Tuesday, June 26, 2018

Day 59 – West Glacier,MT to Eureka,MT

Date: 26.06.2018
Altitude: 3205.4 ft (977 m)
Distance: 86.94 mi (139.91 km)
Total Altitude: 104088.0 ft (31726 m)
Total Distance: 3982.14 mi (6408.63 km)

Today's trip did get me almost all the way back up to the Canadian border. I was quite surprised when I looked at the map how far north Eureka,MT is but tomorrow I will go back south again. After the short but amazing trip yesterday, I had to cover about 85 miles, today. I didn't had to go up any long climbs, but it was still a hard day. There was a lot of up and down throughout the day and at the end of the day I had done almost the same amount of uphill as yesterday.

Due to the long distance, I wanted to get an early start. Since the Motel didn't offer breakfast I went to the restaurant next to it for breakfast. Michael, the cyclist I met yesterday, joined me for breakfast but decided he will get a later start and will not join me on my way to Whitefish. He also wasn't sure yet, if he will go to Eureka, today. So after breakfast, we said our goodbyes, exchanged cellphone numbers and I went on my way to Eureka.

The route to Eureka was again really beautiful and the weather was great as well. Although because of the wind it was a bit chilly on the bike, even with the sun shining. The route stayed for the most part on smaller roads, except for an about 30 mile stretch on US93. Even on US93 the traffic was not really bad so that it was still a great bike ride. On my way to Eureka, I finally managed to buy some new spare tubes, lets hope I won't need them. I stopped at a really nice bike shop in Whitefish and bought the spare tubes there, I also signed there guestbook for traveling cyclists. Except for Columbia Falls and Whitefish, the route didn't go hit any bigger towns along the way and stayed for the most part in different National Forrest, so that I was surrounded by trees for the most part. I went through Flathead National Forest and Kootenai National Forest as well as Stillwater State Forest. I really liked the ride even though it was a challenging one.

In the late afternoon I got a message from Michael, telling me that he was on his way to Eureka. So after he arrived in Eureka in the evening, I joined him for a beer. He wasn't sure yet , if he will do the trip to Libby,MT tomorrow or do a rest day in Eureka. So we will probably part ways tomorrow, as I will definitely be on the road again.

Conclusion for the day:

Montana is more than just farmland/grassland, the northwest of Montana is really beautiful.














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