Day 6, 7, 8 & 9.
From July 12th to the 15th, 2007

WoW...Montana is ''hot''!

<< avant / before

          after /  après>>

July 12th:

We're leaving the tower, not that we like to but guess we have to...
Luckily, there's a hoist system to take our stuff down or else we would have to go up and down the 54 stairs with our arms full. It's basic, but it works!

 

An old abandonned log house at the bottom of the tower has a room with a view!

 

Oh No! My computer has a bug!!

 

Quizz: Can you tell us the name of this superb bird?
Click here to get a closer look

It's hot. Very, very hot! We stop in Libby, Montana to fill up on food, fuel and water. Riding on the hot pavement with an helmet on, becomes very uncomfortable. So much we decide to call it a day.

We set up camp on a private campground, to have access to showers and electricity (the small fridge is struggling...), and we crash in the shade.

Question:
How do you know when you have too much stuff lying around?
Answer:
You know you have too much stuff when folks from the campground start gathrering around thinking you're having a yard sale...(Sadly, i's a true story...)

 

It's pretty cool to go shopping lightly dressed!
This guy reminds me of someone, but who?


July 13th:

Up there, in the sky, it's a bird, it's a plane, no it's...click here

 

Lunch break. We spend quite a bit of time studying maps to figure out which way to go. There are litterally hundreds of small roads we could take.

Oh! Yeah! Did someone notice Marc's haircut?

 

A camp site near the river, with pic-nic table, camp fire wood (free) near the rest rooms...All this free of charge, first come, first served.

 

Near Libby Dam.

 

The scenery around a body of water is always fascinating! This is the very southern tip of lake Koocanusa.

 

Typical Montana scenery. Only the log home with the green steel roof is missing...

 

Since we ride on forest roads more often than not, the most challenging part of the day comes when I try filming myself while riding!!

 

 


July 14th:

We find a tiny little spot for tonight.

 

Syvia lake is like a mirror in the early morning hours.

 

Back on the road, it's 102 deg. F. and stop often too cool down in a stream or a lake. This is Little bitterroot lake.

Even the quads feel like swimming!

 

 

Here's a change in scenery. Part of the trail goes through a canyon. We're on "Lost Prairie Road", and we'll soon find out where the name comes from...

 

Surprise! We never know in advance what's waiting for us.

Here, it's silt. Sorta like Porter cement type dust, only hotter!! We're in it over our ankles, actually up to the rim...On each side of the front tires, you can actually see a wave of burning hot sand rolling away from the quad.

 

It's an undescribable cloud of dust that follows the quad and it's almost impossible to breathe when you stop. We must cover our face, close our eyes and wait for the cloud to dissipate...

Of course, that's when the maps become unreliable...So instead of cutting across the shortest line, we played in that stuff for half the day in the 105 deg. sun.

 

Once out of it, that's what the equipement looks like.

 

OHHHH...We lost Jack!

 

Euhh...Scuze me son. We're kinda not sure where we are, can you help us?

Thanks Austin, for your good directions.

 

He! He! He! Guess we're not the only ones being lost. (Sign is french for "Lost Corner")

 

Are we having allucinations? Is this a miracle? No!  It's... a bar!!!

Can you spell COLD BEER??

Feels soooooooo good to wash all that shit, scuze me, silt, down!!

 

Yet another purpose for beer...

 

Now, it's destination Lake MacGregor resort. It was recommended to us by the bartender.

 

At the campground, a little bit of dusting off...AAhh! Jack's back!

 

We jump in the lake to remove some of that dust.

Incredible! Everywhere the water is so clear, seems there's no pollution here.But Lake MacGregor really has the clearest water we've enjoyed yet! Up in the water to your neck, you can still see if your toe nails are clean...And the water's warm too. Beautiful!

 

Don't worry! The forest is not on fire! It's just Marc cooking some burgers on the fire pit...Hummm, smells good!

 

France: ''Did ya see how many people there are at the bar? ''

Marc: ''Sounds like there's going to be a big party...''

F: ''We can't sleep, there's too much noise and outside, too many mosquitoes...''

M: "Well, if you can't beat him, join him''

That's what we do...

It's a Jack Daniel's Party! For those of you who know Marc, you know how he likes eveything that's J D's!

The Jack Daniel's girl stops by and offers us...Free Jack's

Wheu wee! Yesss! Thank you very much!

It's so hot, let's wash it down with a cold beer!

30 minutes later, here she comes again...Well thank you!!

In the end, we found we had absolutely no problem going to sleep despite the music and all...


July 15th:

A good air filter cleaning is a must.

 

Here we go again!

Whoa! What's this beast?? They're all over the place...

AAhhh...They're only cows. We're travelling through open ranges.

 

Here it's a cow moose with her calf. They're curious but not very afraid of us.

 

 

The twisting and turning road following Thompson River is a real beauty. We can get tired of it.

 

It's cooling time!

 

Here, it's pine trees, pine trees, and more pine trees...Here's a mega-one.

 

Can you see the size of that nest?

 

Can someone tell us what bird it is?

 

From Thompson Falls, Montana to Wallace, Idaho, it will be pavement.

After climbing all the way to Thompson Pass, there's nothing left to do but...go down...

 

Wallace, here we are!

 

     Polaris Industries - Canada                            Polaris Industries - USA

 

 

Yeah ! "Silt"
Yeah ! At last, a little bit of challenge!!
Bof... The first sign that our equipment is suffering from the heat...
Bof... Our trip recorder is out (temporarily), the fridge is struggeling, the rear view camera is hanging by the wires...Aie, aie, aie!!

 

 


An excellent trick to cool off:

We soak our jerseys in the lake or stream before riding and again during the ride.

It's the best way we found to stay cool in the scorching heat.

Brrrrrr! Back home that would be a sure reciepe for hypothermia!

Wet T-shirts!

Pour voir la liste de
tous les trucs,
cliquez ici

to see all the
tricks and infos
click here

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Vue d'ensemble/
general view

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carte  détaillée/
detailed map/


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                 GPS

Lat    N   47 28 30
Long W 115 55 20

 

 
50C   122F
     
  40C   104F
     
30C   86F
     
20C   68F
     
10C   50F
     
0C   32F
     
-5C   23F
     
-10C   14F
meteo_soleil_3.gif (4118 octets) Guess what?!
 

Sunny and HOT!!

 


Facile

Moyen

Difficile 

Easy

Moderate

Difficult 

A mixed bag of tricks, trails and roads

 


Les statistiques

4 day total:

  • 282 milles

  • $53 fuel

  • $65 restaurants

  • $65 grocery

  • $42 camping

  • $30 misc.

Note: All amounts are US $$
         All distances are miles.

 

 

 

Les Oscars-The Oscars:
...et le gagnant est... L'ITEM LE PLUS APPRÉCIÉ:

 

THE MOST APPRECIATED ITEM:

The maps. Without them we'd go nowhere.

 

 

 

Nous sommes fiers de vous présenter nos partenaires.
Ils nous ont fourni un soutien important afin de nous aider à réaliser cette aventure. MERCI À TOUS
 

 

 

We are proud to introduce you to our partners.
Their precious collaboration helped us live this fabulous adventure.

THANKS TO ALL.

Polaris Industries - Canada
Polaris Industries - USA



RM Motosport





Durocher Transirt









Cellutron





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