July 16, 2021
Day 72: Koocanusa Resort to Dorr Skeels Campground
Everybody Has To Be Somewhere
(EDITING NOTE; Narrative and video added)
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Climbing Today; 2,159 ft Climbing to Date; 110,809 ft
It was a pleasant ride from the Koocanusa Resort to Libby. Libby is a big town and we thought we would easily find a hotel room. But there was no lodging of any sort available anywhere in Libby. What we needed was some inside lodging with WiFi so we could plan ahead for the next week, but none was available. We were looking for anywhere we could stay in Libby, indoors or outdoors, motel, B&B, campground - and everything was booked everywhere.
We were calling hotels in Libby from a restaurant where we had "second breakfast" when in walked a fellow who said "Are you Doc or Bud?" Getting over my surprise, I met Steve and Allane who knew us from this journal. Allane had posted a comment some time back so I knew they were going our way and that Steve was cycling while Allane drove their truck and took care of all the numerous details.
We had a good time talking with Steve and Allane, then it was time for us to set off in hopes of procuring a campsite. So off we rode towards the sunset, except it was high noon when we set out. We knew we would stay somewhere, it's just the details that were missing. We planned to ride to Dorr Skeels campground and hope that a spot was available or that they had "overflow" camping for cyclists.
But I jumped ahead, let's go back to the start this morning. The ride along Lake Koocanusa was quite pleasant.
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Lake Koocanusa has some special meaning to me. When I started my first professional job as a young Geologist with the Army Corps of Engineers, I was assigned as the "Inspector" on a drill crew. The driller was a crusty fellow named Clovis Woods, or "Woody" as we all knew him. Woody could and would drink a 6-pack on the nights of the work week that ended with a "Y." He was usually irritable in the mornings until the coffee kicked in. But Woody and I got along just fine, and he mentored me and helped me learn a lot about geotechnical drilling and sampling. Woody's big claim to fame was that he had been involved in the foundation drilling for Libby Dam, the dam that forms Lake Koocanusa. After hoisting a few beers at night, he would tell me tales of working in the backwoods of Montana, and I could only imagine how thrilling that was. So cycling past this lake, traveling under my own power through these "backwoods," has some special meaning for me that I probably can't convey to you readers in words.
Our route diverted onto an old haul road to reach Libby. It was an extremely pleasant ride with views of the Kootenai River and no traffic. I was ahead of Doc at the point of the diversion, and Doc missed it and just rode the highway into town - he missed the nicest part of today's ride.
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It's a great road for a first long ride. I think a circumnavigation of the lake would be a fantastic ride too. Best,
Buddy Hall
3 years ago
3 years ago
Leaving Libby in the hopes of procuring a campsite at Dorr Skeels, I was distressed to come upon smoke and fire crews working. I had hoped to not repeat the fiasco of 2015 when I had to deal with the forest fires for 2.5 weeks in Oregon, Idaho, and Montana while riding the Transam route. The fire season has commenced a full month earlier than usual this year.
I reached Dorr Skeels campground before Doc, and the host informed me that there were 2 sites available. I chose the better of the 2 and this is the view from our site.
The other campsite was taken almost immediately, so we are happy to have gotten a site. Everything was good, except that the folks next to us consisted of a bunch of youngsters who didn't follow the 10:00 pm quiet hour rule. At 11:30 I finally got up and walked over to their campfire and told them it was bedtime. Fortunately they quieted down after that, but 04:00 still seemed early the next morning.
So here's a few video snippets from today. Good night everyone...
Today's ride: 55 miles (89 km)
Total: 3,673 miles (5,911 km)
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3 years ago
3 years ago