Month: July 2017

I can’t believe it… we started our 5th week of cycling yesterday and we’ve made it to Yellowstone National Park. Wow! It doesn’t seem possible. As of today we’ve traveled 1329 miles. We passed into Wyoming at 5 PM and we’re camping tonight at Madison Campground in Yellowstone. Tomorrow we’ll go by Old Faithful, Grant Village, and exit out the South Entrance of the Park with the rest of Wyoming ahead of us. I’m totally awed by it all. We’ve seem so much and yet there’s so much more to see. We’ve traveled so far and yet there’s so much further to go. It’s stunning and exciting all at the same time. Thanks for praying us this far. Now please keep praying us all the way home! 🙂 

We’d planned to leave Twin Bridges by 6:30 but by the time we got packed up and said goodbye to the other bikers it was 7 AM. Remembering that the grocery store/coffee shop opened at 7 I decided we should stop in for a coffee. Last time we did that (in Baker City) we ordered ice coffees so we could grab and go. But I spaced it and ordered a 20 oz hot Americano. Guess we’re sitting this one out. Forrest stirred it with a straw to try and cool it down faster and we used the time to get on the wifi and catch up on email & texts. It was then that I uploaded the last post (July 10-11) so it was a blessed providence. We finally got the coffee down by 7:45 and awere on the road again. 

The challenge for the day was the Virginia City hill, which, according to my map, summitted at 7000 ft. But, surprisingly, it wasn’t that bad. It was steep; and it was hard. But it ended up shorter and lower than expected. We had to climb nearly 2300 ft from Twin Bridges but it was so gradual until Virginia City that before we knew it, we only had 1000 ft left. We stopped in Alder at a bar to use the bathroom and fill up our water bottles with cold after. The bartender wasn’t very nice but maybe she was having a bad day. Before we left a man came out and talked to us about our trip. He warned us that the climb was extremely steep but told us the downhill would be a blast. 

When we arrived at Nevada City/Virginia City we stopped to look around at “old Montana.” It was a tourist trap of old buildings, gold panning, and train rides. We took a few pictures, used the bathroom, and headed on. Virginia City was up the road a mile and we were soon through it and headed up the hill. It was a 5.5 mile climb and we actually peaked at around 6800 according to my GPS. I was really surprised when my GPS elevation map showed we were approaching the summit. I expected it to be a good bit further but was very happy to have reached it. We parked out bikes on the roadside and sat down to make lunch before heading down the hill. 

The ride down was a blast but it was cut short by a line of cars behind a flagger with a stop sign. The Department of Public Works was paving several miles of the road leading into Ennis (which at at the bottom of the downhill). We pulled up behind a pickup truck and he offered to give us a lift into town. I hesitated a bit, not wanting to cheat, but figured we didn’t want our bikes ruined. Besides, it was a downhill into town anyway. So we took him up on the offer and loaded up. The ride into Ennis was one of loose gravel flying into the air behind the truck we were in as well as every other vehicle. Once we got ahead of the pavers he dropped us off and, having no reason to stop, we blazed through town on our way to Cameron. But unfortunately they were paving a few miles on the other side of town as well. No pickup this time. The flagger let us through and we biked on the shoulder hoping it would be better. But soon cars and semis were driving by flinging gravel into our faces and on our legs. And of course our own tires were tossing up loose gravel into our gears and derailleurs. It was several miles before we were clear of the tar, but the loose gravel was a problem for a long while. 

