Month: September 2020

It’s so easy to get out and ride in Gardiner, Montana. I am not saying it is a nice place to live. Lots of eccentric folks that would rather shoot you then talk. My point is coming from my perspective now that I have been back in Livingston for two days. I haven’t ridden since I left Gardiner. Sure, there is great gravel riding in Livingston, but I can bring myself to get out. I don’t know what it is, but Livingston is definitely not a cycling destination. I came here to go visit someone in need … but … I can’t do it. I need to go for a ride. I am going back to the mountains. Sorry, selfish wins out.

We pulled in and found a spot we liked.

Then we walked back to the office. We wanted d4. Upon entering the counter person asked if we had reservations. No, not really, because we always found the parking lot to be empty. Well, not this weekend, it’s booked up solid. They only had a space on a Friday night, then another spot on Sunday.

We asked for a moment to discuss the situation.

Okay if we find a camping spot. And that’s a big if. Then we have to drive up here, spend the night, and then drive back down for another camping spot. And there is no way we’re going to find a camping spot on Labor Day Weekend. So we reserved a spot for Sunday night and bolted back down the pass in hopes to find a place to spend the night.

As we started down the dirt road at the bottom of the pass, we noticed the first dispersed camping area packed, my heart sank, there’s no way we’re going to find a camping spot on Labor Day weekend.

To the left, Mo spotted a pullout. No, I said, this is probably going to be dusty. Later on we would find out that was true. Then we found another spot on the left and it was off the road, no dust, but this was just a clearing with weeds.

I didn’t like it. Snuggles suggested that we have to take it because there are probably no more spots. Well, if we don’t go check, we could miss out on a cool spot. We drove up the road. We saw what looked like a campground at the bottom of a hill, so we drove down. There were bear bins but no pit toilets. It was a free dispersed camping spot. And it seemed like there were some spots available.

We pulled into the first one we found. We walked around the campground. Suddenly, through the trees, we heard, “… would you like our spot we are going to leave in about 10 minutes”.

Wow, it was bordering the creek and had ample room. We had a room for a shower, a bike stand area, a campfire, a hammock. Wow, what a spot. Yeah, we’ll take it.

They left. And we settled in. Wow, how things happen for a reason. Should we cancel reservations? Let’s just stay here.

We got out earlier than ever. Get off work and jump in the van. We are out of here. 6 hours later we make it 60 miles and look for a camping spot. “look, the moon is out”

Not so fast. With some roads closed in the park, there are only a couple ways to enter and leave. Thus in the evenings there are thousands trying to leave. Mix that with people that just stop on the road and leave their cars. What you get is 1, 2, 3, hour long jams. With cars stacked up for ten miles.

Why do people just stop dead in the road and leave their cars? Animals, I guess. Something weird is going on in the park. “What’s going on out there?”

“Nothing, just taking photos of the moon.”

This week I have been to two places on Orca (adventure bike). The Beatiee Gulch Climb and the Eagle Creek Climb.

I still haven’t nailed the Eagle Creek Climb. I want to do one lap, from river to top and back down. Then another on the enduro bike to see which one is fastest or easier. Then maybe do an Everesting Challenge. That would be cool.

I was just looking for that quick ride. A gravel grinder would do the trick. I knew the perfect ticket. The Old Yellowstone Trail. And off I went.

I felt so good cruising the gravel that when presented with the option to turn up Beatie Gulch Road, I took it on. Besides, I needed to get off the main road to do some exercises.

I could smell death. I rode through a graveyard of carcases. The air fell silent and the heaviness of dead was upon me. I rode with intention and cleared the first riser.

Soon the air cleared up, and I stopped to test out a pine tree to see if it would support my weight for pull-ups. Nope! I rode on.

And up. Until, it was obvious I needed to get home before dark. First, I had to check out this old cabin. Crazy lines for photographs. Crazy, wicked, scenery. I could imagine myself living here back in the day.

Thes signs, I kept ignoring them. So many signs in this area. I read the one plastered to the cabin. Grizzly Bear loves this place.

What a great place to drop off carcases. Speaking of which, I needed to get past the graveyard before dark. I could end up as one of the rib cages sticking up out of the ground. I turned and bolted down the hill.

I was going moc 100 when I passed by the death. Every grunt, scrape, and rustle sound made me go faster. Could a grizzly catch me going 40. Intercept for sure. But I was going fast. Hopefully, my bike skills would shine today. I mean if … you know? What a peaceful place.

When we met. Our second and significant Meetup was a bike-pack. It is where we fell in love.

Since then we have pedaled past many an alpine lake.

And I am sure there will be many more. Thank you for the many travels and here is looking ahead down the singletrack into the future.

May we find a new adventure and share them together? The essence of happiness. At least for me.

Bike packing to van camping. We have it all.

The view from US is beautiful, and one that I hope that everyone gets to experience.

I love the fact that when I stop riding and turn around you are right there. And just as many times in front leading the exploration. Finding fresh adventures.

Cheers my love. I raise a IPA to you.

Another peaceful day on the bike. A grave grinder. Until it turns to double track. Okay, an easy mountain bike ride then. Until, it turns into a climb.

And that climb turns out to have decent traction. So you keep trying and hoping to spin out so you can walk. Then you grunt so badly that you bleed out your eyes. Your lungs catch on fire. And you follow that narrow hallway of light. Just trying to not pass out. If only you could break traction and stop this torture.

But suddenly you top out and you fall into a heap of breathing, convulsing, mess. When things die down, you look. Hey, great view. This is outstanding.

We were chilling at a lip of a massive downhill with plans to make some chili for supper later. I brought up a bumper sticker I saw when we crossed the road for our ride.

I was attempting to explain what it meant. Basically, if you don’t have the stuff, you can walk. The exact saying is not important. Just don’t tell a vegetation person any sentence with grass in it without having to explain the meaning.

I like grass. Broom … broam … is my favorite. I tried to sound smart. Is there a broom? I don’t even know if I am spelling it right. The colorful, sturdy stuff you see in alpine meadows. That broom. Is it called broam?

On our ride out, I motion towards a scene near a lake. I tried to come up with a grass term. I made little sense. She just looked at me like I may have had a stroke and I couldn’t talk. Maybe I will stick with bikes.

This weekend is all about rest and recovery. Recover from what? Dunno, maybe a hectic work week. I had no feelings of the urge to ride a bike. So we put on some coffee to start the day.

After the morning chill wore off, it seemed only appropriate to go for a ride. An easy exploration. Possibly turning into some chill hike.

We found this path. It looked exceptional. Super chill. ahh, what a super chill day. It is nice to relax sometimes. Some days are for chilling, right?

Once in a while there was a rock, then two, then three. Suddenly I was doing track stands like Hans Rey. Lurching. I became filled with the motivation to clear rock gardens and stream crossing with enormous boulder like hop-overs.

At the end of the day, we staggered into camp. Full day, I offered. She commented something about how technical it was. Yea super chill.

Yea, full-body workout, I surmised.

“But, wasn’t today supposed to be super chill?”