Day 15
From Idaho (Wallace) to Montana (Missoula)...Part 1
Before we leave Wallace, we check the map and see a mountain called Polaris Peak. Got
to go there...
On the way, we see signs for the town of Polaris...
...Polaris avenue...
...Until we finally get to...
...The top of Polaris Peak (5600ft).
For us, flatlanders used to live at 300 above sea level, 5600 ft is a BIG deal!
Hey! The first time we hit 3000ft, we were all excited!
 
Yeah ! Back to the trails and
life in the great outdoors!
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AAhhh! Feels like home... |
| Bof... |
First time we meet "anti-ATVers"... |
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We respect the choice of other trail and public land users.
But some people have no respect whatsoever for us simply because we chose to prefer
motorized recreation. There's room for everybody out there... |
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After coming back down from the summit, things got a little
nastier...A not too accurate map combined with totally unmarked trails...The ideal
reciepe...For not knowing where you're going! Since the GPS does'nt indicate those tiniy
trails, we have to take out the lap top and check on the TOPO software, hoping it mihgt be
of some help.
Like we said earlier, there's tons of trails near Wallace. Seems every 100 ft
there's a fork in the trail. Luckily, our TOPO tells us which way to go.
"But, but...that can't be it!! It's bearly large enough for the quad! And right on
the mountain side...Going down..."
"It's either that or we have to go back the way we came from, over the mountain
top and back to Wallace..."
"Lets push a little more...Without knowing where that will take us...I sure hope
it does'nt dead-end...Don't feel like undoing all this!"
"Now what?? Hey Marc! My engine keeps stalling everytime I take my thumb off the
gas."
"Simonac! Great timing! Of course it's been eating a lot of dust and we're kind of
high in elevation, but that should'nt affect it that much, it's should compensate."
Seriously, the trail is so narrow, there's no marging for error. If you ride too much
to the right it's "Goodbye! She is gone!!" (5000ft is kinda high, you know...).
France tends to drive too much to the left (who would blame her?) so she keeps hitting
rocks that are sticking out a bit and that makes her quad lean to the right towards the
ravine...
"Honey, try to stay centered in the trail..."
"HEEYYY...Pleeaase...Mind your....With this engine stalling all the time..."
"Euhh...Won't happen if you keep you thumb on the gas a little bit..."
Yeah right!! Going down!! Across the hill, loaded like a mule..."
France just about had it now. The tears a right there in the corners...She knows she
does'nt have a choice. There's absoloutely no way to turn around. We are certainly not
going to sleep here...There's not even enough room to open the tent! And even if we were
too sleep here, she'd still have to drive out of here tomorrow...
I must also say that France has a little tendancy to be...afraid of heights...In fact,
she gets dizzy standing on the newspaper...so at 5000ft...
A few miles later (yes, yes a few miles...), incredible! We come across 3 quadists that
confirm to us we are on the right track. Poor them! They were really kind to back-up for a
couple hundred feet to let us go by. Luckily, we were not too far from a wider spot!
They say there's no more than 5 or 6 miles more of that stuff before we're out of
it...5 or 6 miles...seems like a long ways...
But we made it! (Evidently, since you're reading this..:)
After a little inspection of Frances' quad, I notice the locking nut for the idle
adjustment had become loose from all the vibration. So the idle speed came out of
adjustment and slowed down...until it made the engine stall. One quarter of a turn on the
adjustment, tighten the locking nut and...Voilà! case closed!
Polaris Industries -
Canada
Polaris Industries - USA
So here we are back on relatively more flat trails. We are now looking for a
place to spend the night.
We find a perfect spot but we're greeted by a very aggressive
"Anti-ATVer".
He pretends we ruined his dinner. Because of the noise of our engines, he could'nt enjoy a
peaceful meal...
It's the first time something like this happens. Normally, people are curious,
interested and friendly to us.
Marc is kinda frustrated of that reaction but France calms him down and tells
him: "Baahh... don't bother, let's go someplace else. There's all kinds of nice
places."
Matter of fact, this one's not bad!
AH HA! A visitor! Nope! Not big enough for dinner...
It's definitly the most remote spot we camped at this trip. And also of course, the
place where we are most likely to see wildlife...
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