We rode into Cameron hot and tired. We stopped at the one store/bar in town and bought some juice and an ice cream so we could use the restrooms (for paying customers only). I got to talking with bartender and asked her about the campground up ahead where we were planning to stay. When she looked at me funny I knew there was a problem. “What campground?” she sai9d. “The one on my map.” “Why don’t you bring your map in and I can take a look.” I pointed out the campground. She recognized it as Ruby Creek Campground but said it was a few miles off the road and recommended we go to another one up the road (15 miles further). Ugh. That was the last thing I wanted to hear. I figured we’d make for Ruby Creek. It had already been a long, hot day. But once we reached the turnoff to Ruby Creek and looked as the road went off in the other direction we decided to keep pedaling. We reached Riverview Campground by 7 PM, a total of 80 miles. What a day! The boys put up the tent while I made soup for dinner. We traded off for the next 15 mins between spooning hot soup into our mouths and swatting mosquitos. They were eating us alive. We couldn’t get into the tent fast enough. In fact, the got in too fast. We’d left everything out. Our clothes hung on our bikes to dry, our dishes and stove were left out for breakfast, and our towels were draped out to dry. And of course we left the fly off the tent so we could see the stars. 

July 13 on the TranAm

When we woke up at 6:00 in the morning the dew was so heavy that everything was soaked. Our sleeping bags were moist and everything else was dripping wet. Bummer. I opted not to cook breakfast, dried everything as best as I could–so I could put it all away–and grabbed all the wet stuff and headed for the neighboring campground to use the dryer. The boys finished packing up and met me there later. 

By the time we got on the road it was 8:00. Later than I wanted but no worries. We only had 50 miles or so to go. But we still needed breakfast… My map showed a restaurant at the next campground do we headed there. Unfortunately it was only open in the evening. We went into the camp store to see what we could find for breakfast. The lady suggested we pedal another 10 miles to an awesome breakfast place between Earthquake Lake and Hebgen Lake. So we bought a pop tart to hold us over and got back on the bikes. 

On the way we stopped by the Quake Lake visitor center to watch a short video explaining the history and geologic data of the historic earthquake and subsequent landslide that created the lake. The quake struck on Aug 17, 1959, killing 28 people and causing a massive landslide that closed off a section of the Madison River turning in into a 6 mile long, 190 ft deep Quake Lake. It was both beautiful and sad. 

By the time we got to Campfire Lodge for breakfast it was nearly lunch time. And by the time we got our order it was lunch time. So we had lunch instead of breakfast. It was just as the lady had promised–a breakfast to be reckoned with. The pancakes were as big as dinner plates. The guy said one biker came through a few days earlier and ate three of them! But then he had to sit on the bench for 4 hours waiting for it to digest so he could bike on. I shouldn’t tell your that another biker came through trying to brave the pancakes only to barf it all up in the parking lot. The moral of the story: even after a hard day’s work the stomach is still often smaller than the eyes. We managed to enjoy a nice lunch and get away on time. 

The rest of the ride was beautiful. It rouded Hebgen Lake and gave us a great view of some massive mountains across the lake. On the way I was in touch with our new dear sister in Christ, Linda Teakell. She was trying to secure us a camping spot at the Madison Campground in Yellowstone, just 14 miles past West Yellowstone, MT. She got back to me and said “I hate to be the bearer of bad news but the campground is full into August.” Looks like we’re staying in West Yellowstone–but could even find last minute accommodations there?. “Something miraculous is going to happen!” she said as she hung up. I believed that too. So we pedaled on and didn’t worry about it. God’s in control. 

We got to West Yellowstone around 2:30 and headed straight fort the Free Heel and Wheel bike shop. Dan, the owner/mechanic was super nice and got our bikes straight in. Forrest needed a new rear tire. It had been bulging for the last 200 miles or so as the tire wa pulling away from the bead. Strange. The same thing happened to the front tire back in Dayville, OR. And these are brand new Continental Tour Rides. If we weren’t on the road I’m sure we could get a refund… Oh well. Rocky’s rear disc was bent and needed straightening. My gears needed a slight adjustment. When I told Dan that we were disappointed not to get a place at Madison, he suggested I go across the street too th Visitor Center and ask them about it since he thought they usually had room for bikers. So I did. “They won’t turn you away,” she said. “Even if the campground is full, they’ll never turn away hikers or bikers.” A miracle? Sure! Dan filled up all our bottles with ice cold water and after a quick stop at the grocery store we headed into Yellowstone Natinal Park. It was after 4:00 and the majority of the traffic was exiting in the lane opposite us so we had a pretty sweet 14 mile ride into the park. And sure enough, they put us up at the hiker/biker site directly behind the registration building. God be praised. 

