Day 13. Wild Montana!!

Yesterday, Alicia saw a very large dog like critter. We figure it was a wolf. It was alone. We have seen a number of different wildlife. Today there were Mule Deer and White Tail Deer. Lots of bear scat but thankfully no bear. Eagles, Turkey Vultures, Osprey, Pileated Woodpeckers and lots of other interesting birds. The squirrels here are smaller and black. We will be riding along and suddenly a half dozen giant birds will be flying around and away. These are the Turkey Vultures and then we look around and see the carrion (In these cases Deer carcasses) they were feasting on.

The Pileated Woodpecker at Dorr Skeels



Today

We completed the length of Lake Koocanusa and made it to Eureka. The Lake is about 50 miles long. It is a joint creation of Canada and the USA on the Kootenai River. That is how the name was created KOOtenaiCANadaUSA - KOOCANUSA. The dam that creates the lake is Libby Dam.

Koocanusa Resort.



Cabinet Mountains



Big Sky Pantry - Pete, Butch, and Dick

Dick and Butch met on the road and are traveling together. They plan to split in North Dakota. Butch is headed to Maine like us. He lives there took the train West and started in Anacortes. Dick is headed to Iowa.

Big Sky was another fun find. A Deli in the midst of nothing. Literally. There is nothing else for 20 miles. We had a good sandwich and ice cream. Yum!!



Today, we once again have no cell signal. I'm at the library on their WiFi. I can still make and receive calls on the iPhone by connecting to the library WiFi network and using Skype.



Tomorrow we plan to go to either Whitefish or Columbia Falls. The following day we want to end in Essex which is between West Glacier and East Glacier on the edge of Glacier National Park and partway up our last Western pass. The day after that, we finish the pass and start the long zoom downhill into the Eastern Montana plains. We expect to at least make Cut Bank which will finish Section 2 of our journey: Sandpoint to Cut Bank. Then onto the next Section: Cut Bank to Minot, ND.

~ Pete