Days 9 & 10

Yesterday went well for us.  I rode the first leg of 12.5 miles in to Ponderay for breakfast.  Then Cary and Alea headed out on the leading edge of a storm that was tracking to the east.  So they had a strong tailwind nearly all day long.  As a result, they made great time, with the exception of having to slow down on a stretch of gravel that started at the Montana border.

Welcome to Montana (Lana stands guard watching for bears).

Alea and Cary riding a stretch of gravel road.

Waiting for the coal train to pass.

They let me take over as the road turned north (so no tailwind for me), but it was only around 18 or 19 miles, and the temps were probably in the low 80s, so a very pleasant ride in some increasingly awesome scenery.

We ended up camping at Bad Medicine Campground ($10) on a hill overlooking Bull Lake.  A few miles away were the Ross Creek Cedars, which is more like the forests of the west slope of the North Cascades than the predominantly pine forest in most of this area.  The trip to the Cedars was fun, as the cedars provided plenty of shade, making for a very pleasant place to hike.  Running through the grove is a dry creek bed that was strewn with rough granite scree that had sloughed off the surrounding mountains.  The jagged-edged rocks made great fodder for building cairns, and quite a collection has grown in one stretch of the creek (at least until the next gully washer).

Bull Lake, looking toward Bad Medicine Campground.

Alea, Lana & Cary give a sense of scale for a 500 year old cedar tree.

An impromptu cairn garden.

Last night was the first night since we started on our journey that we were allowed to have a fire at our campsite.  That is something that we've missed, as having a fire extends the amount of time that we spend out doors (though only by an hour or so).  And it's always interesting how much more there is to talk about while staring into a campfire on a dark evening...

I've ridden about 35 miles so far today, and I'm stopped in Libby, MT taking advantage of the free wi-fi at McDonalds while Alea and Carey stock up for the next stretch of road, where there are few services for the next 70 miles.  Tonight we hope to camp at a primitive Corps of Engineers campground about 15 miles east of here.