Life with Dennis: Bicycling, Teaching, & more: Day 35, Tuesday, August 21, 2012, Ennis, MT to Campfire Lodge, MT

Day 35, Tuesday, August 21, 2012, Ennis, MT to Campfire Lodge, MT

Second hardest day on the bike, so far, this trip. As stated, Bob and I elected to sleep in as the day did not present, on paper, as very difficult. It would be a steady up but primarily at about 2%. We didn't sleep in as we both got a solid night's sleep. We were up just after Geno shut the door.

The other five went to breakfast at The Pharmacy whereas Bob and I elected to go to The Ennis Cafe. The day before while walking around we had asked a proprietress what she thought was a good restaurant for dinner and breakfast. When I asked her if The Pharmacy was a good choice she made a very negative facial expression and then said she wasn't going to say anything about The Pharmacy. We then asked her what she thought were good choices. She recommended the Ennis for breakfast.

Bob and I were the last ones out of the Riverside motel. A very comfortable morning. We had to climb up onto a bench above the Madison River. Once on top I felt a breeze blowing straight on. It slowed us down but we were able to maintain a steady 10-11 miles per hour. Two hours later it was still a steady head wind and we were tired. Around three hours I saw a sign for a rest stop ahead. Herb and Bob were already there. I pulled in, "No Water." A rest stop without any running water?!!? Bob engaged a man in conversation and he said he had water. He filled several water bottles and put some in my Camel Back.

Smoke enshrouded mountains.

Mike was the last to pull in and he went begging in his persuasive manner and came up with five cans of diet coke and six bottles of water. This refreshment got us down the road about another hour or so, when we saw Geno's bike parked off to the side of a restaurant. It turned out they had just closed, but were quite willing to cook their last four burgers and three plates of tacos. Beverages were unlimited and I drank about four glasses of raspberry tea. We were wasted from almost four hours of riding and we still had another 15 miles to go.

The wind seemed to be coming more from the side as we headed for the Madison River Canyon and Earthquake Lake. As we headed into the canyon it became a tail wind. After four and a half hours on the bike we still had about three minor climbs to get up and over. We arrived at Campfire Lodge after five hours and fifteen minutes on the bike. We got an extra cabin so everyone could sleep in their own bed. There was no dinner place close by so we had to snack.

Picture is out of order, in that, it was a funeral parlor in Ennis. Really looks like a place for dead people to me.

The Madison river in the foreground with the scar from the avalanche above.

A second look. Niether of these pictures unless you blow them up indicate how massive a landslide it was.

My first look at Quake Lake.

A second look at Quake Lake.

The outlet is the V in the foreground.

The outlet first created by the Corps of Engineers but worn away over the last 60 years by the Madison River. The Corps elected to blow an outlet rather than take the chance the river would burst the quake created dam and a huge flash flood would follow doing damage to the ranches and towns downstream.

A long look down the lake. Now it is around 190 feet deep. All the dead trees are actually measurements of how far the lake has dropped since 1959.

Looking back at the outlet and the slide scar. Eventually the Madison River will wear away the slide created dam and Quake Lake will disappear. Three separate events occurred to create what we see here. An earthquake, then a landslide, followed by a flood. Over 20 people died in the campground, now underwater, that night of the earthquake.