Day 16 – June 19 – Missoula, MT to Condon, MT– 85 Miles

Today was a high mileage day.  Seems appropriate after a rest day?   We started about 8:00 AM, our earliest start.  We had decided to try for Condon, MT about halfway to Glacier Park.  The day started off cool and never got above 50 degrees all day.  About a half hour into the ride it began to rain. This may sound like the beginnings of a bad day for riding, but we donned our raingear and a nice tailwind kicked in to push us along, the road was lightly traveled and the shoulders were generous. The rain stopped within an hour and we had 30 miles in before we knew it.  We stopped for lunch in Potomac, MT and then again for a mid-day break after another 15 miles.

Today was our first day riding with David O’Neil.  David has done quite a bit of riding in Australia and New Zealand.  It was enjoyable.  David is very laid back, and enjoys taking a slower pace and the time to stop and talk with people and take in the sights.  He does not lack for conversation or a story.

After the mid-day break the riding got a bit more difficult.  We turned onto Montana Route 83 a winding busy highway with no shoulders.  As we turned to the north, those once favorable winds turned to the south and we headed directly into them.  The last 40 miles were difficult.  We arrived at the Swan Valley Center General Store in Condon just before 7:00 PM.  We secured a campsite next to the general store, bought a bag of Chili Cheese Fritos to stave off hunger and got down to the business of setting up camp.

The only place open in Condon after 7 PM, we passed ¼ mile south of the General Store, Liquid Louie’s.  It doesn’t take much imagination to figure out what the business serves.  We have rations that we can put together to fill our calorie count, but today wasn’t the day anyone really felt like cooking unless absolutely necessary.  Louie’s gave us a choice of cheeseburgers or two different kinds of frozen pizzas.  We opted for the pizzas and got to take in the local flavor as we waited on them.  We actually enjoyed talking with the patrons of Louie’s and getting an, albeit alcohol tainted take on the local scene.  They also provided a lot of advice on what states or cities we should or should not ride thru as well as how to defend ourselves from the local population of bears.

It was right around 9:30 when we returned to camp.  We were all tired, and getting to sleep was not a problem.