Day 20
June 5th
Friday
46 Miles
Troy to Libby Dam, then McGillivray Campground
Another cold morning start that we will surely miss in a few weeks. Climbed from Troy to get back on route, Highway 2 to Libby. We passed Kootenai Falls and followed the Kootenai river. Traffic was heavy but we had a nice shoulder. At Libby we took a nice break and ate breakfast. A man in the restaurant made Jamie a balloon lady bug. We enjoyed hearing about his life, working at Boeing in Seattle, and 61 years of marriage. He was originally from Lincoln, Nebraska then on the day he graduated from High School he moved to Seattle to work as a machinist apprentice for Boeing making .98 cents an hour. He was a very happy person that enjoyed making people smile. He drew a large smile on the lady bug that smiled at Jamie for two days.
From Libby we rode on Old Haul Road a pleasant, tree lined backroad to Libby Dam. On the climb to the Libby Dam visitor center we learned about tar snakes. When we first started riding across the 'tar snakes' on the road we thought our gears were going out because as we pedaled they would occasionally slip and the back tire would go a little sideways. Cracks in the road were filled with tar that became very slippery in the heat of the day. They attempted to keep it from sticking to tires or being slippery by covering it with toilet paper. NO JOKE! See photo below. Very scary riding on these for bicycles and motorcycles.
The visitor center was a welcome break and very interesting. We left there to ride about 6 miles to the campground. We saw a bear cub scrambling up the mountain side as we rode by and several more white tail deer. At the campground our hosts told us we would not need to worry about bear but we took precautions just to be safe. We found out later they don't see the bear until later in the summer because this is black bear hunting season. The campground was secluded and quiet. We were one of three people staying there.
One of our camp hosts was Mary Beth, she had two sweet dogs, Sandy and Boots. Boots was a very rambunctious puppy. Mary Beth told us about a Montana women that she knows that has inspired her. Very interesting and worth reading about. Lady Long Rider - http://www.endeofthetrail.com/
The other host was Pat Eblen, a cowboy from Libby. At 72 he still works cattle and goes on cattle drives. He told us he grew up in California, his father was famous in Hollywood as a stunt man for John Wayne, Roy Rogers, and Gene Autry.
Another cold morning start that we will surely miss in a few weeks. Climbed from Troy to get back on route, Highway 2 to Libby. We passed Kootenai Falls and followed the Kootenai river. Traffic was heavy but we had a nice shoulder. At Libby we took a nice break and ate breakfast. A man in the restaurant made Jamie a balloon lady bug. We enjoyed hearing about his life, working at Boeing in Seattle, and 61 years of marriage. He was originally from Lincoln, Nebraska then on the day he graduated from High School he moved to Seattle to work as a machinist apprentice for Boeing making .98 cents an hour. He was a very happy person that enjoyed making people smile. He drew a large smile on the lady bug that smiled at Jamie for two days.
From Libby we rode on Old Haul Road a pleasant, tree lined backroad to Libby Dam. On the climb to the Libby Dam visitor center we learned about tar snakes. When we first started riding across the 'tar snakes' on the road we thought our gears were going out because as we pedaled they would occasionally slip and the back tire would go a little sideways. Cracks in the road were filled with tar that became very slippery in the heat of the day. They attempted to keep it from sticking to tires or being slippery by covering it with toilet paper. NO JOKE! See photo below. Very scary riding on these for bicycles and motorcycles.
The visitor center was a welcome break and very interesting. We left there to ride about 6 miles to the campground. We saw a bear cub scrambling up the mountain side as we rode by and several more white tail deer. At the campground our hosts told us we would not need to worry about bear but we took precautions just to be safe. We found out later they don't see the bear until later in the summer because this is black bear hunting season. The campground was secluded and quiet. We were one of three people staying there.
One of our camp hosts was Mary Beth, she had two sweet dogs, Sandy and Boots. Boots was a very rambunctious puppy. Mary Beth told us about a Montana women that she knows that has inspired her. Very interesting and worth reading about. Lady Long Rider - http://www.endeofthetrail.com/
The other host was Pat Eblen, a cowboy from Libby. At 72 he still works cattle and goes on cattle drives. He told us he grew up in California, his father was famous in Hollywood as a stunt man for John Wayne, Roy Rogers, and Gene Autry.
Sandy and Boots
Boots
Campsite at McGillivray Campground
Tar Snakes covered with toilet paper (12 miles of these on this road)
Wouldn't you like the job of covering each of these with toilet paper :-)!
Libby Dam
Tree lined road
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