Today we cycled from our dispersed campsite on the Olympian Trail to the City Limits RV Park in Wallace. We had blue skies all day. A little bit of a breeze which felt chilly sometimes. We road non-paved all day, except in the town of Wallace.
Riding statistics: on Wednesday June 12, 2024, the 35th day on the Western Wildlands Route route, it took 10:20h (06:24h moving time), between 06:43 and 17:04, to cover 98 km (61 miles), including 1208 m (3963 ft) elevation gain, with an average speed of 15 km/h (9 mph). During today's ride the average temperature was 21 °C (72 °F) with a minimum of 4 °C (38 °F) and a maximum of 42 °C (114 °F).
Totals: So far, it took 10 days, 19 hours, 26 minutes and 50 seconds of cycling time to cover 3731 km (2319 miles), including 41152 m (135020 ft) elevation gain, with an average speed of 14.7 km/h (9.1 mph).
We woke up at our dispersed campsite and it has been a good night. Although the Interstate was not far away, the sound of the river made sure we did not hear the noise from the Interstate. The tent was dry, so that was a plus too. We did not need much time for breaking up camp, preparing the bikes, and have a quick pre-breakfast. It was 6:40 when we started to ride.
We continued the Olympian Trail for a longer time. Eventually we past a truck stop, and a very small settlement, but after that we continued on a former rail trail, although now it had no name. We past a beautiful bridge and went through a tunnel.
After about 40km we entered the east entrance of the Hiawatha Trail. A continuation of the rail trail we were already riding, but now payed. Because it is so beautiful according to the people there, and of course the 9 more tunnels and 7 more bridges. All the same as the ones we rode before the payed section. And, although it was nice to bike through, like the dozens of Americans on mostly rented bikes, out of the crowds things are even more beautiful. After about 13km our ride on the Hiawatha Trail came to an end. It was all slightly downhill. Here all people take a shuttle bus back to the start.
For us the ride continued to Moon Pass. Unfortunately, just after the start of the climb to the pass the road was closed. We got a tip from a passing biker that we could use the hiking trail. But it was so steep, that we decided to bypass the concrete blocks, continue on the road, and as soon as we saw someone ask if we could pass. After about 10 minutes of cycling we ran into a truck and an excavator. The driver of the excavator stepped out and approached us. Of course he needed to show some authority, but when asked for an alternate route he let us pass. Honestly, there was not really much going on, especially not for blocking a road for 7 miles, where the detour would take about 100 miles. Probably most of the work was already completed. So we could continue our climb to the pass.
After completing the climb we had a fantastic 12km downhill into the town of Wallace. Meanwhile we entered Idaho again, and even a timezone change. Which we are going to ignore in terms of bedtime and wake up time. We will be back in Montana very soon. Wallace is a very nice mountain town, with many old buildings. Unfortunately they build the Interstate almost over the town. Quite some buildings were empty, and some have seen better times. Sorry to see that, hopefully they will be restored and reused soon.
After sitting in the sun for a while, getting groceries, setting up the tents at the RV park, taking a shower, and rinsing of some clothes from the mud in the tunnels, we went for a pizza. It tasted well. After that, resting time.
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