The morning was very damp and cold, so I got going as soon as I could swallow some granola and get my things together.

I’m in Aspen Grove Campground, about 8 miles east of Lincoln, MT.  About 40 miles today for a total of 828, making this my longest bike-packing adventure.  I had the legs to ride a bit further, but the next campsite is almost 50 miles up the road.

I stopped in the town of Lincoln for lunch in the shelter in the town park, which also doubles as a campground.  Just when lunch was done, it started raining, so I figured I would do some bike maintenance.  I’ve had an annoying slow leak develop in my front tire and also figured I’d rotate my tires since the rear is wearing  faster than the front, as is normal for bicycles.  I have Continental Gatorskin tires, and considering all the glass and crap I haven’t always been able to avoid, they have held up remarkably well.  The only problem with them, is that they are wicked hard to get on and off my rims.

Turns out the tire rotation took longer than expected as one of my spare tubes had two holes in it. I tossed it, figuring the one with the slow leak would be a better bet.  The second spare looks like it’s holding air fine.  Then I put the other tire on backwards.  Since the tires have been performing so well, I decided that I couldn’t risk running one of them backwards and redid it.

I suspect the slow leak was caused by a failing patch.  I put those tires on a few years ago and had apparently used a patched tube.  It’s rare that a properly done patch fails over time, in fact this is the first occurrence that I can remember.  If a patched tube gets a second leak, it gets tossed.  So now my only spare tube has a slow leak.  I’ll have to find a couple of new tubes as soon as I can.

As I was riding around the campground looking for a campsite, when I met two fellows.  John was especially concerned about grizzly bears and lent me his old can of mace, as he had two fresh ones.  

They also have a bear box here in which I can store my food overnight.  The men told me  a cyclist was killed by a grizzly right  in the town of Ovando a few years ago.  Last night I wasn’t camping far from there.  The other fellow invited me over for burgers at 5:30.

I will put all my food in one pannier and will deposit it in the campgrounds bear box when I go for my hamburger and when I sleep.

Two weeks have passed already.  Yet it’s surprising how long ago it seems to have been when I first boarded that bus to Seaside to begin this adventure.

It was in 1988 when I was last in Missoula.  I remember very little from those two days and one or two nights.  About all I recall is staying in a bunk at the hostel.  We did a test ride up one of the hills overlooking Missoula.  I think it was to make sure everyone could handle the climbs.  Then we departed in the direction of Glacier National Park.  It’s hard for me to compare the difficulty of these two adventures, though I think about it often.  Am I more fit than I was then or not?  Probably not, since time does take its toll on everyone.  I have no way to know for sure, even if I road the same roads all over again.

I covered about 49 miles today, not very hilly and wind aided.  Today, it has stayed relatively cool, it’s 2:37 PM and I still have my jacket on. I’m at the Monture Fishing Access site, about 50 miles east of Missoula on highway 83, just a few miles from where highway 200 heads off north toward Glacier National Park. Here is a typical view from todays ride.

Following in the footsteps of Louis and Clark has been interesting, especially through the Bitterroot Mountains.  I read Stephen Ambrose’s book, “ Undaunted Courage “, some time ago and I recall reading about the terrible time they had getting through those mountains.  It’s easy to see why they struggled so much.  There is an alternate bicycle route down a gravel road which follows their exact path, but there are absolutely no services and I’m not set up for doing long stretches on gravel, so I opted out of that one.

Once I get to Great Falls, I’ll switch maps to the Northern tier and we will leave Louis and Clark behind.

Seems like I may have caught up or passed Scott and Richard.  It sounds like they got caught in a nasty hailstorm getting into Missoula last night.  I’m glad I missed that one.

Seems like every business in Montana has some kind of casino action going.  Must be awfully easy to get a gambling license.

Catching up on some random thoughts today, as the ride has been pretty routine and I haven’t run across any interesting characters.  In fact, at this moment, I’m alone in the campground, assuming there are no bears lurking nearby. There are plenty of warning signs about the bears here.

Total mileage is now 788.

60 miles today, total is 739. Today I went all the way over Lolo pass to Missoula, MT. The climb to the top was hard, but nothing like that climb I did a couple of days ago.

