Tour de Washington 2

Surpise! I'm actually in Fort Collins hanging around until Saturday. My last tour in Washington was good, but also had a few bumps. I took my time heading out there. Tracked down my brother, Mark in Winter Park, Colorado. There we plans to hike three 14ers, but the weather wasn't good. We ended up walking around the Frisco Art Festival. Lots of cool sculptures and awesome photograhpy. On a chance we picked up the local paper and saw that the Leadville 100 Mountain Bike Race was happening. So we decided to head up there. We saw the winner, David Weins, finish. We also saw this guy named Lance Armstrong finish. Ya'll should have seen the crowds go wild, but ya didn't, and we did. After an awesome pizza from High Mountain Pies we bike the loop around Leadville. Wow! is it ever great to visit this place.

Then it was off to Washington, via the scenic route. Picked up a 60 year-old guy section hiking the Pacific Crest Trail and he talked my ear off for about 40 minutes (don't all hikes do that). After scouting the route and spending too many hours reworking the route in libraries I was planning to head to the Olympic Pennisula, but I ended up hanging around Mt Rainier instead. Enjoyed excellent weather and saw Rainer from the East for the first time, although I've been here three times. Certainly one of my top 5 camping spots of all time on the crest of the Cascades! The next day I was planning to ride up to Paradise and back, but my front tire came dangerously close to blowing out, so I had to abandon my plans half way through. Huge bummer, but Specialized gave me a new tire, and they certainly owed me big-time!

Then the 8 day tour began. The first two days I was the only guide and luckily the guests were veterans and helped me out. It was a bit stressful though. The rest of the tour was basically a repeat of the last, but in reverse. Although there was one huge bump in the road that required exstensive laundering to remove. Fortunately the ride to the top of Old Blewett Pass was quiet possible the best riding of the summer. 12 miles of descent pavement, great scenery, and only one car. It was magical!! The dinner at the Summit Cafe atop Crystal Mountain also provided wonderful views of the whole Cascade Range. And then the pranks began!

Saw some of my Seattle friends again. Stopped by Missoula to pick up rental bikes and eat another awesome Griz burger at Iron Horse Brew & Pub. We also stopped at Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument (Custer and Sitting Bull) for a few hours. So Saturday I'll be heading up to Grand Teton & Yellowstone National Parks for my first hiking trip of the season. I'm also attempting to make my Fall plans. Ha ha.

Glacier Again

After taking the scenic route back thru Washington we arrived back in Montana. Had a fun evening hanging out in Missoula with some of the locals of the female variety. And for the record, although Sean Kelly's Public House has excellent cheesy chips, they are not fries. The next morning began a lazy day hanging out in Kalispell. The next day we picked up all 2o guests for a custom tour. At dinner we began to discover how rowdy a bunch we had on our hands. Picture 60 year-olds chugging car booms! Two days later we began our ride to the top of Logan's Pass on the Going-to-the-Sun Road. Unfortunately we didn't beat the water truck so the dirt section splattered our bodies and bikes. My camera battery ran out and so I simply charged (to use the term loosely) to the top of the climb. Soon after the descent the group of three I was riding with decided to pass two loaded tandem bikes. It's was crazy, going about 25 miles on the flat with a tailwind. Got chased by Eddie's little brother (American Flyer movie reference) and had to sprint over 20 mph to ward off the 6 inch high pug guarding his turf. 

The next day into Canada I had the pleasure of witnessing a very special moment. Having already reached the summit of a 6 mile climb a group of ten cyclists descended to pace the slowest cyclist up the climb, who was a cancer survivor. Watching the group slowly climbing in mass together was a moving scene indeed.  A few awesome descents into Waterton Lakes National Park awaited the group. That night the hot tub was just what the doctor order. The morning of the last day was spent on a boat tour to Goat Haunt. That afternoon we drove back to Kalispell. By 7 pm my fellow guide and I had said our fond farewells and were blazing a trail back to Denver. After driving almost straight thru we arrived in Denver by 3pm the next day. Only to find out there was a necessary last minute change of plans. As a result I've been in Denver for today and we begin heading back to Washington tomorrow to do another tour there. It will be a exciting, but somewhat challenging experience.