Woods Bay, 41 miles total and 22.0 mpg. Totals for the trip, 4040 miles, 26.5* mpg. Those are the stats.
Woods Bay is in Montana, on Flathead Lake, USA. All distance measurements are in miles, 1 mile ≈ 1.59 km. All gasoline quantities are in gallons, 1 gallon ≈ 3.78 liters. All temperatures are in Farenheit. Conversion is C = 5/9*(F-32). Go figure.
Our temperatures have been pretty much in the 80s (day) and 50s (night). Absolutely wonderful.
Today was another late start. Getting to be a habit. A habit I can live with! There’s a hike on tap today, but the first order of business is to get some food. So guess what? Back to the Echo Lake Café(!) of course. It’s a great place, good food, good service, and appears to be the only act close to town. Once you find a winner, ride that pony!
Another great meal, and then on to the hike – turns out the café is on the way! So we continue on with a nice drive to the trailhead. After the paved road ends there are 7 miles of dirt/gravel road, but it’s in good shape – just very dusty. There is also the shear drop to consider – if you leave the road you really leave the road. Hope a tree catches you before you’ve gone very far! It’s wide enough, but it’s still a bit exciting. We only met one car on the way up, and wouldn’t you know, there was a motorcycle parked RIGHT THERE! Murphy is just incredible. - (S-H: I need to tell you that I have been researching trails since just after our return from Hawaii, Trails.com and Gorp.com have provided me with amazing research tools. All of the trails we have done have been quite amazing and different. Lucky me!)
At the trailhead we were met by two unusual things. First, there was a toilet, and that’s not unusual, but it was clean and nice – that is unusual. I suspect the second thing had something to do with it. Second, there were actually Forest Service personnel on site, keeping track of who goes in, who comes out, etc. Answering questions, giving advice, in generally being very helpful. Gently thanking us for having the boys on-lead, and encouraging us to keep them that way. Oh, for the good old days when this was the rule, not the exception! Thanks, Ron. (for those unfamiliar, the National Forests and Parks were great, in many ways, but in large part thanks to a knowledgeable caring crew of ‘rangers’ who hiked the trails, kept track of people, had good information and were more than willing, even anxious to share it with you. All that stopped during the Reagan years. But this is not a political blog, so I’ll stop there. It’s just, as a perpetual hiker, I miss it.)This trail, up to overlook Jewel Basin, was the easiest 1000 foot (1 foot ≈0.3.48 m) climb you’ve ever done. I’m not sure I believe it was 1000 feet. But that apparently is what the book says, so there you have it. The forest is again beautiful, melting snow fills many streams, flowers are abundant and just striking. What colors. What shapes! The bees really have a ball up here! And so do we.
Have I described how we hike? We have found that Jake must be in front. If Woody is in front, Jake will cry incessantly. And pull harder than ever. He, Jake, is impossible to control when Woody is in front. So, we have usually started out with Sally-Heath having Woody and me, out in front, having Jake. We do half the hike and switch dogs and positions. The other factor is that Sally-Heath likes to use a nose collar to control the pulling. It works pretty well, and the dog is not choked at all. The dogs hate the nose collar. I like to use the training collar, or choke chain. The dogs pull, and are choked of their own volition. They will never learn that they can stop the choking by not pulling. Anyway, that’s what we do. It the trail is wide we sometimes hike side by side, but usually, when I’m in front, I hike for a while, then stop and wait, and when S-H is in front, I give her a good head start, then hike until I catch up, and then let her get ahead again. We always, well, almost always, stay close enough to assist each other if needed. (S-H: I have always felt this is hard for him to do because his stride is about 12 “ longer than mine.)
When you get to the top, at the end of Trail 8, where it T’s into Trail 7, the view is incredible. Just below you are two crystal clear lakes. We would have hiked down to them, but there was snow on the trail. So we just sat and ogled and enjoyed. Only a few weeks ago these lakes were frozen and covered with snow! The hike back down was great too. We just retraced our steps, but we knew a few spots, including a Lookout Point, to stop and enjoy the view and take pictures. Which we did. Check out Flickr, we took a bunch.
Back at the trailhead I asked for a refund – no big animals (deer, elk, moose, bear, etc.) as promised in the brouchure (not).
The drive back to town was good, we never left the road once. We got back to the room, finished up some loose ends and headed one more time across the street to The Raven for dinner. We have discussed it, and we agree, we’d really like to come back here sometime, in summer, and spend a week or so. No agenda, no plan – just do what we feel like doing, which could include staying right here at the Islander Inn all day and eating across the street at The Raven. It’s that pleasant. Who knows how it might be the next time, but it’s a nice thought.
We’ve finished another great meal, and a bottle of Black Opal, and we’re back in the room. The spa will be filling soon – I’m ready! Goodnight!
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