Tuesday, July 1, 2008

Day 7 - June 29th - Sandpoint, ID to Thompson Falls, MT







Given a forecast for temps into the high 90's, we made a point to load the truck before breakfast. The meal was a somewhat quiet and sombre affair given the early hour and the thought of the heat ahead. With cue sheets distributed, we took on the day.

I started out of town with Bob. Within the first few miles, we noticed some crazy squirrels up ahead.
(I've quickly learned that you need to be constantly moving your view back and forth between the 2 feet in front of you and the 10 yards ahead. Immediate and future. Immediate and future. Spare yourself surprises.) Well, there were several squirrels running across the road, but maybe 5-6 others in a lather on the pole to my right. The bunch of them decided to meet their friends on the other side - as a collective - right when I was riding by. I needed to slow down to nearly a stop and neglected to give Bob any warning. Bumper bike time! Forturnately, we are stable and determined riders and neither of us fell. And the squirrels all enjoyed an adrenaline spike I'm sure.

We had been told that this particular segment of the ride was especially scenic. The route did not disappoint. The only challenge was the lack of light in some nooks, where I could see a beautiful scene but not quite capture it inside my digital camera. And the scale is impossible to convey. The hillsides and lakes are massive. You end up just trying to capture just a corner of the fabric and having to try to explain the rest. We watched for moose, and other wildlife along these first 30 miles or so. The air was still and if you made the effort to stop and just listen, it was entrancing. I was very aware of being just a visitor passing through this beautiful landscape that is home to so many creatures and plants.

My feet once again felt hot at around mile 60 or so. And the heat of the day was dragging me down. My Camelbak was nearly empty - though I had a couple of bottles of water and/or gatoraid on my bike. But they were both the temperature of a hot shower. Mmmmmm. I was riding by myself at this point. I pulled over at a roadside "deli" that sat on the edge of some farmland. Someone was on a Deere out in the back 40. I looked in vain around the building for a faucet. Saw hoses, but they seemed to be hooked up to a novel apparatus for operation. One that would require my deep thought and some experimentation. As I hadn't gotten an ok to play around with them from the owner, I pushed on. Fortuitously (sp?), a steep hillside came into view on my right. Surely a stream would be happily gurgling from its base. Surely. Then I noticed a sign stating Fishing Pier ahead. And lo and behold, my focus on the hillside had kept me from looking left to see The River! Oh, such a fine body of cold, fast-flowing water! I pulled over to the left to see if I could somehow submerge my burning soles. There was a lonely set of steps leading to the water. But better yet, several other Riders were a bit further down within the fishing area, sitting on a partially submerged viewing platform. I wearily made my way to their spot and was rewarded with a soak not only for my feet but also my backside. I simply sat in the chilly 4-5 inches of water and sighed. Daniel, Reuben and Tony saw my face brighten immediatly. "Look, she smiled!".

The balance of miles into town were fine, now that I had cooled off. Stopped for some ice cream (variation on the DQ Blizzard concept) at Little Bear. Then rolled on down through town to the high school. We had been granted full run of the place - a big treat for tired campers - and people claimed spots in several classrooms, the gym and computer lab. The latter was open with functional terminals. Does it get any better than this?
Dinner was in town at Minnie's. We consumed platters of food, but needed to maintain enough focus to ride the mile or so back to the high school. Dusk brought out the mosquitoes, but we were safely inside a cool building.

1 comment:

Art said...

Great blog Liz! Hal and Sharkey are well into Montana but couldn't go over Logan Pass due to avalance control up in the Park. Now they're in hot country.
All my buds are on big trips so I signed up for the ACA Pacific Coast tour, self support, 6 weeks.
Don't want to be left behind. I'm in big time training!
Keep cranking!
Art