At the top they have a very nice visitors center, with a museum and a shop. They had free hot coffee and cocoa and WI-FI. I even was able to plug in my battery in order to charge it up a little while I uploaded the last two delinquent posts. Keeping my phone and spare battery charged is a never ending challenge. The nice ladies manning the desk say that the place is mobbed on weekends in the winter with all the Nordic skiing and other winter activities going on.

Down at the town of Lolo, MT, I stopped at the Mcdonalds for an ice cream and to book a room in Missoula, which was just down the road.

Next over in Missoula, I tried stopping at the Adventure Cycling HQ for a free ice cream, but I got there just after they closed for the day. Adventure Cycling is the non-profit group that puts together the maps that I use.

Next I found the Motel Six, I was supposed to be booked with. After a long wait in the lobby, I registered and dragged my bike up the stairs, only to be surprised to find someone already in the room. Returning to the office, the man said, I thought that might happen! Then after digging around a bit he declared, I have no room for you! I tried a couple of nearby places, but they were also booked up. Going back to Expedia, I booked a much more expensive room at an Econolodge about 4 miles away. I got rained on a bit getting there, but I am at a vastly nicer place. Sometimes you get what you pay for. I’m doing my laundry, while writing this. I’m kind of surprised that the motel laundry is cheaper than the laundromat. I’ll be glad to be away from the city and camping again tomorrow.

No connection yet, but I should be close to Missoula, MT, tomorrow, so I can update the blog. 

Counting me, we had 4 groups at the tiny Wild Goose campsite, and I spent a little time chatting with 2 different couples.  Everybody grew up in Illinois and both couples are currently living in Arizona and came north to avoid the heat.  Both couples also were in somewhat new relationships, given their apparent age.  Interesting coincidences.  One of the couples travel for five months of the year, living out of a minivan, kind of like hippies.

66 miles today to Powell Campground, a US Forest Service  campsite.  The campsite is near the nice(and expensive) Lochsa Lodge, where I had a Lochsa Burger for an early dinner.  The Lodge is the first business open on the road between the Wild Goose campsite and Lolo Pass.  I brought extra water, but still had to manage it carefully as I rode all those miles without services.  There was a sign entering this wilderness that said no gas for the next 88 miles.  There was one motel where you could get water after about 10 miles, but no where else.  I have three water bottles, but decided to buy an extra bottle of water before starting out across the Clearwater National Forest and I needed it.  Zach had told me that he was carrying a water filtration device, not such a bad idea.

Early on todays  ride, another cyclists caught up to me and we chatted for a couple of minutes.  This very nice fellow was from Italy and was riding from Astoria, OR to Yorktown, VA.  He was riding what appeared to be a carbon racing bike, with skinny tires and with two small flags attached to the rear.  One was old glory and the other the Italian colors.  No sign of a tent, though he did have a frame bag, so I figured he was staying at motels.  

After a few minutes, he sped off.  A few minutes later, when about a quarter of a mile in front of me, he stopped and then he waved.  As I stopped next to him, he pointed down at the steep drop off leading down to the river, and there precariously balanced on a rock, was his water bottle, which he must have dropped.  I held his bike while he climbed down to retrieve the bottle.  With a firm handshake, he was off again.  

With about 50 miles covered, a flag woman stopped all the traffic (1 car and 2 trucks) for construction.  After a few minutes of waiting, she told me I would have to get a lift from a ferry vehicle past the construction zone.  Being pretty well worn out at that stage, I didn’t object.  I had to wait about 10 minutes for my ferry vehicle to arrive.  The driver helped me load my bike in the bed of the pickup and off we went for about a mile to the other side of the construction site.  The construction seemed minor to me, something I could have easily negotiated.  The driver told me I was the third bike she ferried past the construction today, except one of them, an Italian guy insisted he ride it, since he was in a race.  The driver told me they put an escort vehicle in front of and behind him, but they still could have gotten a ticket if they were caught letting him ride through this zone.  The driver also told me that the Italian dude was on his eighth day, as he started out from Astoria.  Made me feel good about my progress, considering I’m camping and all.

No word about Richard and Scott, maybe I’m ahead of them.  I’ll text them again when I regain coverage.

The river seemed ideal for kayaking or rafting, but I didn’t see many on it, although I did have a snack while watching this group prepare.

I’m about 15 miles from Lolo Pass, which I will have to cross.  Looks like a 2000 foot climb followed by a downhill all the way to Missoula.  I’ll figure out tomorrow if I stay in town or make a shorter day of it.

