often when you tour, there is that one place, one challenge that defines the trip. for this stage, which ends in missoula and jim heading home to knoxville, its climbing through the bitterroot and crossing lolo pass. its around 120 miles in the national forest (and without cell phone reception. aaaaahhhh! true wilderness.) the first 100 mi from kamiah, elev 1263 feet) takes us up along the clearwater river, then the lochsa river, then a branch creek. the grade is slight but constant, 1-2% i would guess. the clearwater is broad, shallow, and, yes, clear. truck traffic has trickled away to almost nil.
the first six miles brings us to the small town of kooskia. we check in on the ranger's headquarters to verify campground locations and rules. saturday morning, 7:00 am. it's closed. only open 7:30 - 5:00 mon throuh fri. what? isn 't the weekend the busiest time? and no maps, brochures or anything. nada. budget cuts. we'll find out later that there is only one ranger on duty for the whole region.
from here on, its forest. small farms, cabins, summer places all along the road, backed up to the hillside. there are an awful lot of places for sale and we contemplate an investment in a summer place. it's along way from nowhere. the ride is peaceful, with occassional traffic, and dispite the slight uphill grade, very comfortable riding.
we stop for breakfast at the one restarant along the way. bikers and cyclists and fishermen, families from california on vacation. we have a long talk with a husband/wife combo, each riding their own motorcycle. they've just sold their house and bought an rv, and are out for a mountain ride before returning to boise, loading up the motorhome, and heading to nevada for retirement. they warn us about loose gravel up at the top and the damn police enforcing the 40 mph speed limit (that from the woman). we tell them its not a problem.
restaurants tend to be a hot spot for cyclists and we're on the main northern route to the pacific. we run into 8 cyclists on the first day and three more the second, all heading west. there was a woman, all covered up, chugging down hill with an extension trailer. loaded. then a couple from boston, he's hauling a similar trailer. then a single dude, our age. tallish, lean, weathered. he was riding with a friend, but they split in missoula heading on different routes to the coast. on the way downhill, on sunday, we stop and talk with a young couple from charlotte. they had left st. louis, heading for the coast. they had definitely been out in the sun for awhile. we compare stories on rain back home. charlotte is flooding. we seen 5 min of rain the entire trip.
surprisingly, there is very little fishing. salmon fisheries ae closed and they are off limits. appears that trout are still available for the taking, two a day max. we see about five fly fishermen the entire time. maybe russ, i mean roy miller can explain it.
the plan is to get close to the final climb before we camp for the night. it turns out that there is an official campground at mile 158. we started at mile 75, so that makes for a long day. lolo pass is at 174. its allowed to camp anywhere in the national forest, but a campground would be nice and it would make for an easier next day and climb. especially if it has water. we take to riding 10 miles and resting, making the rests as long as we need. we get into the campground around 7:00, shadows are getting long, our third straight 80+ day. jim impresses me.
the next morning, we're up early. 16 miles to the pass. the grade remains constant till we get 6.5 miles from the pass, then there is a noticeable change, up to 7-8%. up till then, i was functioning in a fantasy, feeling good, that i might be able to stay on my outer front ring gear. nope. not even a transition, straight down to the inner ring (i have two). but that does feel comfortable, i'm not stressing, and i think i can climb almost anything in that ring. i still hace two more rear rings i can go to, so glacier (which is always in the back of my mind) is not feeling that daunting. we take it slow and steady, multiple stops, every 2-2.5 miles, and there we are, boom, at the top.
i have to say, it was a little anticlimatic for me. i know jim was fired up and excited to be there, but there is no view at the top, no big reward. except that you get to sit in the visitor center, drink hot chocolat, and watch a cool video about beavers. oh, and take a picture in front of the various signs.
the eastern slope is not as steep, 4 mi down and then it levels to a steady grade. montana puts a white gravel into their aspalt, which makes it bright. some of te gravel comes loose over tome and builds up along te shoulders. another 30 miles down lolo canyon and we're in the town of lolo, eating at a pretty decent mexican restaurant the ranger at the visitor center told us about. that food was very good. and we're back connected. phones turned on, texts and emails pouring in, some with a tint of ominous coloring in them. then 10 miles along a 4-6 lane highway. Ah, it's good to be back in civilzaton. and we're in missoula.
a room at the holiday inn downtown, a hot shower, a map of the local brew pubs, and we're ready for a night out.
No comments:
Post a Comment