The Bull River Valley was glorious in the early June sunshine. Temps were in the mid-60s, the grade was perfect, the breeze mild. Traffic at the beginning of the ride was minimal but picked up throughout the day. The southern portion of the valley is less settled so that explains some of the difference.

We opted for the four-mile off-route option to the grove of ancient cedar trees tucked in a micro-climate zone. Little did we know that half of the four miles was at incredibly steep grade, but on a really nice paved road. The cedars were worth it. Magnificent trees that reminded us of the beech trees in Mueritz National Park in northeast Germany. Like the beeches in Germany that date to the end of the Thirty Years War in 1648, the cedars at Ross Creek preserve let such little light reach the forest floor there was no underbrush. We heard from the barkeeper at Little Joe’s Saloon a few miles down the road toward Troy that this attraction is quite popular in summer and the parking lot always full. During our stop, a gentleman from France asked us if there would be wildlife to see. We said probably not with so many people coming through.

Jackie had left her panniers on the side of the road at about the third mile up, thinking the grade was unendurable for even 10 more feet. Just after that rise, the road slanted down, then a little more up. On the ride back down, she didn’t realize how far she had come up with the weight and wasn’t watching for them at the first mile down. She got all the way to the bottom without seeing them and started to panic. Scott told her to go back again, so she did, but the second time up she didn’t go high enough, thinking she had ditched them lower down, and didn’t find them. So then Scott rode with her, up once more to about three miles, and there they were. HUGE relief for them both, sheepishness on Jackie’s part, but no recriminations at all from Waldo. This accounts for the zig-zag on our elevation path and the 2839 elevation gain over the course of the day’s ride. That’s as much as Wauconda Pass!

After the final coast back down to MT 56, we had 18 more miles of beauty until we reached Troy. There appears to be one working mine and some local logging. The mountainsides facing the highway were unscarred though. Perhaps because of their proximity to the Cabinet Mountain Wilderness in the higher elevations. And for triva points, Troy claims to be the town at the lowest elevation in the State of Montana. The actual lowest geographic point, 1820 feet, per Wikipedia, is where the Kootenai River exits Montana for Idaho.

We stayed at the Double J B&B outside Troy, a great choice. When we arrived, the host Jim offered us the use of his pickup to go get a hot meal and sandwiches for the next day. This was incredibly generous and perhaps partly due to the fact that his wife is the receptionist for our dentist in Bigfork. (When Jackie called to make the reservation, a woman asked, “Do you live in Bigfork?” and Jackie recognized her voice and said, “Joyce?”) We accepted gladly, since the town is located at the bottom of a 6% grade hill that we would have had to climb once more to get back.

We had an iPhone malfunction and lost the photos of the cedars and Bull River Valley. Argh!

Heart

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Andrea BrownMy old stomping grounds! I was born in Libby and lived outside of Troy for several years. My family leased a cabin on Bull Lake when I was a child so this is all beloved territory to me. And that view stops my heart every time.
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5 years ago

Jeffrey WaldoHappy to share the view. The Bull River Valley is one of the most picturesque we have seen.
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5 years ago

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