Adventure 13: Kalispell, Montana

Night One; Year One

After serving huckleberry pancakes to family and friends, we took off on our BIG adventure. The trip to Kalispell went well. Lookout Pass was clear and dry. The GPS led us straight to Spruce Park RV where we promptly parked Frac backwards so the windows faced east and overlooked the river. The view and the warmth of the October sun warmed us. After setting up, we drove back into Kalispell to find the trail head of the Great Northern Rail trail. It turned out to be easy, and afterwards we had a half pastrami sandwich in the Moose Saloon, a fifty-five year old establishment with sawdust on the floor, peanuts and shells on the bar, and a tender with a gift of gab. It made me wish I was drinking. After dinner of baked pasta we brought from our freezer, I edged Judy in a game of cribbage. We slept well, event through the excitement of our first night out. The morning, though cool, was bright and sunny. After breakfast, we headed for the rail trail and road twenty-two miles to Kila and back. The trail is nicely paved, mostly flat, and led us up toward the mountains. Thursday we rode the other half down to Somer at the head of magnificent Flathead Lake. We've decided to extend our stay here an extra night and bypass our original plan of stopping at Lewis and Clark Caverns. It's supposed to snow in that area Thursday and since we're weather driven, we'll wait for the weather to pass. Instead, we'll head to Dillon for an overnight stay. So far, things are going well. We met a couple from B.C. who commented that they'd like to see us in May, since we now look so fresh and clean shaven. I always encourage Judy to stay clean shaven, which helps me maintain my view that life is good, especially today

 The cart before the horse!

 Part of the rail is still active.

 Honey Bunny in full regalia: fifty-two sunny degrees!

 From the trailhead, the trail splits: eleven miles each way. We went both ways.

 Towards Kila the trail passes through Smith Valley beside Highway 2.

 Fowl production area: hunters welcome.

 Since we haven't ridden for a month, a bit of rest was welcome.

 A tight S turn so tight under the trestle, I lost my stoker.

 The inhabitants along the trail seem weary of intruders.

 Glacier Park in the distance; closed-don't tell the bears.

Our view from the from the front window of Frac, which is why we put the cart before the horse.

 Trail's end at Somers, Mt.  Behind me is the edge of Flathead Lake. The ride from Kalispell to Somers was much better than we anticipated. Less than five miles bordered the highway.

Very nice breakfast of homemade corn beef hash, which fueled us back to Kalispell uphill and against the wind.