7-22-08 Peace Out

Up early. Travel day…pending reality setting in.

Wrap-up show…

We thank everyone for reading our blog and offering your comments. We had such a great time on our trip. We’ll never forget our experiences, the interesting people we met and overall incredible sights and sounds along the way. Here are a few interesting (to us of course) items, news and notes from our trip. Enjoy.

Some trip numbers:

1. 3-week duration
2. 3700 miles driven
3. $780 gas
4. 7 states/provinces
5. 4 national parks
6. 2 countries
7. 25 national forests (estimated)
8. 15 state/provincial parks (estimated)
9. 11 incredible mountain bike rides
10. 2 absolutely amazing hikes
11. 1 fly fishing
12. 1 white water rafting
13. 1 horseback ride
14. 19 days of ridiculously perfect weather

Number of times we cursed at the Garmin GPS Lady: 64

Longest stretch of driving: 10 hours Yakima, WA to Stanley, ID

Number of days inclement weather halted an activity: 0.5 (not too bad!!)

Mountain Bike Trail Nods

1. Skookum Flats – Most rainforesty ticky tacky goodness
2. Little Bald Mountain – Best downhill variety
3. Devil’s Gulch – Ultimate long burner climb with best downhill…period
4. Elk Mountain – Best big sub-alpine meadow action
5. Fisher Creek – Most surprising never-ending singletrack fun
6. Bald Mountain – Least climbing and best view (ski lift)
7. Chocolate/Fox – Highest celebrity content (Lance Armstrong at some point)
8. Helena Town Trails – Best unobstructed 360 degree view at top
9. Moonraker – Best Grand Canyon impression
10. Monument 83 – Most historical trail with a boring climb
11. Alice Lake – Best fun rolling

Satellite radio stations accessed:

1. 40% - Howard Stern

2. 35% - News/NPR

3. 15% - Lithium Rock

4. 5% - Weather channels

5. 5% - Miscellaneous

Top illegal activities

1. Mike speeding

2. Chad speeding

3. Smuggling tobacco from U.S. to Canada (2 cigars)

4. Smuggling (inadvertently) bear spray from Canada to U.S.

5. Being closer than 100 yards from grizzly bear

6. Farting (Chad) at campsite during quiet hours

7. Using restrooms in stores where not patrons

8. Accessing other people’s WIFI 23 times

9. Riding (mistakenly) on hiking-only trails

10. Casting our spell of charm on unsuspecting lovely ladies

11. Pretending to charm unsuspecting lovely ladies

12. Talking about work which was a rarity thank goodness

Most purchased items during trip:

1. Ice

2. Water/Gatorade

3. Coffee

Best campsite:

1. Lakeview Campground – Stanley, ID

2. Alice Lake Provincial Park Campground – Squamish, BC

3. Dalles Campground – Emunclaw, WA

Honorable Mentions:

1. Most in-site wildlife: Avalanche Lake Campground – Glacier National Park
2. Scariest grizzly red zone: Bakers Hole Campground – Gallatin National Forest (West Yellowstone) – slept with knife open in tent…no joke
3. Best Bathroom: Two Jack Campground – Banff National Park
4. Shortest Stay: 10 hours – Moose Creek Campground – Helena, MT

Worst campground: Golden Municipal Campground – Golden, BC (it just sounds bad)

Towns with the most character (i.e. not considered Anytown U.S.A.) visited:

1. Banff, AB

2. Ketchum, ID

3. Jackson Hole, WY

Luckiest moments:

1. Leaving the passenger side window down at Glacier National Park trailhead with laptop and GPS on seat for the duration of our 6 hour hike
2. Spill at Little Bald Mountain. Although not mentioned in the blog entry for fear that mother may call the Director of Homeland Security and stop government, Mike was relatively close to tumbling down a 200 foot rock slide…yikes. Lesson learned; don’t clip the inside sloping bank with front tire at a high rate of speed
3. The overall lack of bear mauling
4. ‘Working’ the ‘green’ Fedex employees to knock off a total of $200 in bike shipping costs both to and from.

Best place to drop a deuce after a tough ride: Bald Mountain Resort, Ketchum, ID – marble countertops, granite stone, gold fixtures, massive heavy door, nice tile work, good horsepower and flush action on the toilet and a sweaty, dirty, stinky mountain biker.

Best pre-trip purchase:

Mike: Headlamp

Chad: Hiking Shoes

Most surprising state:

Mike: Idaho – didn’t see a single potato; had no idea Idaho was so beautiful

Chad: Idaho for similar reasons

Item we wish we packed more of:

Mike: White socks

Chad: Biking socks

Worst pre-trip purchase:

Mike: Campsite chair

Chad: Not buying biking sunglasses

Packed item not used:

Mike: Rock climbing gear

Chad: Swimsuit

Random fact learned on trip which now seems obvious:

Mike: 2/3 of Washington is desert

Chad: Chad knows everything

Things that will never occur following this trip:

Mike: Eat another chewy granola bar…ever!

Chad: Try on another pair of sunglasses

Peace out!!!