Big Decisions for my 2025 Trike Tour Made while Exploring Montana and Idaho

 

June and July 2024

I love the reflection

Glorious views

Ivy siting on a Catrike

Aside from getting sick at Tater TOT, the event was outstanding. Janet Buckwalter of Stein Trikes did a great job of working with the management at the Fairbridge Inn to establish a decent rate for a block of rooms.  She kept everyone on the Tater TOT Facebook group page up-to-date, and I think this light hands-on organization made a huge difference to the event's success. There were more trikers in attendance than ever before. I'm not sure of the exact numbers, but nearly 200 trikers were staying at the hotel and area RV parks. I've never seen so many trikers at one event. This year's Tater TOT was the biggest non-industry triking event to date, anywhere. I found this to be very hopeful and exciting for the future of trike riding. Everyone seemed to have a good time, and I expect next year's numbers will be similar. 

Video of Triking with Friends After Tater TOT

I was also lucky to have many good friends at the event. A group of us stayed a couple of extra days at Tater TOT. I recovered from my illness enough to do a group ride. The weather was fabulous. We all drove our trikes to the Medimont trailhead of the Trail of the Couer d'Alenes and did a fantastic ride to Harrison and back. This is such a beautiful section of the trail. We saw lots of wildlife, including moose. I can see us making this ride a tradition to include in future Tater TOTs. 

Flowers next to the trail

Finally, I felt recovered and started thinking about where to go next. Where to go next is one of the hardest decisions I have to make traveling in my RV. There are so many beautiful places to go. I can drive in any direction for 2-5 hours a day. 

I knew I wanted to continue exploring a trike route for next summer's trike tour. My only requirement is developing a route that will get me to the Recumbent Retreat on the Oregon Coast in September. The Recumbent Retreat is always the weekend after Labor Day. My timeline is leaving Tater TOT the 3rd week in June and being in Portland the week before the Retreat to visit friends. These guidelines offered me 2 obvious directions. 

I could do a nice loop riding east through the big National Parks of Glacier, Yellowstone, and the Tetons. There are so many gorgeous places in this area. Many of them are included in Adventure Cycling route maps. Doing a bonafide bike route with actual maps would be very convenient. 

The other idea is to ride directly north on Highway 200 through Sandpoint, Idaho, continuing on Highway 95 in order to cross into Canada. This route puts me at Lake Louis, Banff, and a wonderful loop through Jasper. I also have friends near these beautiful parks in Alberta, and it would be fun to visit them. From there, I could take the TransCanada or Crows Nest Highways west through the Canadian Rockies to Victoria, British Columbia. Once I reach the Pacific coast, I would head south back into the US, riding the Olympic Peninsula in Washington before crossing into Oregon to visit friends in Portland. I have ridden from Portland to the Recumbent Retreat many times and know both routes well. 

River view from Thompson Falls State Park

The big question was which route did I want to explore now. I decided to first drive north to the Canadian border to see what the route looked like and determine if it is safe for cycling. There are many blogs and YouTube videos that describe cycling around Lake Louis, Banff, and Jasper, as well as across Canada heading west. I felt confident this would be a doable route if, for whatever reason, the route around the national parks in the US didn't seem appealing. 

From the Fairbridge Inn leaving Tater TOT, I could ride the Dobson Pass route over the hill and down to Pritchard. Instead of riding back to the Trail of the Couer d'Alenes, I could ride over Thompson Pass into Montana and Thompson Falls. I drove this route and camped at a lovely State Park on the Clark Fork River in Thompson, Mt. From there, Hwy 200 will take me north to Sandpoint, Idaho, and then the Canadian border. I spent a few days in Sandpoint, ID, at a city RV Park. The location was fantastic. I could walk to City Beach Park, the Pend Oreille River as well as all the downtown shops. Unfortunately, elevated train tracks also run next to the RV Park. The long freight trains horn every 2 hours as they pass. They are so close that my trailer actually shook as every train passed. 

Kelly and Jacinto in Newport, Washington

While I was camped in Sandpoint, I heard from two friends who were cycle touring nearby. I drove 30 miles across the border into Newport, Washington to meet Kelly and Jacinto at El Pueblo Mexican restaurant. They had been on a two-month tour and seemed to be having a great time. We talked about bike routes and they shared informative insights and experiences when they heard my plans for next summer's trike tour. After talking to them, I felt confident that the route into Canada would be an excellent tour. 

