Day 60 - July 2 - West Fork Cabin Camp, MT to Alder, MT - Two Old Guys Take On A Continent

July 2, 2023

Day 60 - July 2 - West Fork Cabin Camp, MT to Alder, MT

Omigosh!!

John’s Story

It was a beautiful morning. Yesterday’s storm clouds were replaced by a clear blue sky. I find it interesting that almost every day here the sky starts out a clear blue, then starts to cloud up by mid day with small thunder showers developing all around us, to be followed after the rain by a clear blue sky again before the sun sets.

We crossed the Madison River again and hit the road.

Not long after leaving our campground I heard a rattle and a thump, and looked down to see my flip-flops missing and my bicycle pump hanging onto my pannier by a thread. I had to stop and walk back to find my flip-flops, which were only a few hundred feet behind me. I have been strapping those puppies down especially snugly since then.

Ed pointed out a large nest at the top of a utility pole with two raptors in it, apparently feeding their young. Ospreys. I later saw another nest with two adults standing on the edge of it.

There were some very interesting landforms on the route this morning. I’m a geologist, okay, so just bear with me.

I took this picture because I like the interplay of light and shadow on the hillside in the early morning light, but as I saw more hills like it I realized I might be seeing drumlins. Drumlins are elongated hills of sediment (generally a quarter of a mile or more in length) that have been streamlined by glacier flow. I saw very similar features when I visited Iceland several years ago.

See the multiple flat surfaces above the river? Those are old lake bed levels. In many mountainous areas drainages often get blocked and lakes form behind the obstructions. These lakes can persist for long periods, long enough to fill with sediment, forming flat lake beds. When the obstruction is breached the lake drains and the river cuts a new channel across the lake bed. This can happen any number of times in the same area, giving rise to multiple lake bed levels as you see here. Many flat bottomed intermontane (between mountains) basins were formed in this way. In the Rockies these features are often called parks (take Estes Park for example).

Here we are riding from one lake bed level to a higher lake bed level. Because mountains continue to develop and change, often times the lake beds can be tilted by subsequent structural development.

It may be hard to make out in the photograph, but there is a long, low hill running along the near horizon. We never got high enough to be able to see whether the top of the hill represented a higher lake bed level or if the hill dropped off on the other side. If it dropped off on the other side, then I would suspect it is a lateral glacial moraine.

OK, this is just an interesting picture. Those cliffs along the river are called the palisades.

If you look closely, you can see a small critter in the middle of the picture.

We planned to make a coffee stop at Cameron, Montana. The information I had said that all services were available here. In the picture you see the entire town of Cameron. A post office and an RV park. The café in the RV park was closed because it was Sunday. So much for planning.

One very cool old tractor. This one is for you Johnny.

We ended up riding 34 miles to Ennis for a coffee stop. The first couple hours of riding were a real pleasure. We had a tailwind, and we were moving relentlessly but gradually downhill as we followed the Madison River. I averaged almost 16 mph over that distance, compared to our cumulative average to date of 10.7 mph for the tour.

Conditions changed drastically when we left Ennis. Instead of riding north, with the tailwind and downhill, we were suddenly riding west with a cross wind to headwind and headed uphill. And what a hill! We climbed just over 1900 vertical feet in 8 miles. There was no shoulder on the road and quite a bit of traffic. It was the most difficult climb on our entire tour so far. It took two hours to travel that 8 miles.

There was a scenic turn out about 2/3 of the way up the climb. This is the view looking back toward Ennis. Oh, by the way, what you see below the mountain in the distance that looks like a river drainage down toward town is an alluvial fan. In storms water moves sediment off the mountain down onto the alluvial fan and spreads it out much like the distributary system of a river delta, but the development of an alluvial fan is episodic, not continuous.

This is a little wider angle view from the scenic turnout.

We finally topped the climb, and there was immediate warning to truck drivers that the grade ahead was very steep. That 7% grade is the steepest grade we’ve seen signed on any of our descents so far.

I only reached 20 mph going down this grade once or twice, for two reasons. Number one, there was a stiff headwind in my face that helped keep me slowed down. Number two, I rode my brakes probably 2/3 of the way down the hill to keep me slowed down. I could’ve probably lit a match on the brake pads when I got to the bottom. I kept my speed down because of the roughness of the road, the lack of shoulder and the constant traffic that was passing us in both directions. On a smooth road I would’ve gleefully sped down at 30 mph and still needed to use the brakes.

We stopped in Virginia City at the bottom of the steep grade for a quaff and a snack. There remained 8 miles to ride to our campground at Ruby Valley, near Alder.

