GDMBR Day 53

• Start: Columbia Falls, MT

• Finish: Clarence Creek Campground, Kootenai National Forest

• Miles: 84.0 miles

• Odometer: 2,523.7 miles

• Ascent: 7,100 feet

• Descent: 6,200 feet

• Location: https://share.garmin.com/Judice

It is not clear to me how I can physically eat so much food at one meal. I realize I need the calories. I must be burning nearly 10,000 cal every day. When I sit down for a proper meal I am so hungry that I just eat and eat and eat. Breakfast might include an omelette, hashbrowns, biscuit, oatmeal, and pancakes.

Today’s ride took me over two mountain passes and skirted Glacier National Park border. The weather held out for a while so that I was able to get really pretty views of the mountains in Glacier. 

At the beginning of this trip, recall that I spent a couple of nights in the Toaster House Hostel in Pie Town, NM. I met a young northbound cyclist there named Thad. He was headed to Albuquerque to visit with his family before resuming his ride north to Canada. I always assumed that his young legs would catch me up and I would see him on the trail. Well as it turned out I saw him today but he decided to avoid the snow in Colorado for now and flew up to Banff to begin his southbound journey. What a coincidence to run into him again. We had a pretty good laugh about the coincidence.

While I do like a hot shower and a cozy hotel bed every once in a while, camping in my tent brings such solitude. I love it. Clarence Creek Campground was completely empty except for my tent. I went to sleep listening to the rushing water from Clarence Creek.