We waved at two other cyclists there and proceeded to set up camp. Soon the young lady comes walking over with her hand out and said, “James?” “Yes….” “How do you know me? Who are you?” “We’ve heard all about you guys from Samuel. I’m Laura and this is Nate.” “Oh! How cool! Nice to meet you.” Within an hour Jack and Alex showed up on bikes and greeted us like they knew us. “Samuel told us about you guys,” they said. “We stayed with him in Grant Village last night.” It’s crazy how the TransAm works. They say you can send messages ahead, leave messages behind, and generally communicate backwards or forwards. Turns out Samuel (who left us in Conner when we stayed an extra day with the Teakell’s) is talking about us 🙂 We recommended that Jack and Alex stay at the Teakell’s on their way West. Lord willing, they’ll get a good dose of the joy of the Lord on top of some Christlike hospitality. 

We put all our stuff in the provided bear box (“This is bear country,” they said) and went to bed. In less than 30 mins I was half asleep and suddenly awoke to the sounds of dozens of animal calls. Coyotes and I don’t know what else. But the woods were full of it. It was one of the eeriest and coolest things I’ve ever experienced. “I’m really sleeping in the wild,” I thought. The boys were asleep and missed it. I reminded myself that my God is God of the animals and rolled over and went to bed. 

Thanks for praying. Thanks for following. God is good. God is great. All the time. 

Until next time… 🙂 

I think I can finally add some pictures! 

***PS. I realized too late that I added several Yellowstone photos from July 14th to this post. We arrived at the Madison Campground in Yellowstone on Thursday the 13th and rode through the Park on Friday the 14th. 



We had such a refreshing and blessed time at the Teakell’s that it was hard to leave. Yet we managed to leave the driveway just before 8 AM. Linda took the traditional photos of us and of our departure as we pulled away. We headed to the Sula Country Store for a few road snacks and then began our 10.5 mile climb up Lost Trail Pass. It really wasn’t that bad and we were at the top just before noon. If you head down the pass you immediately enter Idaho so we turned left on Hwy 43 for the short 1.5 mile climb up Chief Joseph Pass, which was also the first time we crossed the Continental Divide at 7241 ft (I think we cross it 3 more times as we meander through the Rockies). 

We had a 27 mile ride down into Wisdom. We were warned about the flies & mosquitos on the way to Wisdom but they actually weren’t too bad–that is until we reached Wisdom and turned towards Jackson. The 18 mile ride to Jackson was so mosquito-ridden that we had bites all over us. That whole area of open fields is irrigated by flooding, which creates a swampy environment ripe for them. It was quite an acrobatic feat to keep our bikes on the road while slapping mosquitos off our legs, hands, face, arms, and back. 

On the way to Wisdom we stopped by the Visitor Center at Big Hole Battlefield. It was the scene of a brutal and sad battle between American soldiers and the Nez Perce Tribe in Aug 1877. Many lives were needlessly lost on both sides. It’s a sad reminder that for how quickly America gets up in arms when other nations are mistreated we have much to be ashamed about in our own nation’s history. 

We pulled into Jackson glad to get off the road and indoors. Jackson is in the middle of nowhere with a population of 36. The Bunkhouse Hotel/Post Office doubles as a bike hostel so we had options for the night. We could camp in the yard, rent a queen bed in a public room of 6 queens, or rent a private room with a queen bed. Camping outside meant fighting the bugs, dealing with barking dogs, dirt bikes speeding through town, and the strange man across the street jamming on an out of tune guitar on his porch and singing grunge rock at the top of his lungs as if he was on stage and we were the audience. Renting a bed amidst beds meant being in a room with snorers and TV watchers. So we rented a room and I slept on my mat on the floor. We had a good night’s rest and got out of town by 7:15. 