With todays miles, I’m down for a total of 679.

After yesterday’s strenuous effort, it wasn’t completely surprising that I would experience some cramps last night.  When I get them at home I carefully roll out of bed and walk around for a minute or two until they disappear.  Camping is more troubling as I need to extract myself from the mummy sleeping bag, unzip the tent door, somehow put on my shoes, then get up and do the walking around.  Every one of these moves hurts, with putting on shoes and getting up being the worst. What a relief when I finally get to walking around, which for some reason makes the cramps go away.  Fortunately, last nights episodes weren’t too severe.  It’s troubling how your body slowly degrades as you age.  I never, ever, experienced cramps when I was younger, no matter how I abused my body.

After yesterdays big effort and the cramps at night, I wasn’t sure if I’d have the legs today, it was a great cycling day as I covered 72 miles, most of it before lunch. I’ve now logged a total of 613 miles.  I hope to be through Idaho in another day and a half or so. Seems fast compared to Washington and Oregon, which felt like different versions of some giant state.

The descent back down to the river was by a different route than I took up and it turned out to be one of the nicest descents that I have taken.  Smooth road, little traffic and the grade was nice, very little need for braking, but fast enough for me and my load.  With my bike loaded the way it is, I’m only comfortable up to about 30 miles an hour.  One of those automatic roadside radar machines, clocked me at 28, which is plenty fast enough on a loaded touring bike.

After a lunch of rye crackers, cheese and salami, I stopped at the grocery store for some water and a few other things.  These national forest campgrounds often do not have water, so I brought some extra.  

At the end of the ride, I still had enough energy to race a thunderstorm to the campground and I guess we tied.  So far, not a lot of rain, but there is some scattered lightning, so I’m glad I’m off the road.

The campground is called the Wild Goose and it is in Clearwater National Forest.  This is the best campsite of the trip so far, right on the banks of the Clearwater River.

No internet at all here, so I will have to pretty up this essay with pictures and post sometime tomorrow.

Turns out it was two days before I could post this write up!

55 miles today, totaling 541. First 8.5 miles was in Washington State, where I crossed over to Idaho from Clarkston, WA to Loiuston, ID.

I got a decaf coffee at one of those drive through coffee stands and posted yesterday’s blog. I also picked up some groceries at Albertsons and continued on my way. There are two routes east from Louiston, a fast one with heavy traffic and a bicycle friendly one. That was a no brainer for me, even though the bicycle friendly route is an extra 18 miles. What I didn’t count on was the climb of 2300 feet in eight miles to get up to the campground. I made many stops to hydrate, eat and rest in those eight miles. I walked a bit also to use some different muscles or at least the same muscles differently. That had to be the most difficult climb, so far.

I was lucky as I got the last campsite at Winchester Lake State Park. Because I had no vehicle, it only cost me 17$. Before I left the check in gate,  two people approached me,  the first guy was interested in what I was doing and asked some questions like how much does your rig weigh.  I told him I think it weighs about 80 pounds.
The second person wanted to know what route I was riding.  That question confused me for a second, as most people don’t know about the Adventure Cycling Association routes. She had done the Northern Tier a few years ago with a group of six people.  The route I’m riding, is a mix of the Loius and Clark Trail, the Northern Tier, the Lakes, and some of my own routing in Wisconsin and Massachusetts, which I haven’t completely figured out. It always nice to chat with a fellow adventurer.

I might be able to cover some extra miles tomorrow as I get to go down the hill I climbed this afternoon and it looks pretty level after that.

A neighboring camper just came over and said he was so impressed with what I’m doing and gave me a portion of his shrimp gumbo.  Jeff said he is from Mississippi.  The gumbo really hit the spot.  Those kind people always  make me choke up a bit.

One thing I’m really missing from home is my home made popcorn. I’m not going to pack a Whirley-popper on this trip, like I did to D2R2 a few years ago. Jiffy Pop is always burnt, maybe I can figure something else out.

Internet is a bit dodgy here, this may or may not get posted tomorrow.

Well, the fellow that was napping on the picnic table never reappeared, so I had a quiet evening and made a potato, onion and carrot soup.  It drizzled a bit during the night, so I put the rain fly over the tent, the first time since the Cascade Mountains.

People were trout fishing in the river and one fellow said he caught a bunch.  If I remember correctly, the notice with regulations on this particular river mentioned cutthroat and steelhead.

