Lincoln to Lubrecht Experimental Forest

July 12, 2018

Excellent riding

Shortly after we left Lincoln, MT we met the youngest cycling tourist we've encountered so far. Silvan was sitting at a table outside of the C-store at the junction of routes 200 and 83. He said he was 18 years old and was riding solo from the Washington coast to Massachusetts. He started off with a friend, who got sick a few days into the trip and had to go home. Hopefully they'll meet up again to finish the ride together.

Not only was Silvan riding alone, he was also creating his route as he pedaled using state road maps and his smart phone. Since we've relied heavily on the Adventure Cycling Association maps, it was hard to imagine the challenges of finding the information we need without them. The ACA maps have valuable details about elevation profile, navigating large cities, and whether or not a small town has camping, hotels, or groceries. The ACA routes are also vetted to avoid excessive traffic whenever possible and to provide cyclists access to both services and scenery.
Maybe after Silvan finishes his trip he can get a job at ACA?

Interesting thing as we rolled into Ovando

Delicious second breakfast at the Stray Bullet in Ovando. Good food, lazy server with an attitude.

Our beautiful and uneventful ride for the day ended at the Lubrecht Experimental Forest, about 27 miles outside of Missoula. The 20,000 acre forest was donated to the state of Montana by the Anaconda Copper Mining Company and the Northern Pacific Railway Company in the late 1930's. Today it is used by the University of Montana's School of Forestry students as an outdoor classroom and also as a conference center.

Lubrecht is also listed on the ACA map as a place for cyclists to camp. We rode in amongst towering trees to a group of cabins, and eventually connected with Keenan, one of the facility managers. He said that there was going to be a wedding there the next day, but that we could camp in the picnic shelter if we left early the next morning.

We set up the tents and used the awesome showers - excellent water pressure and very clean. While Ron and I were napping in the tent we heard little things hitting the tent. When we saw what looked like mouse droppings on the ground, we examined the shelter rafters for vermin. What we finally found were 2 bats tucked alongside the center beams of the roof. So we moved the tent out of the bat poop zone and celebrated our luck at sharing a camping shelter with creatures that would feast on any mosquitos that might try to feast on us.

After napping and dinner eating, Ron and I went for a short walk on the Lubrecht x-country ski trails. When we got back to the shelter Gay was talking with a new 2-wheeled arrival. Ted, a math teacher from Massachusetts, was on the ACA's Great Parks North route and was on his way to Missoula after leaving Glacier Park.

All three of us were thrilled with our luxury picnic shelter accommodations at Lubrecht. And so we went to sleep happy, clean, and ready for the next day's ride to Missoula.

Today's ride: 51 miles (82 km)
Total: 1,376 miles (2,214 km)

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