Between Virginia City and Alder, we met this couple traveling from Astoria, Oregon, to Yorktown, Virginia. They plan to spend the night in Virginia City and tackle the climb over the top to Ennis with fresh legs in the morning.

After we set up our camp, I had a nice FaceTime chat with my daughter Rebecca in Hawaii. We then pedaled a half mile to the bar in Alder for another beer.

At the bar, I sat down next to an older gentleman and his wife. They asked if we had ridden over the hill from Ennis today. Turns out they drove from Ennis to Alder and passed us at the summit while we were resting before the descent. In conversation, I discovered that he had been involved in the mid 70s as a grad student helping set up the Centennial Trail through Montana for the 1976 BikeCentennial. The Centennial Trail is now the Transamerica route that we are riding. As he and his wife left the bar, he introduced himself as Charlie Poole from Helena, and said that if we ever got back up this way and wanted to go on a float trip to fly fish, give him a call.

Two last shots before this goes to press.

Someone east of us is getting dumped on.

The doves here are fatter than in Oklahoma . More mosquitos to feast on?

Ed’s Story

Woke up this morning to a very wet tent. Some moisture tried to leak through the tent. Not a good sign. Will definitely need to waterproof in the future.

For being 50° this morning it was cold. It must’ve been the wind that was blowing cooling everything down.

Typical morning routine. Make breakfast, including Oatmeal, Coffee, and peanut butter burrito; take down tent; load bike; and fill up water bottles. And then we were off.

John showed a picture of the bridge across the river leading to our campsite in yesterday’s journal. What he didn’t show you is the plaque discussing the bridge and how it came to be. It was one of the first bridges across the river to support the new Yellowstone National Park.

We then just rode. Looking off to the left, I see a huge nest at the top of the pole. It does not look like an eagles nest, but it could be ospreys. John saw another one further down the road.

The Montana scenery continues to be spectacular. Words can’t describe it.

Our first anticipated rest stop was to be in Cameron, Montana, 23 miles from the start. It was supposed to have all services. When we got there, we found one closed building that was a combination grocery, bar, restaurant and RV park. Did I happen to say it was closed?

We continued on to Ennis, Montana, 10 miles further. This was a thriving little town with multiple restaurants and coffee shops. We stopped at a local café for coffee and “elevensies”.

From there we headed to the grocery store to buy a couple food items.

The first 37 miles of the ride were fantastic. For the most part, we had a downhill the entire way. Additionally, we had a tailwind. We were just cruising along averaging almost 15 mph. That all changed after Ennis.

The dreaded 8 mile climb with 1900 feet of elevation gain began shortly after we left. This was a very hard and difficult climb. I averaged 4 to 4 1/2 mph going up the hill and I made numerous stops. There was no berm on the road. But I never gave up with one pedal stroke after another.

We climbed up up and up. About 2 1/2 miles from the top there was a turn off for scenic viewing. There were some flowers in the ground slightly down the hill at the stop. When I looked, I saw a grave marker. It gave the name, birthdate, death date and stated “Beloved Mother”. Whether someone is buried there I don’t know, or it is just a remembrance.

We finally got to the top, drank some orange juice, had a snack, and got ready for the downhill. The sign stated truckers use lower gears. It also noted a 7% grade downhill for 3 miles.

There was a stiff wind blowing up the hill. The wind helped us keep our speed down as I tried not to exceed 15 to 16 mph. I was using the brakes almost the entire way down.

When we got to the bottom, we were in Virginia City, Montana. We stopped for a beer and a light snack prior to heading to Alder, Montana.

When we left, we had 9 miles to go. Although it was a downhill, the wind was still blowing, and we had to pedal most of the way. A sheriffs SUV passed us and the deputy said keep to the right over his loudspeaker. I thought we were.

We arrived at the Ruby Valley RV Park and Campground.

We dried our tents and set them up.

We both made calls to family members and then went for a beer down the hill at Chicks Bar.

When we got back, it was shower, dinner and journal. There are not as many mosquitoes here as other places, but they are still around.

Compared to other days, tomorrow will be a short day. We are riding 47 miles to Dillon, Montana with less than 1000 feet of climbing.

Dillon will be a rest day for us and we will be leaving on July 5. We will celebrate the Fourth of July there. We have verified the brewery is open on the fourth.

There is also a movie theater there. We hope to see the new Indiana Jones movie tomorrow. Both John and I have packages to pick up at general delivery at the post office in Dillon.

So game fans, until tomorrow, happy biking.

Today's ride: 59 miles (95 km)
Total: 1,210 miles (1,947 km)

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Kelly IniguezI’m enjoying the geography lessons. I think your experience is richer for your deeper knowledge.

Enjoy your day off. You’ve earned it!
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