:: shift7 ::

:: north/south adventure ::

montana: day 02, sat 30 aug
columbia falls - lolo national park

stats:
89.2 @ 17.0 = 5:14:20, max 34.3, trip total: 165

eats:
gatorade, mcgriddle, sausage egg and cheese biscuit, orange juice, powerbar, oreos, pringles, m&m cookies, sunchips, gatorade, crispy doughnuts, baby back ribs, vegetable soup, pasta salad, rice, apple pie ala mode

sleep:
Swan Lake campground, $2

thoughts:
it started out cold once again this morning. everyday. for a minute i thought i would only need two layers of long sleeves but that quickly changed. the road we started on was industrial and not very impressive- well not at all. but after going through kalispell which was about 8 miles down the road the traffic eased up and there were no more buildings to get in the way of the early morning mist. it was truly beautiful and i wish i had stopped to take a photo but i knew it wouldn't really translate. there were these huge rolls of hay scattered through the fields in this vast valley that was surrounded by a huge mountain range. the mist made it seem like a painting. a small farm house and barn reflected the long angling sun.

i guess all this beauty blinded part of the team - because they went right past town and any place that may have breakfast. how could this happen? they'd been talking about it for days- a mcgriddle or a large stack of pancakes. shortly after town it seems everyone got hungry! so we had kristin go back to mcdonalds and get us a load of food.

the day was relatively flat- no huge climbs or descents. the largest hazard was getting bored of following the same road- there were sections were the pine trees were so tall and close in, and the road was so straight for so long that it seemed like an endless tunnel. but that was the exception. most of the time the mountain range was peaking through and there would be another amazing lake that meandered along the road for a few miles.

the stops were few. after we left the kalispell area there really wasn't anything for miles at a time. and then it was a gas station or something small. and that meant that when it came time to find a place to spend the night the options were either a national park, or a national park 10 miles past that one. (national parks usually don't offer showers). you could tell the team was not all to happy about this. but the site was on a lake and we got a great spot. it was good to be done for the day.

so i jumped in. the option was to wipe yourself down. no thanks. a swim in the lake with a bar of soap was a reward worth waiting for. i thought it was going to be as enjoyable as a freezer but it was refreshing. and the temptation actually got thomas, gregg and scott in as well.