Montana. Its big

July 6

Chris doing his purge. We ended up shipping over 20lbs of stuff home. 

I came into Bozeman this afternoon from spending a couple of days in Missoula. 


On my drive out this morning about 50 miles from Missoula on I90 East I came across Chris. Chris is one of the many SFK (Seattle - Florida Keys) riders out this summer. Chris and I have been sharing the road Since the coast. I first came across him in the bike shop in Missoula where he was complaining that his saddle was too hard and we chatted for a few minutes.

Long story short I ended up pulling over and we had breakfast in Deer Lodge together and related stories. We talked about how we were both travelling with too much stuff. Me with my two t-shirts and him with his survival gear. Over the course of breakfast we determined that he really didn't need a bunch of the stuff he had. Sometimes it helps to have a second opinion on whether or not you really need a buck saw for cutting down trees while travelling across america. 20lbs 2.04 oz and we parted ways again. On the plus side, turns out Chris lives in New York city and has offered to put us up for a night or two! Good karma.  

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Bozeman so far is another small red brick city with a Main st. and first through 12th ave. Maya and I haven't gotten into the forest yet as we ended up just spending the day at the dog pond. Probably get up there tomorrow.

Musician playing a bike frame.. like a mandolin. electric. different.

I ended up seeing a film this evening at the Emerson Arts Centre. Just out of luck it was about some guys who rode/tried to ride a bunch of areas around the world. The path or something. It was ok. A lot of..."find your inner peace, find your own path, how lucky are we, etc etc.. insert common western statement when travelling in third world or nature." It did however make me pause to reflect that I have been neglcting my bottle of scotch so that came out this evening.

Past few days have been fun. After discovering that my garmin went on its own adventure in Leavenworth, figuring out the trails has been interesting. Am I 1/4 mile from the top or am I 4 miles from the top. Just keep going. It should be fine. After leaving Leavenworth and picking up an absolutely horrible cell phone plan in Wenatche (FYI T-Mobile has zero coverage), I came into Missoula on the July 4th. Those guys like their fireworks. A lot. They must have ben lightign stoff on fire for hours. They were still lighting stuf on fire the next night.

I love how America knows how to have a good time. Every Thursday during the summer the town puts on a outdoor music festival. Not one of your 'Family first festivals' where its more about watching kids have a good time listening to children's music while the adults wish they could just get a beer. This festival is family BUT... rock and roll/blues live band, beer on tap, burritos, noodle house etc... Canada could take a lesson that you do not need to protect adults from themselves. They were even... gasp, selling you beer in a GLASS. Oh my god, I can just see the safety officers cringe at the thought of the poor children losing toes and eyes from the glasses being thrown around. 

Riding has been good but it is getting incredibly hot duing the day. Reported temps in the towns is around 32 and I am thinking it is warmer up in the hills. Maya and do most of riding in the morning.

I just realized I have been completely negligent on my blog and never posted my Leavenworth stuff even.
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July 4th
I'm in Missoula, Montana this evening. I am going to work in reverse

Wow.. .Crazy long past few days. Maya has been getting me out of bed these days usually by 5:30. That is pretty early but considering that by 11 am it is just too hot to do anything, the early starts help a lot in getting more done. On my second day in Leavenworh I went to go and ride the Red hat Trail/Devils gultch loop in the super cool little town of Cashmere. Cashmere is worth the visit. If only for the bakery and bbq. 
I had ridden this trail with Lisa and my buddy Eric a few years back and hoped to do it the right way this time. No such luck. I goofed and rode it reverse again. Of course I could have figured this out  had I just looked at my data on my good old Edge 705. WTF... where is my Garmin. GONE! Mount and everything. I must have left it on the bike when I went into the rec centre for a handicapped bathroom shower. Damnit... I forgot how expensive those were. Lesson learned. Anyway for those of you who ever get the chance to ride down in this area, this loop is really a great intro to the single track in the area. Oh yeah and climb Red Trail and return on Devils Gultch. Ignore the sign.

After riding that morning and having to return to Leavenworth to see if the garmin had somehow fallen off the bike during setup and teardown in the morning I proceeded onto Wenatchee. Wenatchee is terrible. That place has all the appeal of rotting cabbage. After buying a pay and go sim card from T-Mobile I was off to Missoula. Crashed/slept in the back of some gas station at the entrance to Highway 2 outside East Wenatchee.

The drive today was long. Pretty but long. After getting my usual wakeup call, we hit the road immediately. The drive to Spokane was green and brown. Just fields. Pretty cool actually.  After Spokane the scenery just gets better and better. Driving through the Couer D'Alene area was pretty spectacular. If you ever get the chance to come into Montana this way I highly recommend it. Once you have entered Montana, it gets truly beautiful. Maya and I stopped at a river for shower time. 
After arriving in Missoula, it turns out my T-Mobile 'oh yeah sir its gonna work everywhere', doesn't work in Montana. So that was a fantastic waste of money. Should have stuck with ATT. I ended up riding in one of the highlighted areas of Missoula this afternoon once it cooled down a bit. Pattee canyon. Bummer.
I cannot believe how many fireworks are purchased in America. For the last hour, the entire town has been getting lit up by individual arsenals. They just keep lighting stuff on fire. 
Tomorrow morning we are heading out to Rattlesnake Canyon to try a couple loops out there. Oh yeah and buy another cell phone plan, and see if I can find a replacement for my garmin. Vacation is expensive these days.