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39 miles today (approximately) and 735 overall.

Bob and I had quite a different day than Colin. While his started fast ours was slow and got slower due mostly to events beyond our control. Our leisurely morning included drying and rearranging gear, repairing yesterday’s flat tube, even laundry. All seemed right until a tree took out a power line a couple of miles away. This shut down everything at the campground including Bob’s half finished load of laundry and all water to the campground. The downed tree blocked our path east. We left early afternoon and headed to St Regis for food.

Colin started the day with rain, Bob and I started in mixed clouds and sun but after lunch spent time waiting out small rain/hail squalls. As the day progressed the weather settled but remained cool all day.

Wonderful scenery following the Clark Fork.

Wildlife

18 miles on bike, 59 miles in ambulance.

A few nights ago I started to get some pain in my leg.  Yesterday, I spoke to a nurse on the telephone and was advised to see a doctor or go to urgent care within 4 hours. We were concerned that I may have a blood clot. Hmmm… the nearest ER was in Superior, 61 miles away over a mountain pass, so one and a bit days of riding.  We set off toward Superior on Sunday, and luckily/amazingly, we met a physician on the trail who said it looked like a superficial vein problem, and yes, I should have it checked out at the nearest ER (no need to press the SOS button on our satellite communicators). 

So I got a jump start on the day, leaving St Regis before Steve and Bob so I could visit an ER in Superior and have my leg checked.  The scenery was lovely and the roads were quiet.

I arrived in Superior, quickly found the hospital and met some wonderful people there.  After some discussion and testing, it was decided that I should make my way to Missoula for further testing, in an ambulance with my leg raised. 

The views on this part of the trip passed more quickly. 

The good people at St Patrick’s confirmed that indeed I had a clot in a (large) superficial vein. They prescribed a blood thinner and sent me on my way (with a lot to think about). 

I subsequentlu enjoyed a wonderful evening in Missoula with an old friend.  I’ll meet up with Steve and Bob tomorrow and decide what to do next. 

We’ve had some challenges along the way, hills, some rain, and a vicious pack of puppies that didn’t know what to do with Colin when they caught him. In spite of this we’ve been blessed with beautiful scenery, great companions, fair winds and friendly people. I believe it’s due in part to our patron saint Madonna del Ghisallo

Thanks to my Aunt Sister Cathy for letting us know about our patron. Any thanks to everyone for your prayers and good wishes

“that bumpy trail was worth it just to see a damn moose”, said Bob.  Other things he said about the trail cannot be quoted.

51.7 miles today, 696 miles all together. 

We did a lot of trail riding today; some of it good, some of it… rough.  We did a couple of miles on the freeway, downhill at great speed, and we did a couple miles of frontage road (the grand scheme of things that was quite pleasant).  We spent a lot of time riding alongside the St Regis River, wondering where it flows (and the answer is, the Pacific via several other rivers before joining the Columbia).

Alas, we have to report the first flat of the trip.  It happened about 1 mile from the campground and Steve was the ‘unfortunate random dude who fell victim to one sharp rock after running over a bazillion others’. 

We had the pleasure of meeting physician/vascular expert, with his traveling partner, on the trail just when we needed a physician/vascular expert.

We encountered snow in Idaho…

…but thankfully not in Montana.  Montana did have a moose though, but it was too fast for a photo. 

The trail (the route of the Olympian) was largely beautiful…

…and at times, suspect (this trestle had some holes in it where the ballast was falling through to below)

And finally, we lost an hour.  We are looking forward to getting it back when we return 🙂

Steve is not shot.

When this ride was more of a concept than reality, the notion that we could average 60 miles per day coast to coast seemed rational. Today we had 1027 feet elevation gain over 61 miles. This coast to coast thing just isn’t so rough. It is a series of short journeys.

Nothing in my travels surpass the Trail of the Coeur d’Alenes for bicycle touring — a 73 mile trail spanning Northern Idaho. Birds, deer, chipmunks outnumbered the humans by a fair margin.

Fine humans we did meet were the purveyors at Cycle Haus coffee shop in Harrison. It is good to see this business still thriving. Colin was so enchanted that he left his phone there, so that he could sprint back 2,5 miles to retrieve it during our journey.

The trail is smooth and flat. The eventual transition to the climb that approaches the continental divide is so gentle one can hardly notice.

We saw no moose on the course today, though two of us have encountered them here previously. In the Idaho forest where I last came upon a moose that refused to clear this trail, today we found perhaps 100 grade school kids, who also refused to clear the trail. Safe passage was eventually realized.

As we settle in, our campsite is co-located with a brewpub. I finish my beer just as I finish this update. Could it get any better?

For those not in Seattle, the Burke-Gilman trail is an early rail to trail and now a critical bike commuter route in the city and beyond.