kalispell

Middle of washington

Seattle!

Our way back!

After getting a crazy ride down from alaska we made it all the way across washington to kalispell and are back at the aunts. We will post videos tomorrow about how we got back.

Day 106 We have arrived in Anchorage! (LeAnn)

Today we finished up our last 50 miles into Anchorage. Luckily there are a few people in town to host us for the next week or so, as we finally try to figure out our next move for the trip. My second cousin Julie is letting us stay for the night. We are healthy and ready for some good food and rest.

Yesterday we surprisingly reached our record of 102 miles after a two hour round of stick fighting and not leaving until 10:30am.

Day 99 - 20 MILES TO THE ALASKA BORDER!!! (LeAnn)

We will cross the border and be in Alaska tonight! One week to go and we will be in Anchorage. We saw a male and female moose crossing a river yesterday! They were the first moose that I have ever seen in the wild. Our bear count is now up to 7 grizzlies and 9 black bears. This morning we ate a delicious breakfast of oatmeal filled to the brim of the pot with raisens, several handfulls of wild cranberries, honey and 1/2 pound of dates. As we were about to leave Ben saw a lynx the size of a large dog cross the road right in front of him. The weather has been wonderful with lots of sunshine and a strong tail wind pushing us along on the last few hundred miles of our journey. The endless clear, cold lakes are swarming with trumpeter swans and families of ducks. Everything seems to be getting more wild and alive the closer we get to Alaska. I love this life!

Yukon day-before snow

After this by some crays random not so good happen stance, i too broke a spoke on the freewheel side. Though again by some luck i(ben) bent a spoke and threded int though a small crack enough to hold my wheel steady. THe weather is sunny for the first and the last day this week. 50 k from white horse and a new tire. If we ahve to walk our bikes it will be good training for the marathon.

cheers

Day 85 Dease Lake- the middle of wilderness

Ben had a fairly bad crash on his bike, but is still in working order. We are battling constant rain, hail and cold but are surviving in Dease Lake right now. Everything is beautiful and complete wilderness. We are still sticking with our goal to finish 15 days from today. We are stocking up for another 7 days of wilderness and will further update when we reach civilization once again.

Leaving from Smithers (LeAnn)

 Last night we stayed at a couple's house from the Warmshowers website in Smithers. We biked a hard 90 miles yesterday after waking up fairly late in the morning and were very happy to have a comfortable, warm bed to sleep in.

We are just about to leave from Smithers, BC and head up the Stewart-Cassiar Hwy. We have about 1200km of beautiful open highway in front of us before we hit any major towns, so we are stocking up on lots and lots of pasta and staples for the long road ahead. I am very excited to be in the heart of wilderness in British Columbia! About 3 more weeks to Anchorage!

Day 72 One more day in Prince George (LeAnn)

We are staying in Prince George another night due to some bike repairs. The weather has been amazing so far with clear skies and beautiful sunny weather. Yesterday, a man pulled over on the side of the highway as we were entering the city, handed us a colorful $5 canadian bill and told us to buy ourselves some icecream. (Canadians sure love their icecream!)

Last night we stayed with a very nice couple and their dog and cat in the city. We ate sweet corn and shish kabobs roasted over the fire for dinner. Then this morning they made us some delicious homemade waffles topped with icecream and warm blueberry syrup. Good food and a nice warm bed have helped us regain our strength again for the miles ahead.

Prince george-day 71

We have arrived at prince george, only a few bear incidents, no deaths, only broken spokes. We have been in the most beautiful wilderness we have ever seen. And now we leave for the 1000 k stretch of absolute wilderness, farwell, we will hopefully come back.

Day 69 We made it to Dunster!

Over 500 miles into Canada, we just stayed with a wonderful couple in Dunster. They even let us sleep in their sheep wagon last night! We are a few days from Prince George and should be able to further update the blog when we get there. Everything is going well and we are having the time of our lives. British Columbia is absolutely amazing!

Day 60 Leaving for Canada!

