June 22, 2024
A “Real” Montana Experience?
The Lodge at Trout Creek to The Hunting Lodge near Bull Lake; the “blind” find their way; nostalgia at Bull River Cafe; Genny and Rich see a Moose
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So yesterday I misspoke when I said we stayed at Trout Creek Lodge because, silly me, we actually stayed at The Lodge at Trout Creek. They are two different and distinct places.
I was surprised to find our suite furnished with a waterbed. I had a waterbed in college because it was relatively easy to move and I liked it then and still like them. I also liked having the windows open wide to allow for a breeze and to hear the frogs in the pond outside.
Our host Julie made us a truly scrumptious breakfast to get us on our way. Rich and I are riding while Amber (sadly) and Jim are in the truck.
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From the lodge we found our way back out onto Hwy 200, heading WNW. We had one deviation onto Old Hwy 200 for a few miles. Along here two does and a small spotted fawn bounced across the road in front of us.
Soon we rejoined “new” Hwy 200 and continued on. The road undulated quite gently up and down, with grades of 2-4%, occasionally 5%. The shoulder was 12-18 inches for most of the day and the pavement was good. Today was warm but partly cloudy, which kept the temperature comfortable. All in all, a really nice day of riding.
I had deja vu at what is now called the Bull River Cafe, located at the junction of Hwy’s 200 and 56. Jim and I stopped here 12 years ago on our Northwest Fortnite tour. As I remember, it was almost 100 outside and we ate ice cream and took a chance to cool off. Today we had a lite lunch and takeout pizza for tonight.
The only mishap of today happened just as we were leaving the cafe. Rich and I had just pulled out onto 200 and I heard him say “wait…fell…”, so I slowed and went to put my left foot down and the cleat stuck so I clumsily went down on my left side, in the lane! Fortunately an oncoming driver was able to stop, but for a second I thought maybe my number was up. It turned out the Rich’s handlebar bag had fallen off and his Garmin was attached to it. So in the end, the only casualties were a cracked screen on his Garmin and a scraped and bruised knee on me.
We turned onto Hwy 56 and rode along the Bull River towards Bull Lake. The microclimate changed pretty abruptly as we were now riding into the Cabinet mountains. The air felt more humid and the plants were greener and denser and we began to see frequent wetlands. The high mountains came into view, still with visible snow at the peaks. At one point, looking across a pasture, I spotted a young moose.
Just before the 16 mile marker, we turned down a gravel road that led to the AirBNB we booked for the night. Amber and Jim were waiting on the front porch to be sure we entered through the front door “to get the full effect.”
So it turns out that this is a hunting cabin and our host runs a hunting outfitter and guide business. The entire house, except for the bathrooms and 2 of the 5 bedrooms, is heavily decorated with dead animal heads, whole dead animals in lifelike poses, and antlers and skulls of dead animals. There is a closet rack of pelts for sale in the house. In between all of the dead animals are photographs of the host, his family members and presumably, clients, posing with their animal kills These photographs literally plaster the walls of the primary living areas.
It breaks my heart to see the evidence of the slaughter of all of these creatures for no reason other than to satisfy somebody’s ego. I just don’t get why some people are compelled to do this. If we had known, I don’t think we would have chosen to stay here. Since the four of us have the whole house, we chose the dead animal-less rooms for sleeping.
After dinner we drove a few miles into the woods to visit the Ross Creek Cedar grove. According to Randy, last night’s host, it is the only old growth cedar grove to survive a fire in this area in 1910. The grove contains many really thick and tall cedars and the forest floor reminded me of the temperate rain forests of the Pacific Northwest-wet, fern-filled and mossy. And filled with mosquitoes!
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2 months ago
Tomorrow we continue on to Bull Lake and Libby, a town I fondly remember from our previous trip through here due to its many large metal Eagle sculptures.
Today's ride: 40 miles (64 km)
Total: 321 miles (517 km)
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