You would think, coming from the Pacific Northwest, that rain wouldn't be a big thing. But when you're a Pacific Norhtwesterner vacationing in Montana in June, you sort of expect a Big Sun in the Big Sky. Not so for our Day 2: Bigfork (town in the Flathead Valley) to Cedar Creek (or some sort of creekside area in the Flathead Nat'l Forest where camping was allowed), 38 miles, with a steep (Galby-like) climb of nearly 7 miles.
As one local would tell us, "We're having a record rainfall." Record or not, we still needed to get down the road.
The day's route would take us up and over the Mission Mountains (a low part, relatively speaking) and into the Swan River valley--a climb of 2000 feet over six miles. Did I mention rain?
Suited up, we set to the task, Alaine's made more arduous because of the five additional pounds of food we picked up to get us through the "services-less" next several days. The hot and wet ride and climb was work but it didn't do us in. Even thigh we were only able to manage a few, the training rides at home we're paying off already.
About a mile from the top we saw a young brown bear. Apparently we hadn't been making enough noise. Not wanting to encounter mama bear we made a lot more noise--the bear scampered off into the woods to the side of the forest road. No chance for a snap.
One lesson learned was that it is not necessary to remove rain gear during brief sunny periods as the weather would most assuredly return to rain, which it did.
A note about Montanans (at least on the back roads): Everyone waves (there's probably a reasonable argument to be made that Lopez Islanders are all former Montanans).
One other observation: if you're a crazy Monantan and you buy a new car, it's mandatory that you take your shiney new vehicle up a dirt road into the backwoods where you'll encounter even crazier cyclists traversing these nether regions.
You can't beat creek side camping. Rain or not.
Over and out.
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