Blog # 3: June 9-June 12; Eureka to Great Falls, MT
STATS
- 4 days
- 283 miles
- 1 pass cleared
- Highest elevation – 5,216 feet
- My top speed – 43 MPH
- Josh’s top speed … his parents don’t want to know
Greetings from Great Falls, Montana! With its population of 58,717, it’s the largest city we’ve been through so far on our 875-mile journey. We’re holding up very well, I’d say, but this half-day layover in Montana’s 3rd largest city is very welcome.
The Rockies
Since we began planning the trip, I have been focused on – Josh would say obsessed with – crossing the Rockies: Where would we do it? Could we handle it? Will the snow be cleared by then? How cold will it be? If we can manage the ascent, will the descent be safe? What about Grizzly bears? The route we picked – the so-called Northern Tier recommended by Adventure Cycling Association – made its way over the Rockies at Glacier National Park along the picturesque and iconic Going-to-the-Sun Road and over the Logan Pass at 6,647 feet.
From then on, I tracked the weather at the Logan Pass on my phone. “Josh, it’s snowing and 3 degrees at the Logan Pass!” I’d told him urgently in January. For some reason he seemed unfazed. This spring, I regularly checked the Glacier National Park web page about the status of the snow clearing. “Wow,” I’d think to myself. “It’s still closed from Avalanche Creek to Lake McDonald! And what’s this? It’s snowing now!”
Actually, obsessed is probably the right word. And it was all for naught. We learned in the few days before we approached Glacier NP that Going-to-the-Sun Road and the Logan Pass were still closed, leaving the Marias Pass, on the south side of Glacier, as our only option for crossing the mighty Rockies. So on Friday, we set out from West Glacier Village up and over Marias. It was an easier and probably less spectacular route, but still plenty difficult and beautiful (see photos below). As with all these climbs, we were rewarded with a fast descent, which Josh particularly enjoyed.
The next morning we looked back at the Rockies as were about to descent from East Glacier (thank you, Maryanne Gallagher for reminding me to do so) and were greeted by the rainbow you’ll see in the photo below. It was kind of a tip of the cap to us for a job well done. Ok, that’s a little narcissistic, but that’s how I took it. :-)
A Community on Wheels
You’ll see two other riders in the photo at the Marias Pass. These fellow travelers are Mason and Christian, 30ish-year-olds from Bellingham, WA who caught up to us during our climb. They had done the same thing on the second day of our trip as we climbed the first of the Cascade passes, Washington Pass. After exchanging info about our respective trips that day (they’re riding to Bar Harbor, ME), they pushed on ahead at a clip I could not match and said something like “We’ll see you down the road!” No way, I thought to myself. I’m never catching them – and with his old man in tow, neither is Josh. But there they were again!
I think they are once again ahead of us, but I bet we see them again, just as we have had repeated encounters with other riders along the Northern Tier route. Randy, another fellow traveler, is a retired psychology professor from a college in Ohio. We met up with him on day 8 or 9. This is his 6th cross-country ride, 3 horizontal (i.e. coast to coast), and 3 vertical (El Paso to Alaska or some such thing!). Randy estimates that he’s ridden 70,000 touring miles! And Don, a retired engineer from Portland, is riding from Oregon to New York City. He did a 10-week tour through Patagonia last winter. But don’t get the wrong idea – he claims that he’s not a strong rider. I guess if he were, he wouldn’t stop in NYC - he’d keep peddling to Montauk! Light weight, am I right?
And then there’s the 69 year old couple on recumbent bikes who Josh and I considered to be sweet and inspirational until they passed us for the third time. Now we’re kind of annoyed and competitive. Not really. Just kinda.
But seriously, it’s a very cool thing to be a part of – an adventurous group with whom we can trade stories and tips.
More Shout Outs
I was appreciating my mom, Patricia, during yesterday’s ride (we went 106 miles!). Some of my mom and dad’s first dates in the 1940’s were bike rides from Cambridge to Rockport, MA. It was well known to us that our father, Bernie, won her heart in part because he could keep up with her on a bike, as opposed to Patricia’s brilliant Harvard U. suitors who were unable to ride bikes. We Koechlins are glad how it all turned out and won’t forget that bicycling was an important part of that outcome.
While Bernie mostly stopped cycling after he won over Patricia, she continued to ride at a time when 40-60 year olds didn’t do so much. As you know, there was no carbon fiber, electronic shifters, disc breaks and aerodynamic features. She rode the same 1940’s 40-pound, 3-speed Raleigh with fenders and a chain guard that my dad kept up with en route to Rockport. Thanks, Mom!
Thanks also to Josh for his lead navigating role. My old-school approach – laminated maps on my handlebar bag – would have been good enough about 80% of the time on this trip, which is to say I probably would have taken us only a few hundred miles off route. Josh’s high school friend Arthur got us onto the GPS version of our route maps, which has been absolutely immense! We haven’t missed a beat – accept the few times I’ve absolutely insisted the GPS was leading us astray. We saluted Arthur, who will be going to MIT in the fall. Do they offer cartography?
Crossing the Rockies with our new friends Christian and Mason
On the way to the Marias Pass at Glacier National Park in Montana.
Overnight in Dutton, “the wheat capital of Montana.” Sprinklers started at 11:30 p.m. ….!
The Rockies bid us farewell.