The early morning temp in Jackson, at an elevation of 6475 ft, was 50 degrees. So we put on our base layers––I even put on my rain jacket, and we headed off to climb 2 passes and, Lord willing, make it 76 miles to a bike camp in Twin Bridges. The first pass was Big Hole Pass. We’d gradually gained so much elevation by the time we reached the Pass that when we really had to start climbing in our lower gears it was extremely short. We reached the summit in 30 mins and took our traditional photo shoot with the sign (7360 ft.). The ride down was super cool but within less than 10 miles we were climbing Badger Pass, which, though it was only 6760 ft, it was a harder and longer climb. We reached the summit before noon and were quickly heading down the other side to Dillon hoping to stop there for lunch and shopping. 

Dillon was a really nice town and there’s a warmshower there, but we really wanted to make it further than the 50 miles from Jackson to Dillon. So we chilled in the sidewalk of Safeway for 45 mins for lunch and a long rest. The patio furniture for sale out front worked well for our respite. Once we felt refuled we headed out strong to ride the 26 more miles to Twin Bridges. There was nothing to speak of along the way but it was a really beautiful ride. As great as the iPhone camera is it just can’t take in what the eyes can see. The beauty of the mountains, the hills, the clouds, the fields, the valleys, etc. You just need to soak it all up, enjoy it, give thanks to God, and ride on. There’s simply no way to capture it. Even the memory of it all will soon fade. So I’ve learned to smile and praise as I ride, because I may never see it again the way I’m seeing it now. This country looks so much more beautiful at 15 miles an hour than it does at 70. What a blessing it is to see it from the seat of a bicycle. 

We did pretty good getting to Twin Bridges by 5 PM. With all our stops, a long rest in Dillon, and a strong headwind the last 14 miles of the ride, we made good time. Originally we biked right past the Bike Camp clear to the other side of town. But a nice man in town redirected us and we made a u-turn and found it. Good thing the town is so small (pop. 381). There were already two guys here who’d stopped for lunch and liked it so much that they decided to stay the night. We were able to get a shower, clean our bikes, lube our chains, and the boys even took a swim in the river. 

Tomorrow’s going to be a challenging day. We’re hoping to make it to a campground on the other side of Cameron. It’s only 66 miles but we have to climb 2300 ft over a steep Pass and then go uphill another 400 ft or so after the huge downhill. I know we can do it but I also know it won’t be easy. If we make it, then Thursday’s ride should take us to Madison, WY inside Yellowstone National Park where we hope to find lodging at the local Episcopal Church. 

My connection out here in the mountains will not allow me to post pictures so I’ll have to save them for later. 

Thanks for praying and thanks for following. We think of and pray for you daily. 

Until next time… 🙂

July 1 on the TranAm

Having gotten ourselves to Slate Creek Campground last night, we were just over 10 miles from White Bird and the legendary White Bird Hill. The hill is–in total–a climb of about 12 miles with the first 8.5 miles being composed of 19 switchbacks. Looking from below, Rocky commented about one part of the climb, “Daddy, that looks impossible on a bike!” But praise be to God, we reached the hill and slowly but surely made our climb up it. All-in-all it wasn’t that bad. I confess that I approached it with trepidation. Riding the 10 miles to it, I kept thinking, “I’m not looking forward to this.” But I committed it to prayer, put off the fear, and just kept pedaling. The climb was long but very beautiful. We kept looking back over the hill we were conquering, looking back down to the small town of White Bird (pop. 91), and thinking, “We’re doing it! Look how far we’ve come!” 

Before long we were at a summit-of sorts–took our last picture of the huge valley below, and headed on to cover the remaining 3.5 miles of climbing to the official summit. Sadly, we forgot to get a picture of it but it was quite the climb to the summit. The reward was a visit to the White Bird Summit Lodge, a home/lodge filled with wild game from all over the world. The husband and wife team have been hunting wild game all over the world since 1985. The walls were filled with mounts from the typical moose, elk, and bear to the unusual bison, baboon, zebra, and giraffe! It was like going a world zoo. They were very kind to let us look aroun, use the restroom, and fill up our water bottles. 

