Polebridge to Whitefish, MT

BETH writes of June 15th: We won't see Mom or Ann tonight. We are on our own. Day three was the best so far. Jean and I rode from Polebridge to Whitefish a total of 44 miles. We had a wonderful breakfast at the Polebridge Mecantile and tried to go down the road for a shower. Unfortunitly, the showers were $7, so we decided that we could survive without one. We got a shuttle up to where we had left the ride and started a 10 mile climb to Red Meadow Lake. WOW!! As we climbed we could look down into the valley and see where we had come from and in the distance was the white capped Rockies. When we reached Red Meadow Lake there was a Bald Eagle soaring over the lake and the nearby hill side. There was snow on both sides of the road and you could tell that a few days before the road may not have been passable. We then had a 25 mile down hill - seriously awesome! Those 25 miles went by VERY fast! Up to that point Jean and I had made a few observations: Grizzly Bear scat is huge and there are three colors - Green=fresh-ride harder, Black=within a day-keep your eyes and ears pealed, Brown=no worries; second is in this beautiful landscape humans still show their presence - most of the 25 miles was through logging roads and we saw fresh logging operations and some that the forest had already been growing back. It was neat to see succession at its finest. When we reached Whitefish we were back in civilization - cars and HUGE houses on Whitefish Lake. We stayed the night at Whitefish State Park with nice showers and a railroad track within 500 ft of the site.

Glacier National Park

Polebridge, MT & Glacier National Park

Polebridge, MT is a tiny spot adjacent to Glacier National Park. It has a mercantile (that was for sale) that has a small selection of goods from oil & gas to bug stuff & aspirin. They bake fresh goodies daily with a LP gas stove. Mailbox and payphone at the mercantile. The cabins - very rustic - rent for $35 a night. 2 double beds in each. No linens, but wood stove & wood and propane light. Outhouse out back. We watched deer eating near the cabin from its covered porch in the evening. Showers at a place 2 miles South of cabin - $7, if you are really desperate! Northern Lights Saloon is next to the mercantile. Has beer, wine and great food! We had buffalo steaks and Moosedrool Beer when there. There are also a few
B & B's in the area.

JAN writes of June 14th - Polebridge looks like a place out of the history books from long ago. Very cool. Our cabin pictured, with outhouse to right. In the evening we could wildlife watch off our porch, as the deer were everywhere. We awoke in our unheated cabin to cold and fog. Ann & I had about 4-5 layers on to keep warm. The Polebridge Mercantile bakes yummy things each day. We had hot out of the oven cherry turnovers for breakfast. We went back into Glacier Park until noon, as we agreed to meet Beth and Jean at Polebridge and drive them into Glacier Park in the afternoon. Glacier National Park is in both Canada and the US. It contains over a million acres and the mountains are so high there are dozens of active glaciers. It is a park that contains all of its original predators-grizzly and black bears, wolves, coyotes, wolverines, cougar, etc. Beth and Jean made it to Polebridge, wet and hungry, about 2PM. Our cabin was taken over with their wet tent and clothes, scattered around to dry. We spent the next several hours driving to and from Glacier Park and driving on the Going to the Sun Road. Unfortunately I was the one doing the white knuckle driving. Narrow road with flimsy barricades keeping us from falling thousands of feet off the mountains! It was raining on and off, but the scenery was still beyond imagination. When we reached the top there was a rainbow to greet us!

Beth writes of June 14th - Wet and cold is how the morning started - thankfully it was not raining. Jean started a fire, but without much success because the wood was so wet. I went down to Tuchuck Creek and filtered water for breakfast. After oatmeal, coffee, and tea we packed up and we were off. We were able to laugh about last night and rehashed the day before. Down the road we rounded the corner to amazing, more amazing and extremely amazing beauty. Between the hundreds of acres of burned land and the white caped Rocky mountains the only word was WOW! Thats all you would have heard had you been following us. Today was an easy 24 miles to Polbridge to meet my Mom and Ann. Yes - we did it! Day two ended at 2pm with a celebration hot cookies and lunch from the Polbridge Mercantile. After lunch, we drove into Glacier National Park and up to Logan Pass. The moose and her twin calves was the first enjoyment and then the scenery that just kept going was the second! Hot spaghetti dinner and a warm cottage was the reward for two hard days of work.

