and Caroline and Dan, who live in Mazatlan, Mexico, for half of every year, shared with us some local knowledge of the area we will pass through in a few months.  Edwin and Alice have bike toured in the Baja, so he also shared some of their favorite spots around there.  All this talking about Mexico got us very excited for the next segment of our trip, and we so much appreciated their sharing!  Not to mention the hospitality!  Though we have nothing to give now except stories of adventure from down the road, we will carry with us their friendliness and generosity and pass it on.

After exchanging contact information and saying our goodbyes, we did some laundry.  Now we are at a coffee shop and will be biking today to Waterton Lakes National Park, then into the US and to Glacier!

- Danny

Geology With Tamara

You might have read about the giant limestone canyons we saw and wondered how they formed. I certainly wanted to know why the earth decided to just open up and swallow these rivers. Luckily some helpful signs in Kootenay National Park solved the mystery.

What happened here?

1. When tectonic forces compress rock they cause it to bend. Sometimes if the rock bends too much it will crack. This happened to many beds of local limestone rock.

2. The landscape in the areas we've been biking through was formed, and continues to be formed, by the movement of glaciers. When these glaciers begin to melt the water needs to go somewhere. Deep cracks in the limestone rock are a natural place for the water to flow- downhill.

3. The glacial water is full of 'rock flour,' bits of sand and rock that the glacier has eroded from the surrounding landscape. This rock flour works like sandpaper, rounding and smoothing the sides of the canyon walls.

The result is a deep canyon with both jagged and rounded features. The jagged 'ripped' features are the result of ancient plate tectonics; the smooth features a result of past and current glacial water flow.

Marble canyon- Kootenay National Park

Geology in action!

Please note- this is a basic explanation of how these canyons formed. For more detailed information please consult additional sources.