Saturday, June 26, 2010

Our campsite beyond Moran Junction east of the Tetons

Howard and Alex descend Together Pass

Doug with the only moose we've seen thus far

Bear in Dubois, WY

Camp Site

June 21

Doug Gardner - Twin Bridges to campsite west of Missouri Flats....... Breakfast at Wagon Wheel, and started riding at 0730. Saw lots of deer, and antelope in nice ride to Alder in Ruby Valley. Prairie dogs, hawks,eagles, osprey abound. Next towns of Nevada City and Virginia City were working re-creations of towns from the gold-mining days. Old trains, passenger cars, saloons, lodges were decorated and weathered to look like a town from that era. Immediately after passing out of Virginia City we began a 3 mile climb up a steep mountain to Ennis. We sweated profusely, but made the pass and then had a roller coaster descent for many miles. A beautiful MT valley opened up in front of us.
We literally coasted many miles to Ennis, then had a late lunch in Sportman's Paradise. Back on the road at 3 pm for what we anticipated to be an easy gradual uphill. There were no services on our maps for miles so we stocked up for dinner and the following AM breakfast. We were quickly bogged down in a strong headwind making progress slow and fatiguing us quickly. We had little choice but to fight through it. I was proud of the group's persistence. David got a flat tire which slowed us as well. We fought on into the wind, finally reaching an RV park allowing tent camping, and the adjacent to the newly opened Grizzly Bar for dinner. Many parties in the place asked us about the Ride. We finished eating with darkness approaching, and set up our tents, showered. I called home and enjoyed getting caught up on what my family had been doing. It was getting cold!

Friday, June 25, 2010

June 20

Doug Gardner - 77 miles....Jackson Hot Springs to Twin Bridges, MT. A late night and an early morning. It rained in night so we waited for tents to dry. Packed up gear and waited on breakfast. Good pancakes. Sausage patty was as big as the hamburgers they make out here. Started riding at 945 am, and would have to go 48 miles before food and drink available again. Laden with water bottles and snacks, we climbed 2 passes. I struggled and felt like I had a monkey on my back. We ate the group favorite Payday candy bars for quick sugar load. As we crested the last pass we encountered lightning, a quick rain shower, but then enjoyed a 7 mile downhill at high speeds. I never turned the pedals once in that time frame. Saw lots of deer and antelope over a rocky, arid terrain. Shared Pizza with Jordan at 3 pm lunch. The next 18 miles from Dillon to Twin Bridges was wonderful, beautiful irrigated farm land now in contrast to earlier. En route we encountered some folks we had shared conversation with several days earlier at Lochsa Lodge. They were studying the Lewis and Clark Trail and one couple in group was also from Salem, OR and had befriended Jordan and greeted him with a hug. We have collected $137 from people who have just given us cash for the cause. WE saw geese and goslings, ducks, and many deer. We had a great dinner at the Wagonwheel in town. The real treat was the bicyclist campground which was free. We slept on the floor of the hut to stay dry and to enable us to get a jump on riding the next day. Did Laundry, then lights out!

Ride for Jim conquers Togwotee Pass

Doug Gardner - June 19 Darby to Jackson Hot Springs....Arose at usual 0530 to sound of Howard milling around. Being a farmer, he is used to early and the guy who wakes up the roosters. Honestly it was a Hoot owl who woke me up. Had a big breakfast in town and talked to some fellow bikers who were also yoga practitioners and contortionists which was demonstrated in the restaurant, which we all found interesting. It turns out Darby is the town where ESPN hosts its logging and lumberjacking contests and we saw the site as we pedaled out of town. We rode 31 miles to top of Chief Joseph Pass, the Continental Divide at 7200 feet, then we fought a merciless headwind to Wisdom, MT where we were jumped by a renegade MOB of endless mosquitos, so we sought shelter inside for lunch. We were tired and bitten, but we wheeled onward to Jackson Springs resort ....76 miles. Jackson Springs was a nice place replete with a big game trophy lodge and bar, which we toured that evening, a natural hot springs fed pool, showers, restaurant, etc. We pitched our tents back of the Lodge, had a soak, and Howard and I wondered down the street of the small town with 3 or 4 businesses, had some nachos, bought a Fathers day postcard. After our evening tour of the trophy lodge/bar we retired and reflected on another good day.
Doug Gardner - Missoula to Darby.....We slept in late....0600. However, I had gotten up earlier and sent some pictures and posted a blog. We walked down street for breakfast, then went to post office to mail some things we all had that we really did not use or need, back to our respective homes. We checked out of motel, and rode to Adventure Cycling headquarters and received a tour of their site. They had some freebies for us as we were members of their Association. They took a picture of our group to keep in their archives, one that should show up on their website in a few weeks. Many pictures and stories of the original Bikecentennial were shared with us. Next, we rode back the way we had traveled the day prior, learning that Missoula is really a spur and just not labeled like all the other spurs......a way to get you to their headquarters.....although we had to retrace some of what we had done the day prior, no one regretted going into their headquarters. We rode back through Lolo, then on to Florence to visit a place famous on the trail for their pie. We finished our ride in the small town of Darby at a small RV campsite, and took the requisite showers. We set up our tents and turned in early, exhausted again!

