Total so far: 740.7 miles
No, I haven't been eaten by a bear. I'm just in the middle of nowhere.
I reached Montana yesterday and after days of biking in deserted areas, assumed that I would finally reach civilization once I arrived in the state's second-largest city, Missoula. Apparently I was wrong. Ok, true, this is significantly bigger than the population 100 towns I have been biking through (every 50 miles) for the past few days, but apparently Virgin Mobile doesn't consider Montana important enough to extend service here (AT&T only reached Missoula last year). I assume the same will be true for North Dakota, so I guess I won't be tweeting much these next few weeks.
I am biking through the Rockies now and it is relatively easy, to be frank (hope that doesn't jinx me!). No signs of bears yet, but in addition to bear and cougar threats, over these last few days I've been warned to watch out for rattlesnakes and coyotes. I saw a few "Moose Xings" on the road and am eager to spot a moose myself, but so far I've just seen deer and a few snakes.
The weather has been good except at night, when I freeze. A few nights ago it was 43 degrees outside... imagine camping in that! And this is just July... But I did meet an Idahoan who had stayed in my hometown once and said it was the coldest he had ever been in his life when he was there: -40 degrees.
I was surprised to learn from a few Idahoans that no one ever confuses them with Iowa or Ohio. But I was delighted to hear an Idahoan ask me if I wanted a "sack" the other day at the grocery store. When I asked for "sacks" in DC, people looked at me like I was an alien. But if they say it in Idaho, the term was be used across a large swath of the US.
A few photos I've taken since my last post:
No, I haven't been eaten by a bear. I'm just in the middle of nowhere.
I reached Montana yesterday and after days of biking in deserted areas, assumed that I would finally reach civilization once I arrived in the state's second-largest city, Missoula. Apparently I was wrong. Ok, true, this is significantly bigger than the population 100 towns I have been biking through (every 50 miles) for the past few days, but apparently Virgin Mobile doesn't consider Montana important enough to extend service here (AT&T only reached Missoula last year). I assume the same will be true for North Dakota, so I guess I won't be tweeting much these next few weeks.
I am biking through the Rockies now and it is relatively easy, to be frank (hope that doesn't jinx me!). No signs of bears yet, but in addition to bear and cougar threats, over these last few days I've been warned to watch out for rattlesnakes and coyotes. I saw a few "Moose Xings" on the road and am eager to spot a moose myself, but so far I've just seen deer and a few snakes.
The weather has been good except at night, when I freeze. A few nights ago it was 43 degrees outside... imagine camping in that! And this is just July... But I did meet an Idahoan who had stayed in my hometown once and said it was the coldest he had ever been in his life when he was there: -40 degrees.
I was surprised to learn from a few Idahoans that no one ever confuses them with Iowa or Ohio. But I was delighted to hear an Idahoan ask me if I wanted a "sack" the other day at the grocery store. When I asked for "sacks" in DC, people looked at me like I was an alien. But if they say it in Idaho, the term was be used across a large swath of the US.
A few photos I've taken since my last post:
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| As you can see, the state's slogan is purely marketing propaganda. Everything I saw in Washington was yellow. |
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| This is what happened to the last living soul who came through this part of Washington. |
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| This is what the first part of my ride through Idaho looked like. It was amazing to stare out at miles and miles of nothing but nature. |
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| And this was the second part of my ride through Idaho. I felt like I was in Pocahontas. |
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| I guess this is why they call Montana "Big Sky Country". |
Hey Alex, glad to know that you haven't been eaten by anything...your blog and Twitter feeds are so much fun to read, I now get why you were so hell bent on doing this. I love the Montana pic! I am going to the Valley of Flowers this Friday, and don't you dare fret, you are having way more adventures than me. This time, I'll have a decent camera on me for once, so I hope to click some good pics. I hope to talk to you soon but looks like there isnt any network in the areas that you are biking through at the moment. Frankly, I didnt know that something like that was possible in the U.S. :P Hope to talk soon, have some news to give and advice to take. Owi
ReplyDeleteThe Idaho picture is gorgeous. Re: Washington -- you have to go to the western part of the state to see all the evergreens. The Seattle area is covered with them. But speaking of questionable state slogans, I don't think I've ever seen a real Hawkeye in IA. :P Love reading your blog. You'll be hitting the thousand mile mark before too long! Bisous, Matthew
ReplyDelete@ Owi. I won't fret; I'll just be super jealous! Have fun.
ReplyDelete@ Matt. Hawkeye is a historical reference! I'm sure there are parts of Washington that are lovely, just not the hundreds of miles I biked through.