Over the divide



On Highway 2

Saturday 5/12 Day 22
To my good fortune I get to go over Morias pass to get over the continental divide today. I took the back road into West Glacier and the it was highway two for the rest of the day. I think today was about 75 miles.
Before I started off on that adventure I had breakfast and coffee with Laura and helped her put some bikes on her car. She was going backpacking with a friend this weekend so she was goning to get her bikes repaired when she was gone. After we were all packed we said goodbye and went our separate ways, and like I said earlier I decide to go the back way into the park. Less traffic and more scenic. It was interesting riding a path that I had already rode before, I was able to notice more details about the landscape, more specifically I seemed to take note what was beyond just the side of the road and my eyes were on the lookout for the foxes again. I was also able to take a smoother path on the road this time and I ran into some angry dogs. Haha oh bike trips can be such a metaphor with life, could be a great wilderness program.


At the Divide

It was here on the back roads I was able to put together a few main points of why I did this trip. I think for the first reason this bike trip and time to my life allows me to have some sort of closure to my last chapter in life. It will allow me to decompress and mill through the events through the last two years and prepare me for my next adventure. Another reason was adventure and exploration. I wanted to see a part of my country and meet welcoming caring people around he USA. I know so many in other countries and this is giving me the chance to discover them here in America. And bottom line I'm doing this trip because I learn best by just doing something. This is a new style of life, on a bike, that I have never done or experienced before. And knowing me if I set a bar high I will get to it. I will deffinerly not listen to advice or study up on the subject I will learn the hard way :) but that is what I like. And it is for these reasons I'm out here exploring and riding.
Once I got to West Glaicer I rotated my tires because one of the treads was looking like it was wearing faster. It also gave me a chance to tighten screws and lube up the chain. Man I'm like a professional now. The bike road so smooth by the time I was done with it.


2 Medicines Lake

It was a great ride along highway 2, pretty mellow the whole trip. The road was at a steady grade and for the most part it stayed along the river. The final climb of the day took me to about 5200 feet the lowest pass over the continental divide in the USA. Great luck for me! The ride was also great for the fact that I was able to catch glimpses of the magnificent peaks in glacier national park as I was riding. And at the very top lay a range of snow covord mountains for me to oggal over. Also at the top was an obolisk commemorating rosevelt for all the parks he protected. One thing that I have noticed that brings a smile to my face is when drivers honk there horns and are waving at me. There almost like a Mobil cheer leading squad which provides that little bit of motivation during those hard times. After the climb to the top I was able to cruise or zone ride twelve miles into east Glaicer in about thirty five minutes.
Tonight I'm staying with Jo. Her husband Sam was out of town. It was another location where I was the first rider of the year. Jo and Sam have been hosting riders for about five years in East Glaicer and it is a must go visit if you go through the area. First I got a huge meal of pasta and veggis with a salad and followed up later with a rubar cake with sauce. And then I got a personal tour of two medicine lakes, a section of glacier national park. We were up there as the sun was going down so we had a great view of the mountains and the sky behind it. This side was almost more impressive than the west side. I guess it was just a bit different with the lakes I front of the mountains. On our way out we stopped at a beautiful waterfall which I forgot the name. It had two falls coming off it, one from a cave and the other from above from runoff. The second one is only there in the spring and it dries up in late summer. I was able to see moose poop for the first time, it was funny it looks as if they have shotgun pellets for poop.. Another cool part of the waterfall was the color of the stones in the river bed, gold, turquoise, and a red. They had a great contrast with one another. Jo actually set up the inside of her house based off the colors.


MOOSE POOP!

Jo was full of knowsge and insight to the Blackfoot population and their ways along with heir stories of the land.
After our drive around the park we came home and went to bed, after dessert. It was such a treat to be able to see the park for a second day, I was not expecting that at all. Also some more great news I found out that I could stay wih one of Jo's friends tomorrow night and stay wih Jo in Helena in two nights. Very welcoming.