Day 3: Callows Island to Thompson Falls, MT

Trying to avoid the heat we jumped up early this morning. It wasn’t hard since most of the night we were awake listening to the bed squeak anytime we made the slightest move. We race down Highway 56 in the cool morning air and caught Highway 200 a few miles to Noxon Montana. Then we meandered Eastward until we finally arrived at Thompson Falls around 4:30. We had basically been riding for 9 hours and of course the last few hours were again on oven.

Did I mention there is a lot of water in Montana. As we left bull Lake to head south to Highway 200 we followed the river running out of bull Lake it was an enjoyable 19 miles and it was cool.

Remember my comment about route planning? Well, as we rode on Highway 200 toward Noxon there were a few cars. So we decided to take a back road. The back road took us pretty much over a mountain but eventually we made it to Thompson Falls. The highway would have been relatively flat, but we avoided cars. In fact we rode for almost 10 miles without seeing anybody except for a few people out on Lake we were paralleling.

I do need to point out that in Montana they have solved the drinking and driving problem. Rather than trying to change people’s behavior, they have built thousands of miles of guardrail along the roads. If you’ve ever been to Disneyland and ridden on the Autobahn. you’ll know that this is where they got their Road design plans. With guard rails on either side of the road, the drunk drivers simply bounces back and forth between them and doesn’t really even need to steer. This is great for the drivers but if you’re peddling a bike between these two guardrails it’s kind of terrifying.

When we finally got over the shortcut Mountain, it was already quite hot so I jumped into the lake for a swim and cool down. Sadly it was only around noon and we still had almost 30 miles to go.

When we arrived at Trout Creek we were back at Highway 200 and not too anxious to take it to 20 miles to Thompson Falls where our Motel was located. Being very manly, I tried to find an alternative route using Google maps but couldn’t. Being very friendly, Gloria went into the gas station to ask for alternatives to taking the highway. She found a new best friend and he knew exactly where to send us. We had a beautiful ride along The Clark Fork River. We enjoyed lunch overlooking it or was that second lunch. By the way, the Clark Fork River would likely be called a Lake in Colorado. We saw a boat about every 5 miles. So it was a crowded day in Montana.