Doug and Jordan

The view behind us as we leave the Tetons

Jordan and Doug in Yellowstone

Grizzly Bear in Tetons

Howard in front of Tetons and Jackson Lake

Monday, June 21, 2010

June 17

Powell to Missoula. Again, we had great accommodations at Lochsa Lodge. We were waiting on there doorstep for them to open for breakfast. That is typical as we try to get an early start. We rode up hill over Lolo Pass excited about the fact that we could see new fallen snow up on the mountains. The climb was hard, but not as tough as we anticipated. It was, however colder than we anticipated, and it snowed on us for the last 2 miles of the climb. We were glad to see the ranger station at the Pass, and lingered there with their fireplace and hot chocolate. After the pass, again a big descent with snow producing temperature exacerbated by a 30 mph wind chill created by the bikes rapid descent. We stopped in town of Lolo, and had Mexican for lunch to break away from the burger routine. 0n the descent we must have passed through major moose territory as they had moose crossing signs up as well as being painted on the road. Coming into Missoula we stopped at a neighborhood lemonade stand and then set up shop for the night at the Bel-Aire

June 16

Doug Gardner - Lowell to Powell, 64 miles without services! Needless to say, we waited on a good breakfast at the Wilderness Inn across the street, and bought groceries for a pack lunch. The ride was pretty, but the scenery was unchanging. As Howard said, "River on the right, road in the middle, and mountain on the left. We watched the River shrink in size as we moved upstream from feeding tributaries.
This whole trip thus far seems to follow a stream or river emphasizIng the ever presence and beauty and dependency upon it. We ate our pack lunch on a bridge, then rambled on for only a short while till Jordan got his first flat tire caused by a small shard of glass. There were numerous road signs and markers describing the Lewis and Clark expeditions, as well as the plight of the Nez Perce Indians driven out of their homeland through the Lolo Trail. We had fun and laughs along the route, most of it fueled by good natured badgering between Alex and Howard. We stayed in the Lochsa Lodge, a truly great place, replete with showers, laundry, a restaurant, and we stayed in a cabin with 4 beds, Jordan and I sharing a queen bed. The cabin was heated by a wood stove as outside temperatures were 44 degrees, but the efficiency of the stove forced us to open the cabin door during the night.

June 15

Doug Gardner,White Bird to Lowell, a ride noteworthy for the immediate climb out of there....switchback after switchback and a heck of a climb. The ride was marked with history about battles that occurred with the Nez Perce Indians and the calvary. We topped the pass to encounter a young lady that had just lost control and wrecked her car on the pass. She was visibly shaken, totaled her car, but was not hurt. We traveled on through Kooskia, which was an internment camp for the Japanese in WW II. We reached Lowell and stayed at 3 Rivers Campground at the confluence of the Selway, and Lochsa, and Clearwater Rivers. We ate at their restaurant, then jumped in their pool and hot tub. The keeper let us sleep on the porch of some unused cabins. I saw a Bald Eagle, a doe with her fawn, a hawk with a snake in its talons, and we saw a second wreck, an 18 wheeler with a lumber load that turned over on a switchback. Slept well that night.
-----------------------------------------

Sunday, June 20, 2010

June 15 - 16

June 15
White Bird to Lowell, a ride noteworthy for the immediate climb out of there....switchback after switchback and a heck of a climb. The ride was marked with history about battles that occurred with the Nez Perce Indians and the calvary. We topped the pass to encounter a young lady that had just lost control and wrecked her car on the pass. She was visibly shaken, totaled her car, but was not hurt. We traveled on through Kooskia, which was an internment camp for the Japanese in WW II. We reached Lowell and stayed at 3 Rivers Campground at the confluence of the Selway, and Lochsa, and Clearwater Rivers. We ate at their restaurant, then jumped in their pool and hot tub. The keeper let us sleep on the porch of some unused cabins. I saw a Bald Eagle, a doe with her fawn, a hawk with a snake in its talons, and we saw a second wreck, an 18 wheeler with a lumber load that turned over on a switchback. Slept well that night.