Once I verified the safety of the route to the Canada border, I decided to go east into Montana and explore the route into Glacier, Yellowstone and the Tetons. 

The drive through Glacier and Yellowstone is stunning. Unfortunately, these famous and popular national parks were all booked up, and I'll have to return to explore them when I have more time to plan a proper trip. I ended up in Great Falls, Montana, and stayed at the local KOA campground, which was very nice.  Unfortunately, wildfire season was also starting up. The air quality was deteriorating, and the area was also experiencing the year's first heatwave.

Grand Great Falls and dam

White pelicans on the Missouri River

Bike Path sign

Great Falls

I spent a few very warm days in Great Falls to ride the Great Rivers trail on the Missouri River. Even though temperatures were in the high 90s, this path is excellent and is well worth checking out. The paved section is a loop ride on both sides of the river. Riding can be extended on lengthy unpaved gravel-riding trails. Great Falls is a lovely town that is crowded with tribal casinos. Aside from Las Vegas, I don't think I've ever been in a town with so many casinos. The city isn't very big, and I wondered how many people there are to keep them all in business.

Video from River's Edge Bike Path, Great Falls, Montana

Again, deciding where to go next took a lot of work. Following the ACA bike route would put me in areas experiencing active wildfires. The air quality was deteriorating in eastern Oregon, Washington, and South Idaho. Looking further afield into Utah and Colorado, a significant heatwave engulfed most of the western US, with temperatures in the triple digits over vast areas. The only area that was smoke-free and had reasonable temperatures was the Pacific coast.  I decided to head to my sister's house in Crescent City, California. 

Hiking trail along the Clark Fork River, Drummond

From Thompson Falls, Montana, I drove to Drummond, Montana, which, like Thompson Falls, is on the Clark Fork River. I found a very simple city park that has 3 sites with electricity. I chose one that had tree cover for shade. The price was right at $20/day. There was a lovely walk to another park with a hiking trail along the Clark Fork River. I really enjoyed my stay in Drummond. I spent many days hoping to outlast the hot weather, but the heatwave was entrenched with no relief in sight. Drummond is on Hwy 12 on the way to Lolo Pass and at a higher elevation. This offered some relief from the heat but not much. I decided to skedaddle to Crescent City, taking the lovely drive on Hwy 12. 

I booked an overnight stay with a BoonDockers Welcome host in Kooskia. Boondockers Welcome, like Harvest Hosts, is always an unexpected experience. Boondockers Welcome hosts don't charge to stay unless guests take advantage of services or other amenities. This host's home was many miles through a deep canyon from Kooskia, Idaho. It was gorgeous. The host had an RV pad for guests, and I decided to pay the extra $10 for electricity. They also offered wifi, which was good because there was no phone service in this remote location. 

The next day, I made my way back through the canyon to Kooskia and drove down Hwy 95 and the gorgeous Salmon River to visit friends in Boise, Idaho. There was lots of construction that required lengthy stops, making the drive long and exhausting. 

I very much enjoyed visiting my long-time friends for a few days even though, this time, the air quality was dangerously poor, and temperatures were uncomfortably high. Having poor air quality really limits activities. This combination of bad air and high temperatures is extra awful. My friends escaped to Portland, and I started driving to Crescent City. 

On the way, I made an overnight stop at Klamath Falls, Oregon. This is a very convenient KOA off of I-5. From here, it was a day's drive to the cooler coast and my sister's house in Crescent City. I feel fortunate to be able to park in front of my sister's home at a moment's notice.

Battery Point Lighthouse, Crescent City

Even though this stop at my sister's wasn't expected, I did manage to complete my goals for what I had hoped for from the traveling I did. What I wanted, foremost, was to explore roads for next summer's trike tour to find a route I felt would be safe. What I really wanted was to avoid my last tour's uncomfortable and high traffic roads. I drove the exact roads for next summer's tour, in the season I would be riding. Because of the wildfires and extreme heat I experienced in Idaho and Montana, I made a decision to take the tour route option into Canada from Tater TOT. I'm excited about this tour. It is going to be a 'real' cycling tour route.  I'll be talking about this tour a lot as I continue planning for the departure in May of 2025.

I'll be in Crescent City for a few weeks before heading to Portland to visit friends before the Recumbent Retreat. My sister and I will be getting out our cameras and doing many local hikes in this gorgeous area of the northern California coast.