The ride down to Grangeville was a blast full of twists of turns at high speed. We stopped in Grangeville for lunch and headed to Kooskia where we would meet up with Chantry and the girls for the Lord’s Day. The ride out of Grangeville was surprisingly hard. The elevation profile map pictured sawtooth hills, which, to me, looked benign and insignificant. Boy was I wrong! The road took us through farms and met us with rolling hills for over 15 miles. The downhills were great but the uphills were so steep that we all (yes, even Forrest 🙂 had to walk our bikes up several of them. Our consolation? We heard that there was an awesome downhill coming, just before Kooskia–and we found it. It’s called Lamb Grade Rd. and it was the steepest and scariest hill we’ve been on yet. It was an 11-13% grade hill full of switchbacks and covered in gravel. We rode our brakes all the way down and couldn’t take most turns any faster than 5 miles an hour lest we slide across the lanes and down into oblivion. It had its fun moments, but they were few and far between the many scary moments. After we reached the bottom I said, ‘I am so glad we didn’t have to go up that hill!” 

The directions on my map from the bottom of that hill were not accurate and we took a wrong turn, going 1.5 miles in the wrong direction. Unable to find our next turn (which was supposed to be at a mile), I stopped and tried to regroup. Of course, we had no service and no way of reorienting ourselves. All I knew is that we were definitely lost. Forrest had saddle sores so badly that he wanted to stop right where we were and have Mama come to get us. I reminded him that we had no reception and that Mama would be waiting for us in Kooskia. So we had to get back on our bikes and, one way or another, get ourselves to Kooskia. Soon a lady walked out to the road and waved us over. She could tell we were lost and proceeded to give us directions to Kooskia. We thanked her and started back. Her directions soon aligned with my map and we were back on track. We rolled into Kooskia at about 4:00 and I borrowed a phone to call Chantry–not sure why I thought she’d have service since we didn’t :/ But providentially she was in Grangeville and I got through to her to let her know we were in Kooskia. She had gotten to Kooskia a lot earlier, tried to find us, and when she couldn’t she headed back to Grangeville thinking that we’d stopped there instead (since that was the last time we’d been able to speak on the phone). So we hung out in the parking lot of Napa Auto Parts and waited for a good hour for her and the girls to arrive. 

What a glad reunion it was when they showed up! Chantry had already booked 2 nights for us at the KOA in Kemiah so we headed straight there and settled down for the night. Tomorrow we planned to attend the First Indian Presbyterian Church just down the road from there. 

July 2-3 on the TranAm

Kooskia/Kemiah are on the Nez Perce Indian reservation so I was looking forward to attending the First Indian Presbyterian Church near the KOA. It’s the oldest church in Idaho (1871). We pulled in 10 mins before service started and the parking lot was empty. Strange. We waited a few minutes and then decided to drive into Kemiah to the Second Indian Presbyterian Church. This parking lot was also empty. Was anyone having church today!? We drove to the gas station across the street to ask if she knew anything about the Indian church. She said, “What Indian Presbyterian church?” So we drove next door to the grocery store and stopped an Indian lady in the parking lot. She proceeded to tell me that the Indian Presbyterian were all celebrating some special event at a special place 30 miles away. Time to look for another church. It’s already 10:15. The Indian lady directed us to several churches in town so we drove through looking to see what we could find. We passed a Catholic Church. We passed a Lutheran church whose service was just ending. We passed a Presbyterian church with a female pastor. We passed an Assembly of God church with a husband & wife team as pastors. It was getting late now. Finally, we came to a Nazarene church whose service started at 11 AM. Looks like this is what the Lord had for us. 

