the final rundown -- Roosville, MT
That's right -- Roosville, MT. Word.
Looks like things have worked out mostly as planned. I finished up yesterday, stayed in Eureka last night, and now I'm in Whitefish waiting for the train. I will be heading back to Minneapolis tomorrow morning.
This last week in Montana was absolutely stellar. The climate here reminds me quite a bit of Juneau, AK -- very wet with dense vegetation along the sides of the trail, and the 3000-4000 foot mountains all around. Really amazing stuff.
Since Butte I've been doing 70-80 mile days, but it was tough to keep up that pace through this stuff. The climbing has been a lot like New Mexico (rough, steep 2000 footers) and it takes a long time to get through that stuff. So I spent a lot of 10 hour plus days in the saddle.
I officially ended yesterday, but the day before really felt like the end. I did two big climbs on gravel and camped near the top of the second one. When I rolled in I saw two other guys on bikes, so I stopped and said hello. Turned out they were from Australia, and had just finished their first day out going N --> S. It was funny to run into someone in that spot -- knowing everything they were about to deal with from here on out. It felt right somehow, like I'd come full circle.
It feels strange to be done, and I'm not sure if it has really hit me yet. Tomorrow I'll get on the train, and after that I'll have a fridge, an oven, a bed to sleep in, a shower, a vehicle to cart me around, a dry place to be when it rains, easy communication with whoever, and the list goes on. If there's one thing I take away here, it has to be not to take those things for granted.
Looks like things have worked out mostly as planned. I finished up yesterday, stayed in Eureka last night, and now I'm in Whitefish waiting for the train. I will be heading back to Minneapolis tomorrow morning.
This last week in Montana was absolutely stellar. The climate here reminds me quite a bit of Juneau, AK -- very wet with dense vegetation along the sides of the trail, and the 3000-4000 foot mountains all around. Really amazing stuff.
Since Butte I've been doing 70-80 mile days, but it was tough to keep up that pace through this stuff. The climbing has been a lot like New Mexico (rough, steep 2000 footers) and it takes a long time to get through that stuff. So I spent a lot of 10 hour plus days in the saddle.
I officially ended yesterday, but the day before really felt like the end. I did two big climbs on gravel and camped near the top of the second one. When I rolled in I saw two other guys on bikes, so I stopped and said hello. Turned out they were from Australia, and had just finished their first day out going N --> S. It was funny to run into someone in that spot -- knowing everything they were about to deal with from here on out. It felt right somehow, like I'd come full circle.
It feels strange to be done, and I'm not sure if it has really hit me yet. Tomorrow I'll get on the train, and after that I'll have a fridge, an oven, a bed to sleep in, a shower, a vehicle to cart me around, a dry place to be when it rains, easy communication with whoever, and the list goes on. If there's one thing I take away here, it has to be not to take those things for granted.
posted by Mike at 12:58 PM
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