June 16
Lowell to Powell, 64 miles without services! Needless to say, we waited on a good breakfast at the Wilderness Inn across the street, and bought groceries for a pack lunch. The ride was pretty, but the scenery was unchanging. As Howard said, "River on the right, road in the middle, and mountain on the left. We watched the River shrink in size as we moved upstream from feeding tributaries.

This whole trip thus far seems to follow a stream or river emphasizIng the ever presence and beauty and dependency upon it. We ate our pack lunch on a bridge, then rambled on for only a short while till Jordan got his first flat tire caused by a small shard of glass. There were numerous road signs and markers describing the Lewis and Clark expeditions, as well as the plight of the Nez Perce Indians driven out of their homeland through the Lolo Trail. We had fun and laughs along the route, most of it fueled by good natured badgering between Alex and Howard. We stayed in the Lochsa Lodge, a truly great place, replete with showers, laundry, a restaurant, and we stayed in a cabin with 4 beds, Jordan and I sharing a queen bed. The cabin was heated by a wood stove as outside temperatures were 44 degrees, but the efficiency of the stove forced us to open the cabin door during the night.

Saturday, June 19, 2010

4 day long Hell's Canyon Motorcycle rally in Baker City forces us to move on as no lodging or camp sites available

My wife and son James drop us off at Les Schwab tires in Baker City where our bikes are stored. We drove from Salem for 6 hours after graduation, jum

Our new friend, Dave Krause, from CO riding from Seattle to CO en route to his own wedding joined us in Halfway, OR

Mountains in the distance east of Baker City shortly before Jordan's acquisition of roadburn

Western Oregon

A New Zealander riding at 10,000 miles, continuing over 1 year on the road

Alex stretches after a rest en route to White Bird, ID

Exhausted, Jordan takes a nap en route to Whitebird, ID

Salmon fishing on Little Salmon River before Riggins, ID

Howard climbs White Bird Hill, site of famous clash with Nez Perce Indians

Rivers abound in the Bitter root region of Idaho

Howard rides with longjohns (on the outside)

Inside our cabin at Lochsa Lodge

Out on the town in Missoula, MT

June 14

June 14 - Doug Gardner - we rode 89 miles from Council to White Bird, ID. We ate breakfast in Council....the usual of two eggs, sausage, 2 pancakes, and coffee. We have eaten lots of huge pancakes, again another thing these places pride themselves on the size of. We rode to the next town of New Meadows where we met Archie who donated the cost of lunch to Ride for Jim. He also chased us down the Highway after we ate to give us copies of a poem he had written about his favorite state, Idaho . We had a beautiful ride to a town called White Bird, where we stayed at Hoots cafe and motel. We gathered up all our dirty clothes and laundered them with total disregard for separation of whites and colors, and toast the wives in the process. Hoots had great rooms and good meals. We had ridden along the Salmon River that day and witnessed many fishing for Salmon, prior to entering Riggins where we had an early dinner. White Bird was the site of a military engagement with the Nez Perce Indians who were native to the Bitteroot Mountains.

June 13

June 13, Doug Gardner - Today we rode from Oxbow, OR and crossed over into Idaho, ending in a town called Council. There was no restaurant in Oxbow so we had more than 20 miles to ride to Cambridge to get a real meal. Between meals we consume trail mix, candy bars, honey buns, and peanut butter on crackers. Lunches are usually cheeseburgers but we are beginning to tire of them. These small town restaurants pride themselves on the size of their burgers...one place made a 2 pounder meant to be a family meal. We wound through some canyons, saw mountain goats, and could not figure out why rivers seemed to be flowing in direction opposite us when we felt we were going downhill. We dunked our heads in a frigid mountain stream to cool down only to be outdone by Howard who leaped in like a frog and achieved total submersion. We slept that night in the Old City Hall campground for free, bought a shower for $5.00 from a local RV campsite, and charged our phones in an electrical outlet on the outside of the Council Post Office, which was adjacent to the campground. We found ourselves to be hungry late so we strolled into downtown where a local kindly took us to the local convenience store for packaged sandwiches and drinks, waited on us to shop and then took us back to the campsite.