Last night there were all kinds of creatures making strange noises right outside the tent.  Got up a couple of times to see if I could identity anything with my light, but failed.  Reminded me of the time I camped at Pennekamp in the keys and I had about 30 raccoons making a ruckus in the tree that was right above my tent.

Today, I covered 64 more miles and am at Chief Thomas campground, less than 10 miles west of Clarkston, WA.   That makes 486 total miles.   In today’s sixty four miles, there were 2 long climbs and 2 long descents and virtually no flat.  I had a tail wind most of the way, but that first long climb was really hard, primarily because it never seemed to end.

So far, many of the people I’ve met bike-packing seem to be carrying heavier loads than I.  You really can’t imagine hauling a load up those long grades until you’ve done it.  It’s a different experience from racing up a hill on a lightweight road bike or sprinting up a steep pitch in the woods on a mountain bike.

Everyday, I’m thinking about what I might want to send home in order to lighten the load.  So far, just a few things are on the list.  Those booties I decided to bring after that rainy commute home.  Maybe my multi-tool could go, now that I purchased a Swiss Army knife.  I needed the Swiss Army knife because I wanted a can opener and a more practical knife for cooking than what I had.  The multi tool has a pliers and a scissors which may come in handy.  Maybe I’ll keep it for a while.  I bought a length of line on that first days visit to REI and at first I had doubts, but now it’s coming in handy for hanging wet stuff out to dry.  I have a musette that was handy on the flight out, but of no use, since.

Like me, most people are using front and rear panniers, with most of the load in the rear.  Seems to be the most practical way to load up a touring bike for the road.

Bought a bunch of fresh picked asparagus at a road side stand.  I was hoping for fruit, but there are not a lot of open road side stands on this stretch of road. When raw, asparagus tastes a bit like celery, which I love.  I’ll cook some up with carrots and my last bit of summer sausage for dinner.  I also saw this welcome cyclist sign, though I don’t think I saw another person bike packing all day.

The second hill was shorter and steeper, but I was refreshed from lunch, so I did better.  I could see a thunder storm brewing most of the afternoon, and finally got rained on about 10 minutes outside the campground on the final descent. 

 I’m writing this in a picnic shelter, while the storm blows over. Someone just saw me in the shelter and asked me if I needed a ride.  This is pretty common when people see bike-packers out in foul weather.

Waiting for the thunderstorm to pass before setting up camp. No cell service here so I will have to post this in the morning.

It occurred to me today that 371 miles on a bike in one week is a new record for me. Today I added another 51 or 52 miles depending upon if you round up or down. That adds up to 422 miles altogether through eight days. This mileage does not include wrong turns or side trips to stores or sites of interest. I’m staying in Lewis and Clark State Park, which is about a day and a half’s ride from Lewiston, Idaho. I’m looking forward to be done with Washington and Oregon and moving into Idaho.

Seems like Scott and Richard are about a half days ride ahead of me. We are keeping in touch through the magic of smart phones.

I stopped for supplies at the super huge Walmart in Walla Walla. I then found a laundrymat and ate lunch while washing my clothes. The campsite has a shower so now, except for nine days stubble, I’m about as fresh as a rose.

These flowers reminded me of my sister-in-law, Lourdes. Whenever I hiked with Roger and Lourdes, she was always stopping to take pictures of the flowers. These continual pauses in the interest of photography seemed to irritate Roger. Here’s another shot for Lourdes.

Anybody know what the name of these flowers are?

Walla Walla is well kept by the inhabitants, especially compared to other places I’ve passed through on this journey. To the west, is range land, and the east are vast fields of grain. All of the green areas seem to be irrigated. You can hear the pumps running all along the Columbia River.

The mighty Columbia River seems to have disappeared near Walla Walla and is replaced by numerous much smaller streams, like the Touchet River, a few steps from my campsite.

When I arrived at the hiker/biker campsite, someone was sleeping on the table with a day pack. He didn’t say anything to me and continued sleeping. It looked to me like a day hiker had found a nice place to take a nap. I found a place for my bike and went to take the shower that I badly needed. When I got back, he was awake. I asked did you hike in? He said he was from Waitsburg and had gone for a walk. Then he said we could share. I said do you want any particular spot, and he said he had his spot. I slowly realized that he intended to sleep on the table. Anyway I silently set up my tent. Then, feeling uncomfortable in this walker that would share’s company, went to find a place to write my blog. When cell reception down by the river failed, I decided to hike back up and use the picnic tables by the rest rooms. Anyway, as I walked by the camp, I noticed the walker from Waitsburg was gone. Hopefully he is off to find a different picnic table, or better yet, to go home to be with family.

