August 19, 2013
Day 19: To Angler's Roost campground, Bitteroot river
Today I start the second half of the Florence-Missoula-Salt Lake City tour. The next couple days should be very pleasant, going upstream in the Bitteroot river valley with the Bitteroot range looming to my right.
My first stop on this Monday morning was at the Post Office at 8:30 when they opened, to mail home a stack of maps and brochures. My second stop was at the Adventure Cycling Association office after they opened at 9. I arrived in Missoula on Saturday night, so this was my only chance. They don't seem to get many visitors at 9 AM.
I signed the guest register and looked at their many exhibits while waiting for Greg Siple to come and take my photo behind the building. They gave me a free bandanna for being a long term member (since 1987).
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I finally got on the road at 10. The first 15 miles was backtracking across Missoula and south on US 12 to the town of Lolo, In Lolo I continued south on US93, following the Bitteroot river upstream.
Signs indicated that US12 west over Lolo Pass was closed due to wildfires. I could see a plume of smoke, but it wasn't especially large yet...
I pedaled the bike path between Lolo and Florence. The path is very close to the busy highway, but I liked being able to stop and take pictures without dealing with traffic.
I enjoyed the scenery in the Bitteroot valley. It was nice to pedal in a semi-arid river valley with giant forested peaks to the right. And smaller semi-forested peaks to the left. This is reputed to be the most inland valley with a Pacific Northwest climate (wet winter, dry summer).
The views in the Bitteroot valley were surprisingly clear. The big local fire is to my northwest, and the smoke is blowing east. The smoke isn't going my direction and it gets farther away as I pedal south. But every time I looked behind me the distant smoke cloud seemed to get bigger.
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The Bitteroot river gets steadily smaller as I pedal upstream. It's the lifeblood of this agricultural region.
I had lunch in Florence. That was amusing since I started the tour in Florence, Oregon. I never knew there was a Florence in Montana.
A few miles south of Florence I turned left from the bike trail onto MT 269 which has much less traffic than US 93.
The first little town on MT 269 is Stevensville. It's a interesting historic town. First I stopped to cool down and have a chocolate milk shake at the drugstore soda fountain.
Later I went to see the St. Mary's mission historic site which is the first permanent settlement in Montana by people of European descent.
Interpretive signs, especially privately owned signs, usually tell a sugar-coated version of history. Perhaps it's true that the native tribes' first encounter with the Black Robes was positive. The sign ignores that relations later went downhill when Roman Catholic missions started using the natives as slave labor.
As I progressed south in the afternoon I could see a more diffuse smoke cloud ahead of me to the south, coming from far away fires near Ketchum, Idaho. Air quality and visibility is good now, but tomorrow I will pedal into that smoke cloud.
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The next town on MT 969 is Corvallis. Another town name that has a larger and better-known version in Oregon. No university here.
The last town on today's route is Hamilton, the main town in the southern Bitteroot valley. I got groceries, then continued 4 miles south on busy US 93 to the private Angler's Roost campground on the Bitteroot river. It's mostly trailer sites, but they have several designated tent sites. Lots of trees, decent facilities, store. $10, including a shower and a partial river view from my campsite.
Most of my bike tours are on routes where touring cyclists are extremely rare. Now that I'm on the popular TransAmerica bike route the campgrounds are accustomed to seeing touring cyclists. Most campgrounds have a per-person cyclist rate that is much cheaper than their standard family tent camping rate. And I've noticed that more towns have hostels.
It was a very warm evening at the campsite, but I had shade, a breeze, and a river 100 feet away. Unfortunately I could also hear all the traffic on US 93 only 500 feet away.
Today the terrain was gentle upstream with no big climbs. But it was still a long day of pedaling because I had a headwind all day. I will probably have a headwind for the remainder of the tour.
The weather was quite pleasant. High of 88F with very low humidity. It wasn't difficult to find shade when stopped. Overall it was a fun day.
Distance: 59.6 miles (95 km)
Climbing: 1144 feet (347 m)
Average Speed: 11 mph (17.6 km/h)
Today's ride: 60 miles (97 km)
Total: 993 miles (1,598 km)
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