October 7, 2017
to Wilderness Gateway: along the Lochsa River
We were warned it was going to get cold tonight. So we’re all bundled up in our sleeping bag, we even kept out smart-woolen shirts on. Guess what: there must have been a warm front coming through, because we wake up in the middle of the night: too hot! In the morning it still feels warmer than it did last evening, but rain is coming. High overhead a strong wind blows dark grey clouds eastwards towards the divide. Only a couple of kilometers down the road we see sheets of rain, driven by strong winds all the way to the surface, and us. We bundle-up in our raingear and keep going.
We are riding along the Lochsa River, one of the most beautiful stretches of river in the world. And it just keeps going, mile after mile. This time of the year, in the fall, the river is low and running quietly amongst huge boulders. In springtime and early summer though, this river rages and provides some of the most challenging white water for rafters and kayakers. The aspen trees have already turned, and higher up the hills we can see some color starting in the larch trees. All along the river are colorful stands of willow and aspen. The ride is beautiful, but the weather not so much.
We wanted to camp one night in the wilderness area and the Wilderness Gateway Forest Campground gets us close enough to Kooskia for tomorrows ride. Pat and Tom had also stayed here and told us only one of the four loops was still open. As we pull into the campground though we pass by a beautiful “group shelter” building. It is raining and looks like it might continue the rest of the afternoon. We ignore the signs, pull into the shelter and pitch our tent. This is much better than spending the afternoon in a dripping wet forest. We just hope the ranger that might kick us out is busy elsewhere. There is not much to do though, we have lunch, filter some drinking water from the river, and read for a while in the tent. Nice and warm out of the wind and under the sleeping bags. In the evening the skies seem to be clearing but it is still cold. Rachel had fixed a nice pasta sauce with meat, mushrooms, pepers and tomatos in Missoula and frozen it so we could carry it here in two days. It makes for a nice and quick dinner tonight. We are still in bear country, so all food and garbage is hoisted high in the rafters of the shelter.
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Today's ride: 65 km (40 miles)
Total: 40,681 km (25,263 miles)
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