June 10 - June 14

June 10
The am of June 10, as I was preparing my bike, I noticed my front tire flat. Howard, the most mechanical of group again helped me change a tire......we found a puncture from a small thorn. We had a hard ride to Baker City with a strong head wind and heavy rain. I was soaked to the core, but entered a long valley blowing like a wind tunnel so by the time we reached Baker City, I was dry. Upon arrival, we met my wife and son James who had flown to, then driven a rental car from, Boise, ID. We stashed our bikes in a Les Schwab tire dealership warehouse, and Howard and Alex checked into the Bridge Street Inn. We found there was the Hells Canyon Motorcycle Rally in town for four days.....thousands of motorcyclists! My family then drove the 6 hours to Salem, OR via I-84 and the Columbia Gorge reaching there at midnight. We dropped Jordan off to visit with his mother and we checked into a motel. Busy and long day!

June 11
Now our group was split so we each had different experiences. Howard and Alex were to have a day off in Baker City, but since all the rooms were booked, as well as campgrounds, they felt little option but to ride to the next town of Halfway, OR where they stayed the night to await our rendezvous with them on the 12th. Jordan had to be at rehearsal for graduation at 0800, and I went back to the South Salem Cycleworks to get a replacement tire tube as well as other items the group needed. We visited with Jordan, my other son Jake, and Jordan's friend, Kanissa. Graduation was at 6 pm. We were very proud of Jordan and happy to see him in cap and gown! Jordan celebrated with friends until 1 am on the twelfth, whereas Amy, James, and I slept from 1000 pm until 0130 on the twelfth.

June 12
After a 6 hour ride back to Baker City to reunite with our bikes, we said goodbye to Amy and James, and began a sprint to catch the others. We intercepted my friend, Dr. Bruce Abbotts, en route to Halfway. Bruce and I were in residency together, he now resides in Spokane, and we had not seen one another in 19 years. Bruce had found the others in Halfway, then rode his bike to intercept us. I found him about 15 miles west of Halfway, OR resting under a roadside tree. Bruce continued this back and forth for 3 days, driving ahead to our next destination, then unloading his bike and riding back to meet us, turning around and riding back with us to the destination. In Halfway, we met Howard, Alex, and a new rider Dave Krause, who is still with us currently. Dave is riding from Seattle to his own wedding in CO. After all the shaking hands and greetings, the group of now 6 riders headed out for Oxbow, OR with Bruce driving ahead. We camped in Oxbow, a great camp site maintained by the Idaho Power Company.

June 13
Today we rode from Oxbow, OR and crossed over into Idaho, ending in a town called Council. There was no restaurant in Oxbow so we had more than 20 miles to ride to Cambridge to get a real meal. Between meals we consume trail mix, candy bars, honey buns, and peanut butter on crackers. Lunches are usually cheeseburgers but we are beginning to tire of them. These small town restaurants pride themselves on the size of their burgers...one place made a 2 pounder meant to be a family meal. We wound through some canyons, saw mountain goats, and could not figure out why rivers seemed to be flowing in direction opposite us when we felt we were going downhill. We dunked our heads in a frigid mountain stream to cool down only to be outdone by Howard who leaped in like a frog and achieved total submersion. We slept that night in the Old City Hall campground for free, bought a shower for $5.00 from a local RV campsite, and charged our phones in an electrical outlet on the outside of the Council Post Office, which was adjacent to the campground. We found ourselves to be hungry late so we strolled into downtown where a local kindly took us to the local convenience store for packaged sandwiches and drinks, waited on us to shop and then took us back to the campsite.

June 14
June 14 we rode 89 miles from Council to White Bird, ID. We ate breakfast in Council....the usual of two eggs, sausage, 2 pancakes, and coffee. We have eaten lots of huge pancakes, again another thing these places pride themselves on the size of. We rode to the next town of New Meadows where we met Archie who donated the cost of lunch to Ride for Jim. He also chased us down the Highway after we ate to give us copies of a poem he had written about his favorite state, Idaho . We had a beautiful ride to a town called White Bird, where we stayed at Hoots cafe and motel. We gathered up all our dirty clothes and laundered them with total disregard for separation of whites and colors, and toast the wives in the process. Hoots had great rooms and good meals. We had ridden along the Salmon River that day and witnessed many fishing for Salmon, prior to entering Riggins where we had an early dinner. White Bird was the site of a military engagement with the Nez Perce Indians who were native to the Bitteroot Mountains.

-Doug Gardner

Idaho to Montana

Out on the town in Missoula, MT. People could tell we weren't "from these here parts."



Inside our cabin at Lochsa Lodge



Howard rides with longjohns (on the outside)



River rafters on route from Lowell to Powell, ID



Rivers abound in the Bitter root region of Idaho



Howard climbs White Bird Hill, site of famous clash with Nez Perce Indians



Salmon fishing on Little Salmon River before Riggins, ID