Today (Tues., 7-2), I rode 32 miles from my lodge just west of Olney to Eureka, MT. As many of you know, eureka comes from an ancient Greek word meaning “I found it,” often attributed to the ancient Greek mathematician and inventor Archimedes. It turned out that Eureka, MT, was not at all hard to find. It is right on Hwy 93, in the northwest corner of Montana, only nine miles south of the Canadian border. According to Wikipedia, its population was 1,380 at the 2020 census, so the city appears to have grown beyond the population of 1,037 shown on my 2018 Adventure Cycling map. Logging was an early draw when the town was founded in the early 1880s and appears to be a continuing significant activity in the area–I saw a number of logging trucks on Hwy 93 the past two days.

Like yesterday, I was on Hwy 93 part of the day and also on a less-busy stretch of backroads for about 14 miles. I saw signs referring to this area as Kootenai River Country and Tobacco Valley. It is heavily wooded, and I saw several reminders that folks are concerned about the risk of wildfires.

This is Dickey Lake, which I passed just before reaching Fortine (pop. 325), where I was able to leave Hwy 93 to take a more peaceful route to Eureka.

I reached Eureka around 2:30 p.m. It rained a little toward the end of my ride, but I stayed mostly dry, and it rained harder after I got to my motel. Here is the Tobacco River, which I crossed as I entered Eureka.

I saw several signs urging a people to vote in favor of area libraries and did a little online research to see what was going on. Eureka is in Lincoln County, which apparently is struggling to deal with a $1.6 million deficit. This has created an uncertain future for libraries currently funded by the county in Eureka, Troy (a city very close to the Idaho border), and Libby (my destination tomorrow). There was a measure on the ballot in June that would fund the libraries with a separate community tax rather than county funds. Although the proposal garnered significant support, it was opposed by people who did not want to pay an additional tax. I understand that the measure failed by 75 votes. It is not yet clear what will happen to the libraries, and it is possible they will need to be closed.

Coincidentally, shortly after seeing one of the “Save Our Libraries” signs, I came across this “Little Free Library” in a public park in Eureka. A sign next to it encourages folks to “Take a Book/Leave a Book/Love a Book/Keep a Book.”

My motel in Eureka is right next to a commonly owned convenience store that includes a Subway fast food restaurant where I had lunch. While hanging out there, I met two other cross-country bikers who were passing through town. Here is Dave, from Madison, WI, who started out in Jasper, Alberta, Canada and is on his way along the Continental Divide to New Mexico. He was surprised that I am riding an older rode bike with skinny tires and more limited gears. His gravel bike tires are only inflated to about 35 psi, compared to mine at about 90. I was amazed at how little he was carrying, even though he does some camping. We talked about the importance of making sure we make time in our lives for this kind of travel, while we are still young enough and healthy enough to make the journey.

I next met George, a friendly guy from Cincinnati, OH, who rides both motorcycles and bicycles. On this trip, he is on a motorcycle, but he has future trips planned on a non-motorized bike. He also had been in Jasper, Alberta on this trip. I asked to take his picture, but he suggested we take a selfie of both of us.

Here is George’s bike. Yes, he too has a lot of gear, but also a 1,200cc engine to help move it around.

I have a pretty brutal day ahead of me tomorrow for the trip to Libby (pop. 2,628). My route is close to 70 miles, has virtually no amenities of any kind, and has a fair number of hills for the first 45 miles. I think it will be a long day, so I plan to get an early start.