Bullwinkle, no Rocky

I was just a mile down the road yesterday, on hiway 20, when up ahead a moose walked onto the road. She was nice enough to wait patiently while I got out my camera and set it up for the shot.





I waited a bit longer, but never did see the flying squirrel.

Friday's ride started in Republic, WA. I camped in a city park and before climbing the Sherman pass, I had breakfast and met a truck driver who was working for gold mine outside of Republic. With the slowdown in the logging industry, the entire area is happy to have the work associated with the mining operation. He was hauling waste water and when this job was done he was going to N. Dakota to again haul waste water, but this time for the oil fields.

Once again, it was a slow ride up the mountain pass and a chilly ride down. Then it was another 1500 feet of climb East of Kettle Falls. This part of hiway 20 had very little traffic and wide shoulders, allowing me to spend more time enjoying the scenery. I called it a day after 80 miles and camped along a lake fed by the Pend Oreille River.




The chirping of birds is my wake-up call when camping. The sun was up, but had not yet warmed the air.



I waited for things to warm up a bit and then was on my way once again. About 20 miles down the road, I met 4 riders who were also riding the Northern Tier. Regan and his two sons, Jake and Logan, and their friend Chris Hassan are riding to raise money for AT (ataxia-telangiectasia) disease research. They are from Stevens Point, WI, but like me they started in Washington and plan to ride to Maine.



We rode together the entire day and it was nice to have conversation, share the uphill struggles, and exhilaration of a 30 mph downhill coast.

The route was fairly level and so the miles went by quickly. Regan and his team decided to camp, while I continued on to Sandpoint, ID. I needed a comfortable bed and a chance to recharge the electronics.

For day I put on 102 miles and the week total was about 520 miles.

Sandpoint is a beautiful resort community on Lake Pend Oreille. I'm going to stay here a few hours and explore before hitting the road again. It'll be a short recovery ride today.

Note to Ken and Jim: The Adventure Cycling route would be great on a MC too (other than the bike paths.)

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Location:Sandpoint, ID