Musings from the road

 Dispatches from the Road by Bill Poindexter

Diary of an adventure, Cyclist and Novice, Saloon keeper 

Day 13 (Death by Mosquito)

I’ve been here in remote, Montana for 13 days now. I have two consecutive days off today and yesterday yesterday I rode from Polebridge into glacier national park and rode the inside N. Fork Rd., to Apgar then Sprague campground. I haven’t toured since last summer and the road was pretty rough but it was gorgeous and beautiful and a lot of fun -took me about four hours to go with that thirtyish miles. With plenty of breaks and picture taking -

the thing about the inside N. Fork Rd. is that it’s the original Road that was built by the mining companies And the timber companies 

And to this day 10 miles of it remains closed to cars so it’s just you and the wilderness out there in that four hours -

I only saw two other people. They were doing it they were retired couple from Kalispell, who usually Road the Sun Road, but couldn’t find a place to park and they were aggravated by all the E bikes in the crowds. I told him I understand we found solitude together and it was beautiful. I was thinking about riding up last night to the road to the sun but by the time I got in the Apgar and then to the campground I just didn’t feel the need to go that direction, sleep did not come easy last night, that surprised me one of the negative things about being in a campground right next to a road as there’s traffic and people pull in looking for a spot to camp even though the campgrounds some stand out there and talk. That in itself makes me appreciative of Polebridge and where I live, very few people -

there are two other groups of cyclists in the campground at the hiker biker site and it’s kind of funny-They’re both from Chicago young couple and two single guys. One of the single guys was inspired by Ryan Van Duzer. Who’s a kind of a showman bikepacker who has a really good channel on YouTube. 

The campground I’m at is very simple. It’s right on Lake McDonald. I’m actually sitting on some steps overlooking the lake right now as the sun rises dictating this. So from the end of the inside N. Fork Rd. to here is another 10 to 12 miles I think so. Yesterday’s ride was from my cabin Roughly low 40ish miles maybe? I was thinking about riding up to the Logan Pass this morning but I’ve done it before and I’m kind of feeling the need to head back to Polebridge because I need to run into town first and do some business stuff, possibly even open up a bank account up here And I don’t want to feel rushed if I head up to the sun road chances are I won’t get back to camp till around noon and then I’m gonna feel rushed to get everything done. So I think I’m just gonna stay at the campground for part of the morning, and just enjoy the solitude and the rest Talked to the fellow campers which I like to do and then bike into Apgar and then West Glacier and resupply and then I’m going to ride the N. Fork Rd. back in to Polebridge that should only take me 3 hours.

So you might be asking the question, “Hey Bill, how’s everything going so far?”

Overall, it’s going well. Just taking one day at a time I like working at the northern lights saloon. I do have to say I am missing Kansas City in my three rescue cats. But they’re in good hands for the summer while I’m out on an adventure. So I’m a little homesick right now-but that’s always normal in the first 2 to 3 weeks on any of my trips. I’m really looking forward to exploring the area. I am in all summer. I’m hoping that the schedule becomes where I work four days a week and then off three days. It’s been warm up here and I think this next week it’s going to be in the low 80s which is really warm for this time of year.

The mosquitoes have become good friends -my cabin is full of them in the morning, and in the evening at dusk, doesn’t really matter if I keep the door closed or not, they tend to sneak in. Here at the campground, they were in good numbers as well. It’s because of the warm weather. I was walking around the loop of the campground and I came upon a man sitting on the rear of his car, looking distraught, drinking a cup of coffee and intelligent man I would say, looking like he had a two week beard like mine,fit, had a bicycle on his car rack. I would say it was most likely from somewhere in eastern Europe because of his accent, he just gave me a smile and with a twinkle in his eye, and said, “death by mosquito.”

To readers and friend: thanks Kaytee for the awesome big Agnes tent! I appreciate your kindness.