The service was full of choruses and instead of a sermon a member of the congregation gave his testimony. We had lunch with Mody and Dawn Bass and returned for the 6 PM Bible study. The Bible study was attended by the elderly of the church. No kids. No pastor. It was taught by a member of the congregation. We missed the preaching of the Word that day but the fellowship with the saints there was sweet. In fact, one of the members sent us away with a cooler full of freshly smoked salmon and steelhead. Moreover, Mody and Dawn turned out to be a real blessing. We decided to stay over for an extra day and, having a hint from something Mody said to me on Sunday, we checked out of the KOA by 11:00 and headed to Mody’s house. They were surprised and delighted to see us and took us right in. We had a great day. They thoroughly spoiled us. They fed us well, we shot arrows, played horseshoes, shot his .22, rode his ATV, and roasted hot dogs and marshmallows. We all had a blast and felt at home away from home. We stayed the night with them and were sent on our way in the morning. They treated us like their own kids and thanked us for coming by. Thank you Mody and Dawn!! You guys are the best 🙂 God bless you both.

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This is a video of Mody calling a Bull Elk. 

July 4-5 on the TransAm

We spent the Fourth of July enjoying a beautiful ride along Highway 12 out of Kooskia on the way to Missoula. Given our time with the Basses, and an immediate flat tire on Rocky’s bike, we had a late start. We didn’t get rolling until 11:30. The road was narrow with no shoulder but given the holiday the number of cars and semis on the road were minimal. We biked well into the dark, not stopping until 10:30, using our headlight for the first time for night riding. It was much later than we wanted to go, but once again, it was a matter of trying to get to the next Campground. We stopped at Jerry Johnson Campground about 10 miles shy of Powell, the base of our next climb, Lolo Pass. 

We got an early start on July 5th, deciding to stop for breakfast at Lochsa Lodge in Powell. After breakfast we headed up the Pass, a climb of 12 miles. It was as hot as a pistol and the road had very little shoulder; but thankfully the traffic was still at a minimum. We reached the Pass within 3 hours and gladly crossed the state line into Montana at the summit at around 2:45. 

The ride down into Lolo and then on into Missoula was nondescript and on a gradual downhill. We were able to ride most of the 47 miles at 12-14 mph putting us into Missoula at about 7:30. 

When we got into Lolo we finally had reception, allowing me to catch up on texts and call head to the Shady Sprice Hostel and reserve the last three beds. Thank you Lord. We met some nice cyclists, especially Malcolm Foley from FL. He started in Yorktown and is heading west to Astoria. Go Malcolm! He gave us some great advice about the road ahead. Thanks Malcolm! 

July 6 on the TranAm

Today we visited the Adventrue Cycling Association to have our picture taken, sign the guest book, and have our bikes weighed. Turns out, Forrest’s bike weighed in at 92 lbs, Rocky’s at 82, and mine at 94. The boys were missing a little more weight because we’re low on food and I’m down about 4 lbs because Forrest was carrying my hammock (although I told him I’d carry it from here :). Thank you Forrest. 

I’m typoing all this at the Green Hanger Laudromat while doing laundry and waiting for the bikes to get a quick onceover at a local bike shop. We’ll obviously have lunch here and only get a half-day’s riding in. But it was a worthwhile stop all the same. 

Thanks for praying and thanks for following. 

Until next time… 🙂 

We’ve been in a few places with inadequate or nonexistent wifi, so I haven’t been able to give you all an update. I think it’s about time.

Last Saturday, us girls drove to Kooskia, ID, where we would meet up with the guys for the weekend. As we were getting closer to our destination, we realized that we had lost cell reception. The last time we had talked to the guys, Daddy had given us an idea where they were and that they were on their way to Kooskia. Forrest had called Mama and left a message, but all that came through was: “Mama, we’re–” Kind of disheartening. So we drove to the crossroads of two main roads where we thought they would pass, and where we could pick them up. We waited, and waited, and waited…

Continue reading “Meeting up with the guys/July 4th–by Schylie”

These photos accompany the June 30 post. 

These pictures accompany the June 29 Post.