We are finally on our way. We are planning on making it to the border by tonight. Updates and photos from the past few weeks will be added next time we hit a library. I'm not sure when that will be, possibly not for a couple of weeks, so don't worry too much if we haven't posted anything for a while. Alaska here we come!

Day 54 Preparing for Canada (LeAnn)

After resting and recovering in one of the most beautiful places on earth for almost a week, I regained most of my strength and energy. Ben's aunt Val has been the most amazing host I have ever had and has taken very good care of us. She has cooked us some of the best vegetarian dishes I have tasted and I feel very lucky to be here. Her home has a very peaceful and rejuvenating feel and I have loved being able to spend some time here.

Ben is still not feeling quite up to par. He has pretty severe pain in his mouth and still hasn't been able to eat  as much. We are hoping to be able to leave for Canada sometime toward the end of this week, and still have a lot of preparation to do before we head out on the last leg of our trip.

Day 53 Into town (LeAnn)

Ben and I felt well enough to bike into town today. There is a 10 mile paved bike path that goes right into Kalispell. It was a nice ride to start off with after we had been resting for so long. Though it was difficult to control our bikes with no gear on the back or front to weigh them down. We stopped at a few bike shops and outdoor stores and bought the rest of what we need to prepare for canada.

Day 51-52 Still Recovering (LeAnn)

I finally got outside to explore a bit. The gardens are beautiful with giant sunflowers and even a strawberry patch with a few late season stragglers still growing. Aunt Val also has 25 acres of beautiful woods and a genuine tepee. I am eating a bit more now, but still feel very weak. Ben is also still quite tired and not able to eat much.

Day 48-50 Sick in Bed (LeAnn)

Ben and I were both out for 3 days. We both slept a ton and we couldn't eat much of anything. All of Aunt Val's animals kept us company. She has five dogs, eight cats, a bunch of chickens, two horses, one pony and a big old turkey that sits outside the sliding door of the basement and constantly gobbles at his own reflection. Thank god we got here just on time.

Day 47 We made it to Kalispell! (LeAnn)

Ben woke up still feeling somewhat ill this morning. I let him rest a while. We had a visitor come in to check us out. It was a little brown and white Least Weasel. He snooped around in our clothes and played around crawling in and out of my gloves, then hopping towards us to peer into our tent and take a look at the odd creatures that were inhabiting his home.

Luckily, Ben started to feel better, so we continued biking until we made it to Polson for the Cherry festival. As we were walking our bikes through the tents of merchandise, three younger teenage boys asked Ben if he was in the movie Troy. That wasn't the first time that Ben has been mistaken for the actor Eric Bana. I guess I'm dating a movie star lookalike.

After Polson, we pushed it up several steep climbs all the way around Flathead Lake until we found a bike path just outside of Kalispell and followed it the rest of the way into the city. Ben's aunt offered to pick us up in Kalispell, since she lived a few miles out of town in Kila and said her house was difficult to find.

Underneath the street lights we were cheerfully greeted by a white pickup truck, a spry woman and tiny black poodle named Buddy. Finally, we were safe and sound for a little while.

Day 46 Wildlife Sanctuary (LeAnn)

Today, we continued biking on what is known as one of the most deadly highways in Montana. Highway 93 has more crosses on the side of the road than I have ever seen in my life. We stopped at a little grocery store in Arlee and bought the fixings to make corn tortillas with beans and veggies. I always like to buy a few pieces of fruit as well, any kind of fresh produce just tastes so much better when you're on the road.

We made it almost to Ronan when Ben started to feel a little ill. Thankfully we came across a wildlife sanctuary. Ben and I left our bikes and found a little overgrown trail that led straight into the woods. The trail led to a tunnel-like entrance with wooden walls on either side sprinkled with little holes to view the wildlife. The walls led to stairs and in we climbed to a wooden shelter with a bench in the middle and more holes built into the walls for bird watchers and the like. Beneath the floorboards, tiny little purple and yellow bell flowers crept up on spiraling tendrils. The entire place had magical feel. We brought our bikes in and Ben laid down to rest while I cooked a dinner of lentil and vegetable soup. Poor Ben was having hot and cold sweats throughout the night.