I was up early this morning to see if today’s rain would turn into snow, something that weather reports indicated might happen by 8 a.m. I had a quick breakfast in the lodge around 7:30 and, since no other guests showed up, had a nice chance to meet Hannah, who also works as a waitress at the steakhouse next door. It turned out that Hannah is from the Twin Cities. She recently graduated from St. Olaf College, where she was on the ultimate frisbee team, and plans to attend medical school but first will be taking a year off. She was quite interested in my bike journey and came outside with me as I left to see what my bike looked like loaded with gear.

Although the temperature was hovering around freezing, the rain hadn’t turned to snow by 8:30 a.m., so I headed off on Hwy 2 for West Glacier. I clocked 45 wet cold miles, and although things warmed up a bit as I descended west from the Continental Divide, it was still only in the upper forties when I arrived at my motel in West Glacier around 2 p.m.

The scenery looked a bit gloomy with all the rain and clouds throughout the day but was still quite beautiful.

I crossed several creeks and rivers along the way, most notably the Middle Fork of the Flathead River, which is the wider waterway in the third photo below. Despite the inclement weather, I noticed several parties of whitewater rafters on the Middle Fork today.

My Adventure Cycling map showed three possible sources of food along my route, but it turned out none of them were open, including the historic Izaak Walton Inn in Essex (about halfway into my route), which I learned was closed for extensive renovations that will include an adjoining bike shop. Unfortunately, it appears this project won’t be completed until next year.

You train buffs out there may be interested to know that Essex is the home of a train yard that maintained “helper engines” which would assist heavy eastbound freight trains in making their way up and over the Continental Divide. The Izaak Walton Inn was built to accommodate crews that helped keep the tracks clear during the winter.

I was about the strike out on the third and last possible source of food along the way, a restaurant/tavern that was closed due to the weather, when two employees came out a side door and asked if they could help me with anything. I explained I was looking for some food but that if they were closed, that was fine. They said they were closed but offered to make me a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, and I gladly accepted.

One of these kind souls was Lisa, originally from near Toronto, Canada, who worked in the tech industry in California before embarking on a six-year travel odyssey in various parts of the world focused on wilderness areas. She is working on a book based on her journey, Chronically Wild, which she hopes to finish soon. I’m looking forward to reading it!

I’ve seen these signs before warning folks about falling rocks but never paid much attention to them. From the seat of my bike, however, I noticed quite a few loose rocks on the shoulder of the road during the day. I was glad I was wearing a helmet.

Here are some other views of the Middle Fork of the Flathead River as I got closer to West Glacier.

My motel in West Glacier, the Glacier Highland, is right next door to the Glacier Highland Restaurant–how convenient! I ate a hearty late lunch and dinner there and was very impressed by their extensive pie list. Can you guess which one I ordered? One clue: I didn’t order the razzleberry pie but learned that it is a mixture of raspberries and blackberries.

As I looked out the window of the restaurant, I was intrigued by how the raindrops beaded up on the leaves of the plants around the building.

Other than the rain that hit my rain jacket and rain pants, the raindrops that fell on me did not bead up but instead left things like my biking shoes and socks a soggy mess. I am hoping they will dry off by morning, when I will have a short (about 20 miles) trip to Columbia Falls, MT (pop. 4,688). More rain is predicted for tomorrow, but perhaps only for a few hours in the morning, and I am hoping to time my departure to avoid it.