Days 9-12: Polebridge and Glacier
Day 8 (continued)
After leaving our lovely bed & breakfast in Eureka, we made our way toward the national forest to begin a few days of backcountry riding.
On our way into the Kootenai National Forest, what did we encounter, but a craft brewery on the edge of the woods! We stopped and refreshed ourselves with four tiny glasses of beer at Homestead Ales Brewing before heading into the forest.
We camped at a free "dispersed" campsite in the national forest which, surprisingly, had a building next to it (we think for snowmobile use of some kind). That night we heard some very large-sounding animal walk through our campsite. Not sure what it was, but glad we used good food storage practices like we are supposed to. It didn't mess with us or our food.
Day 9
We had some beautiful riding and gained a lot of elevation. We saw a field of bear grass, a funky flower which we are told only blooms every seven years.
We crossed the Whitefish Divide, which is not the Great Divide, but we thought it was at the time. We also met a Dutch couple touring the Great Divide but moving much faster than us. We talked about their awesome (though out of production) Schwalbe XR tires.
More beautiful riding around the Whitefish Divide.
We rode to the cool, funky town of Polebridge, MT. This town has no paved roads leading to it. You have to travel through miles and miles of national forest just to get there, but it sits on the edge of a little-used "side door" entrance to Glacier National Park.
A few of the many things that make this town interesting are that there does not appear to be any connection to an external power grid (all the buildings we were in used solar power); cell service was nowhere to be found; many of the buildings have outhouses instead of toilets; the three biggest establishments in the town are the mercantile (which sells a small selection of almost everything you need, including a gigantic assortment of delicious pastries), the cafe/saloon, and the North Fork Hostel; and even though the town is tiny, it has a library (albeit very tiny), a limited post office, and it even receives UPS deliveries despite its remoteness. The town also includes an outdoor music stage; some cabins, yurts, and private homes; lots of vegetable gardens; and a pay phone.
Some of our favorite parts were getting free huckleberry fritters simply because we arrived by bike; and the excellent hostel owner Oliver giving us a bed in his super-cool hostel, even though the hostel was "full," because he reserves beds for drop-ins who arrive on foot or by bike; and eating a delicious hot meal followed by home-made cherry rhubarb pie at the Northern Lights Saloon.
We gave our legs an "ice bath" in the North Fork Flathead River behind the hostel... and saw a beaver!
Day 10
Before leaving Polebridge, we had breakfast outside the Mercantile and ate our free hiker/biker pastries plus got some extra for the road... mmm...
After breakfast, we rode into Glacier National Park via the Polebridge entrance and spent most of the day riding south along the Inside North Fork Road, which we had mostly all to ourselves since the middle part was closed to traffic due to a stream washout (not a bad one) and wolf habitat management. It was cool having miles and miles of this remote part of the park all to ourselves for the day. And one of the best parts...
Wild rasberries everywhere!
We filtered some stream water along the way. Stream water has been abundant along our route so far, and this is our main way of resupplying water (thanks, Good Jeff, for letting us borrow your awesome water filtration system!).
We stayed in Apgar campground with some other bicycle tourists and hikers. We love how the national parks and several other state and federal campgrounds we've gone through reserve compact shared sites for people who arrive without motor vehicles. We were able to stay in this one even though the rest of the campground was full.
We took a swim in the lake at the end of the day to wash off (the roads are very dusty). It was chilly but refreshing.
Days 11-12
We spent a total of two nights on Glacier NP.
I biked up the Going-to-the-Sun Road to Logan Pass. Katelyn and I biked down together. Twelve miles of constant uphill in one direction and downhill in the other, with stunning views and sheer drop-offs along the way.
View from Going-to-the-Sun Road...
We did some hiking...
And one of the best parts...
More wild berries! ...including huckleberries.
Over the course of our stay in Glacier, we shared our campsite with a man from Elijay, GA here to hike, a couple from Michigan also backpacking, and bicycle tourists from Scotland, New Zealand, and Kansas City. We also saw the two Australian women who we met on our first night of the trip! Garth had already left to fly home.
We left Glacier to go back to our route and saw what we think is the first traffic signal since Banff in Hungry Horse, MT (if we remember right... the one we passed in Sparwood, BC was only a half-signal).
That night we stayed in the yard of the wonderful Arnone family whose number was listed on our maps for free cyclist accommodation. We were very thankful for their hospitality on rather short notice. Over the next days, we continued our trip through the Flathead Valley, which we will post soon.
