Bannack State Park to Morrison Lake (informal campsite), 47 miles, Avg speed - 8 mph
Usually Numb Stuff is one of the last to wake however this morning no one was up. I immediately understood why when unzipping my tent I discovered frost and frozen equipment all around. After lighting a fire the others awake, and deer appear around the lake…
We set off in the open plains now dotted with livestock farms. The mosquitoes seem to be everywhere and we have the bites to prove it! The sun was beating down quite strong, and the road had small rolling hills, but at the same time there was always a slight incline to it, so you never could get any good down hill runs. It was peddling after peddling with no real breaks.
We searched for shade to pull over and have lunch, but over every corner, it was more and more plains and meadows with no trees along the road. We had maybe 3 cars pass us all day, and one of those was the support vehicle, and another one was a tractor. You really get a sense that you are out in the middle of no where, and for that, we loved it!
After putting in 40 miles of what felt like a constant incline, we hit a large hill (the only one of the day), but after being so beat from the past 40 miles, it took all that we had to get to the top. There were pockets of shale, and with almost no energy left in our bodies, we had to push the bikes a couple of times to get up over the hill. A sign at the top said that this was the Old Bannack Freight Road that connects Corrine, Utah with Bannack, MT, established in 1862. To think of what the old settlers and trading wagons had to do to get from town to town is unbelievable really.
Once at camp, we were thoroughly exhausted. We popped open the hood of the support vehicle to shade us from the setting sun. The sun rays were still feeling very strong beating down on us. Our informal campsite had spectacular views, wild flowers and sage bushes all around us and a small stream running through it. In the distance, we could see the Continental Divide mountains which marks the Idaho / Montana Border.
We used Judy's massage table as a picnic table, but first she gave us each massages on it, and boy if ever there was a day that we needed it, it was today!...okay, okay...we know what you are all thinking..but hey, you if you had a masseuse and massage table waiting for you at the end of a long ride, would you not take it too? Yes, of course you would. In 2 days time, the support crew will be leaving us, and we have to take advantage of what we have when we have it. Enough said. Dirtbaby loved it so much, she even took a nap on the massage table (covered head to toe from mosquitoes) while Debbie cooked up chicken burritos in her makeshift roadside cafe. Yum!
Some of you have been curious as to exactly how do you use the toilet in these informal campsites when there is no toilet to be found? Good question, but the answer is obvious....you go in the woods. Good camping etiquite dictates that you make a hole with a shovel to bury your business, and even if you use biodegradable toilet paper, you should pack your tissue out with you when you leave. By the next morning, and with five people camping, we joked that we needed to make a treasure map diagram so as to avoid anyone accidentally digging up someone else's pile. Or maybe a "call before you dig" hotline number. Either way, although the sage scrubs where short, we were able to find some private places for everyone to take care of what they needed, and ziplock garbage bags were available for hauling the used paper out of camp. Enough said.
With Montana's daylight lasting so long this time of year, most of us had yet to see the night sky. We often go to bed between 9:00 - 9:30pm when the sun is still setting. Since we were so remote this time, we vowed to try and see the stars. As it ended up, I woke up first around 2am and then Jiggleless heard me and she called to everyone to wake up and look at the stars above. There was a zipper fest as I heard every one's tent zipper open to take a look. It was as though we had never seen stars before! Debbie commented on what looked like haze just above us only to realize she was looking at a very clear view of the Milky Way in space. You felt as if you could almost touch them, they were so many, and so close. Absolutely stunning!
Back to bed for an early morning start…
We set off in the open plains now dotted with livestock farms. The mosquitoes seem to be everywhere and we have the bites to prove it! The sun was beating down quite strong, and the road had small rolling hills, but at the same time there was always a slight incline to it, so you never could get any good down hill runs. It was peddling after peddling with no real breaks.
As we stood at about 8,000 feet above sea level on the saddle between two valleys, we commented on how exhausted we were. About 4 miles still to go to get to the informal camp site near Morrison Lake. The view was spectacular, but the downhill run was nothing to get excited about. With the shale, we couldn't get enough speed to carry us through to the campground without exerting a significant more amount of energy to get there.
Once at camp, we were thoroughly exhausted. We popped open the hood of the support vehicle to shade us from the setting sun. The sun rays were still feeling very strong beating down on us. Our informal campsite had spectacular views, wild flowers and sage bushes all around us and a small stream running through it. In the distance, we could see the Continental Divide mountains which marks the Idaho / Montana Border.
With Montana's daylight lasting so long this time of year, most of us had yet to see the night sky. We often go to bed between 9:00 - 9:30pm when the sun is still setting. Since we were so remote this time, we vowed to try and see the stars. As it ended up, I woke up first around 2am and then Jiggleless heard me and she called to everyone to wake up and look at the stars above. There was a zipper fest as I heard every one's tent zipper open to take a look. It was as though we had never seen stars before! Debbie commented on what looked like haze just above us only to realize she was looking at a very clear view of the Milky Way in space. You felt as if you could almost touch them, they were so many, and so close. Absolutely stunning!
Back to bed for an early morning start…
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