July 8, 2012
May Creek Campground to Hamilton, MT: The dreaded Chief Joseph Pass
It was cold during the night, and I was up early in anticipation of today's ride. I'd heard over and over again, that there was a big hill ahead. I left camp with my tights and windbreaker on, but stopped after about 5 miles to remove the windbreaker. The road rose in a false flat for a while, but then turned up to a steady slope that put me in my granny gear. I stopped twice, but didn't have to walk the bike at all, and was at the top of the climb before I knew it!
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It helped that I didn't know the exact distance from the campsite, and that the mileage markers were counting down to one. The zero mark was at the second pass, not at Chief Joseph, so I hit the top when I expected to have another mile left in the climb! The second pass, Lost Trail Pass, has an information center and restrooms, and gave me the opportunity to go a very short distance off route and step into Idaho.
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The ride down was fast and fun, but I controlled my speed a bit due to quite a bit of debris on the shoulder. This is one case where the sign says "falling rocks" and there really are fallen rocks.
I stopped in Sula for a second breakfast, a common habit of touring cyclists, and then met a couple headed from Seattle to Boulder on bikes. We chatted for a long time, and I ended up spending nearly an hour and a half in Sula. Before I left I took off my tights and applied sunscreen to my legs. About 3 miles down the road a car passed me and then pulled over, and I saw someone get out of the car and hold up my tights. I guess when I put on the sunscreen I set them down, and forgot to pack them up. People definitely watch out for touring cyclists!
I went on to Darby, and it was getting really hot. When I was in Sula, I had contacted a warmshowers host in Hamilton, but not heard back, so I thought I should go on to Hamilton. When I arrived, the bank sign said it was 104 degrees! While I was at higher elevation it wasn't so hot, so this is an adjustment. I tried to contact the warmshowers host again, with no luck, and tried another. Again, no luck. I actually rode to the address of the second one, and the next door neighbor said they were away until late at night. So I opted for a nice hotel, to get in from the heat and the bugs and get cleaned up a bit. I should note, though, that the bugs don't seem to be as much of a problem at the lower elevation.
I should note that I've made a decision to call it quits in Missoula. I'm running out of energy. A lot of it was siphoned away by the mosquitoes, but it's hot and I'm tired. I think I would feel differently if I had a well-defined destination in mind from the beginning of the trip, but I've done what I said I would do. That is, I've continued until I didn't want to continue any longer, and I've had a good trip.
Stats
Dist 61.72
odo 6681.7
Max 36.8
Av 10.4
Today's ride: 60 miles (97 km)
Total: 814 miles (1,310 km)
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