After leaving our lovely bed & breakfast in Eureka, we made our way toward the national forest to begin a few days of backcountry riding.
On our way into the Kootenai National Forest, what did we encounter, but a craft brewery on the edge of the woods! We stopped and refreshed ourselves with four tiny glasses of beer at Homestead Ales Brewing before heading into the forest.
We camped at a free "dispersed" campsite in the national forest which, surprisingly, had a building next to it (we think for snowmobile use of some kind). That night we heard some very large-sounding animal walk through our campsite. Not sure what it was, but glad we used good food storage practices like we are supposed to. It didn't mess with us or our food.
Day 9
We had some beautiful riding and gained a lot of elevation. We saw a field of bear grass, a funky flower which we are told only blooms every seven years.
We crossed the Whitefish Divide, which is not the Great Divide, but we thought it was at the time. We also met a Dutch couple touring the Great Divide but moving much faster than us. We talked about their awesome (though out of production) Schwalbe XR tires.
More beautiful riding around the Whitefish Divide.
We rode to the cool, funky town of Polebridge, MT. This town has no paved roads leading to it. You have to travel through miles and miles of national forest just to get there, but it sits on the edge of a little-used "side door" entrance to Glacier National Park.
A few of the many things that make this town interesting are that there does not appear to be any connection to an external power grid (all the buildings we were in used solar power); cell service was nowhere to be found; many of the buildings have outhouses instead of toilets; the three biggest establishments in the town are the mercantile (which sells a small selection of almost everything you need, including a gigantic assortment of delicious pastries), the cafe/saloon, and the North Fork Hostel; and even though the town is tiny, it has a library (albeit very tiny), a limited post office, and it even receives UPS deliveries despite its remoteness. The town also includes an outdoor music stage; some cabins, yurts, and private homes; lots of vegetable gardens; and a pay phone.
Some of our favorite parts were getting free huckleberry fritters simply because we arrived by bike; and the excellent hostel owner Oliver giving us a bed in his super-cool hostel, even though the hostel was "full," because he reserves beds for drop-ins who arrive on foot or by bike; and eating a delicious hot meal followed by home-made cherry rhubarb pie at the Northern Lights Saloon.
We gave our legs an "ice bath" in the North Fork Flathead River behind the hostel... and saw a beaver!
Day 10
Before leaving Polebridge, we had breakfast outside the Mercantile and ate our free hiker/biker pastries plus got some extra for the road... mmm...
After breakfast, we rode into Glacier National Park via the Polebridge entrance and spent most of the day riding south along the Inside North Fork Road, which we had mostly all to ourselves since the middle part was closed to traffic due to a stream washout (not a bad one) and wolf habitat management. It was cool having miles and miles of this remote part of the park all to ourselves for the day. And one of the best parts...
Wild rasberries everywhere!
We filtered some stream water along the way. Stream water has been abundant along our route so far, and this is our main way of resupplying water (thanks, Good Jeff, for letting us borrow your awesome water filtration system!).
We stayed in Apgar campground with some other bicycle tourists and hikers. We love how the national parks and several other state and federal campgrounds we've gone through reserve compact shared sites for people who arrive without motor vehicles. We were able to stay in this one even though the rest of the campground was full.
We took a swim in the lake at the end of the day to wash off (the roads are very dusty). It was chilly but refreshing.
Days 11-12
We spent a total of two nights on Glacier NP.
I biked up the Going-to-the-Sun Road to Logan Pass. Katelyn and I biked down together. Twelve miles of constant uphill in one direction and downhill in the other, with stunning views and sheer drop-offs along the way.
View from Going-to-the-Sun Road...
We did some hiking...
And one of the best parts...
More wild berries! ...including huckleberries.
Over the course of our stay in Glacier, we shared our campsite with a man from Elijay, GA here to hike, a couple from Michigan also backpacking, and bicycle tourists from Scotland, New Zealand, and Kansas City. We also saw the two Australian women who we met on our first night of the trip! Garth had already left to fly home.
We left Glacier to go back to our route and saw what we think is the first traffic signal since Banff in Hungry Horse, MT (if we remember right... the one we passed in Sparwood, BC was only a half-signal).
That night we stayed in the yard of the wonderful Arnone family whose number was listed on our maps for free cyclist accommodation. We were very thankful for their hospitality on rather short notice. Over the next days, we continued our trip through the Flathead Valley, which we will post soon.
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