TransAm Day #49 Missoula, MT - Powell, ID
TransAm Day #49
July 15, 2018
Missoula, MT - Powell, ID
58 Miles
Ride Time 4:29 Hours
Tour Total Miles 3555
I slept great last night on the floor besides the grand piano, where I bumped my head, at Warm Showers host Bruce’s in Missoula. I got up, shaved, and folded all our laundry. Afterwards, I lubed my chain, inspected, and cleaned my bike. A French cyclist was Skyping with his family about the World Cup. I’m wearing my new socks.
I pedaled over to the Buttercup Cafe for breakfast. There was a marathon in Missoula, and locals were cheering. Missoula is the most northern point on the TransAm. From here I head south and west. I’m now on ACA TransAm map number three. There’s a little over two weeks left in my trip. I was in Missoula thirty years ago, and camped for several days alongside the Rattlesnake River, outside of town. Missoula is a special place, and I enjoyed being back there.
Scott and Eileen were on to why I waited for them this morning. I needed somebody to take my photo at the Idaho border crossing. Heading south on the bike path to Lolo, I ran into TransAm westbound cyclist Miles, whom I hadn’t seen since Missouri. I instantly recognized his red panniers. He’s been doing fine since I’d last seen him. He had to take his broken wheel back to Farmington for a replacement. Someone at the local Ford dealership gave him a ride. The delay cost Miles a day, but things have been fine ever since. He’s been traveling on and off with others. He gave us a report on Kyle, Sam, and Steph, and their drunken escapades. Last night in Wisdom they were firing pistols with cowboys.
The bike path was littered with large pinecones coming into Lolo. At a sharp corner Scotty fell and did a nice soccer player style eject complete with a roll, and was completely unscathed. Lolo has nice slanted streetlamps that look like brontosaurus necks. Heading west on highway 12 after Lolo, it was a long slow climb towards the pass. There were warnings about the construction ahead. It was Sunday and my fingers were crossed.
Nearing Pacific Time Zone I alerted my west coast teams that I’ll be arriving there in a few weeks. Following Lola Creek the valley became twisty and tight. I stopped at Lolo Hot Springs for a soda, and the bartender treated me. At the northern entrance to the valley all the trees were all dead, presumably from invasive beetles. Nearer to the the pass, it was packed with green cedar.
It was a thirty two mile 2533’ climb, ascending to 5232’. The Idaho border crossing was at the top of the pass, and there was a nice visitors center with a model of the mountains and valley. We took photos in front of the Idaho sign, before we began our steep decent into the long narrow valley. There was a sharp drop to the right which scared the hell out of me. I have no idea how Lewis and Clark made it over this pass. I’m marveled by their navigation. The cedar trees were tightly crammed into the steep valley. From a distance they looked like vertical Impressionist brushstrokes.
We camped at Loscha Lodge, a cluster of cabins with a store, restaurant, and showers. Many people were camping here including two other cyclists, westbound TransAm cyclist Rich, and eastbounder Sven.
Eileen informed me that I had been born with Peter Pan syndrome. I get sprinkled with fairy dust every night, and I will never grow up.
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