The Ride Starts Pics - June 13

Eureka, Montana - June 13

Beth and Jean flew into the airport in Kalispel, MT on June 12th. The plane was late - arriving about 11:15PM. Of course the girls were on Eastern time, so it was very late for them. We all stayed in a Super 8 Motel in Whitefish, MT that night- 10 minutes from the airport. We drove to Eurika, Mt.,the closest large city to the Canadian border early on June 13th. The city is spread out along Dewey Ave. Progressive Cyclery (303 Dewey Ave.) is where Jean had shipped her bike. The owner had it all put together for her and then actually shipped her bike box to a cycle shop in Helena for her for when she needed to ship the bike home. He also gave Beth's bike a check up. We found a nice cafe within an easy walk of the bike shop - Jax Cafe - that is like a "remember when" dinner. It has old fashioned ice cream sodas and invites everyone to write on the walls. The food was great! Eureka had cheaper gas in the southern end of town than either Whitefish or Kalispel and is a good place to fill up to start the ride. There is a hardware store (if you forgot an essential for the trip) in a strip mall on the Northern end of town - also JB's grocery store and across the street a sporting goods store if you don't have bear spray.

BETH wrote of June 13th-Bright blue sky this morning in the Big Sky state was a beauty to wake up to - too bad it did not stay that way. We started the morning by driving from Whitefish to Eureka. Thank you to Progressive Cyclery for taking good care of our bikes and us. We had an outstanding lunch in Cafe Jax and we were off to the border at Port Roosville. Oh, boy - pack, re pack, unload and reload was the name of the game for the next hour. By two o'clock I got my passport stamped and Jean and I were off. WOW! Amazing scenery kept our eyes peeled and the first twenty miles was easy. The second 21 miles maybe would have been had the weather stayed nice. When we started the 6 mile climb up to the 5800 foot Whitefish Pass we encountered rain, sleet, thunder and lightning. The next 9 miles to Tuchuck Campground was miserable. Cold and wet me made dinner and set up the tent. The one stall bathroom was our savior. Jean wanted to sleep in it, but I thought that was a little much. Instead all of our stuff and bikes stayed dry in the pouring rain we had over night. Maybe I should have listened to Jean. Ok, so the first day wasn't perfect, but we live in a beautiful country and we already have had a heck of an adventure.

JAN wrote of June 13th - Due to our late night we all slept in until 7AM. The sun was shinning. Hurray!!! We spent awhile repacking the car so we could cram the girls in and drive them to the Canadian border about 62 miles north. We stopped at Eureka for Jean's bike that had been shipped there. A delightful little town. We ate an early lunch at a really cute diner called Jax Cafe. It was a remember when style diner with old pictures and decor and playing 50's music. At the border the girls put their packs and gear together and started their ride about 2PM. Ann & I decided to drive the route ahead of them to Polebridge. The 60 miles took us about 4 hours! Curvey, bumpy and scenic dirt forest road heading straight at snow capped mountains. It was really hard to keep your eyes on the road! We had to stop often to take rocks off the dirt road and also to take pictures. The girls are planning on camping somewhere along the way. We are staying in a rustic cabin. No heat, electricity, or running water.

Ready to Begin Pic - June 2

The beginning - June 2

Beth-
I am a high school Science teacher. Riding the Great Divide from Canada to Mexico is a dream I have had for a long time . I started my planning over a year ago. My principal agreed to let me leave school 2 weeks early so I could finish the entire trip over the summer. I plan on sharing much of what I learned with my students for years to come. I had a set of maps from Adventures Cycling and a GPS to help me find my way. I began my trip with my good friend and fellow bike enthusiast Jean. Jean and I did a lot of training before the trip -riding both loaded and unloaded bikes for a couple of months before we left. Jean rode with me to just north of Helena, MT. I pulled a BOB (beast of burden) trailer the entire trip and Jean used panniers. The total mileage ridden by me over the course of the summer was over 2,600 miles.
Jan-
I am Beth's mother and was the "sherpa" for Beth as she rode the great divide trail. A Sherpa is traditionally defined as a member of an ethnic group in Nepal, often employed as guides & pack carriers for mountain climbers and hikers. I left June 2nd and drove out to Montana with bikes, camping gear, maps and other necessities. A good friend, Ann, (a retired Science teacher from Maryland) accompanied me for the first 6 weeks. Ann & I did some sightseeing of our own on the way to Montana and while attending to Beth. Beth flew into Kalispell, Montana on June 12th, with a friend who rode with her the first week. This trip has been over a year in the planning. We read a lot and have tried to line up companion riders for Beth in the single track parts of the trip. She biked alone well over half of the trip. We learned that not everything we read was correct, so hopefully my notes will help others attempting to do this. We were armed with gazetteers from each of the states Beth biked through. We learned flexibility, a sense of humor, and a 4-wheel drive vehicle is needed for a successful attempt at this. I am a retired Environmental educator, so much of my notes relate to the fauna & flora we saw.