Bears, Cougars and Rattlesnakes

August 19th - Arlee, Montana
Mileage: 136.56 km
Total mileage: 551 km
Ride time: 6:24

We are camped in a nice campground between Ravalli and Arlee. Rode most of the day through a massive Indian Reservation. Beautiful ride, but nothing for services.

We encountered no towns where towns appeared on the map, and other towns with nothing for service but a bar. Not much more than that is needed really, but it makes cycling tough. Had to ration water like a cowboy must have had to do....long stretches.

Stopped at the only store that existed in Perma. Actually nothing else existed at all. The store was run by an old fella and was about the size of a master bedroom. Freezers and scrap wood piles adorned the front parking area. Purchased some Gator Aid. I hope Gator Aid doesn't have an expiry date. Must have been two of the 1st bottles ever produced.

Anyway, we talked with the old fella and a lady who was visiting him. Turns out he had once walked across the United States and that she had been born in Hollywood and moved to a quiet and peaceful place north of Perma called Hot Springs. Never know who you'll meet in these out of the way places, or the interesting stories they have to tell.

Continued on through Dixon. A one bar town. Stopped in and had a Coke. The little bar stunk worse than us, but we had an interesting time talking to the lady bar tender. She was one of 14 kids from a small town to the north. Don't think that she has ever been much further than Dixon her entire life. Just a week ago her first grandchild was born. It (it was a boy) was her mother's 151st grand or great grandchild.

Long day. Deby had another flat tire just west of Ravalli. Temperature was probably 100 degrees. Patched the tire and thought we were on our way again. But, the bead broke and the tube blew before the bike was even out of the ditch. Had to do it all over again...then we were on our way. We will get rid of this remaining WTB Slickasauras when we reach Missoula and replace it with another Specialized Armadillo. If you have a bike with WTB Slickasauras tires leave it in the garage and don't ever take it out! Those tires pick up everything on the road.

We hoped to camp at Ravalli but just as this area lacks services it lacks campgrounds as well. At Ravali one of the locals told us not to camp in the area because rattlesnakes were everywhere. Wasn't hard to believe since we had cycled past three or four dead snakes of some sort on the road. Not to be deterred by a snake I talked with another local. The second guy told us that the bears come down every night to eat the apples off the trees and that a cougar ripped up his dog while in his yard just the other night. He scared the cougar off with a shot gun and said that after dark the place becomes the 'Wild Kingdom'. We cycled on.

It was my turn for a flat tire before the day was over. Thankfully we were close to a campground so could pump it up a couple of times and keep rolling till we got there.