After putting up yesterdays blog post, a fellow came over and chatted for a while. He said that this spot on the Columbia was a great spot for Walleye and Smallmouth Bass fishing. He was interested in my adventure so I texted the URL for this blog over to him.

Mom and Charlene have been tracking my progress on a map. They sent me this image of it this morning.

This morning before setting out on the bike I decided that I would eat a big lunch in Umatilla, about 30 miles distant.

As I arrived in Umatilla, I was looking for a grocery store and a place to eat when I made one of my frequent wrong turns. In front of a cafe, I noticed two loaded bikes and wondered if those were the two guys headed to Maine. I rode across the street just as they were coming out. Indeed, it was those two fellows. It was about ten and they were just starting their ride to Walla Walla. Their names were Scott and Richard, we briefly chatted, and among other things I found out that the park drunks name was Dan. After just a couple of minutes we exchanged phone numbers and they went on their way.

Since Scott and Richard said the food was good,I decided to eat in that cafe and devoured a huge omelette. I must have been hungrier than I realized.

For the afternoons ride, I wanted to reach an RV park on route 12 about 25 miles south of Walla Walla. Just before getting there I ran across Scott and Richard again, except this time, they were just finishing lunch. Just up the road we bought some oranges from a nice Spanish speaking fellow with a road side stand. Scott and Ricard’s destination for today is Walla Walla. Since I start earlier than they do, I told them I would text them when I got to town.

The RV park is right on the now much smaller Columbia River. Vincent, the owner of the park made me sign about 6 pages of a legal agreement and then said, “How does twenty dollars sound?” I replied, “It sounds fine if it will keep you in business.” Apparently he has had issues with some tenants and is working hard to keep up the place that his mom and dad created.

Today I put in 61 miles so that makes a total of 371 miles.

Zack from Minnesota showed up at the hiker/biker campsite while I was down by the river working on my blog entry for yesterday. There was also more wood and kindling when I got back. Zack is traveling from Minneapolis to Portland for his sister’s wedding. Our host showed up later on and we chatted with her for a few minutes.

Zack and I compared notes about equipment and traveling by bike in front of the fire. I didn’t say this to Zack, but I’m kind of envious of his youthful energy and willingness to take on this adventure with so little previous experience.

I’m a pretty cautious person when it comes to new things and had planned on planning about three days in advance as I went along, but that quickly got shortened to what am I going to do tomorrow. Now, I’m kind of down to what am I going to do after breakfast until lunch. What I do after lunch can be determined while I’m eating lunch. Life on a bicycle tour is easier that way. This kind of trip is not for those who need to plan their day in meticulous detail.

I got up at 5:15 determined to beat the midafternoon heat. Took about 90 minutes to eat a little breakfast, shower and pack up. First thing was that climb out of the Columbia River gorge. Sure enough, I had to walk the last couple of hundred yards. With a fully loaded bike moving slowly, it’s sometimes easier to walk it than to try balancing the load when moving so slowly.

At the top of the climb was the American Stonehenge. A memorial to our troops who fought in World War 1. I met a couple there that were touring the country in an RV. The man said that he used to do long haul trucking and that this trip would change me.

I think it’s funny how so many people can predict the future with very little information. Who knows, maybe he will be right.

With todays ride I covered about 58 miles, not counting the inevitable missed turns and detour of 3/4 mile to Roosevelt Park for lunch. That brings the total to 310 miles. At lunch I met the park drunk. He was an amiable fellow and while coddling his Corona Extra, told me about a couple of guys heading to Maine, just a few hours ahead of me. Zack had also met those guys. As I dumped my trash from lunch in the dumpster, I noticed that about a half of case of Corona extra empty bottles already deposited inside.

The morning ride was quite brilliant, pleasant and wind aided. The afternoon turned hot and the wind shifted to the East.

Entering Crow Butte Park, where I am writing this I met the host on a golf cart with her two friendly dogs. She gave me the option of taking a regular site for 20$ or camping in the day use area for free. I took the free option.