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Day 16
From Idaho (Wallace) to Montana (Missoula)...Part 2
This morning you will have the trust us and believe us as we did'nt bring the camera
into the tent last night (not part of our habits yet, I guess...). An unusual noise wakes
us up...Sort of a "splash!". We both jump up,(or actually, we sit up...) to see,
right there at about 20 feet, two deer that just crossed the river!!
All four of us stare at each other through the plastic sheet that covers the side door
of the tent. And we all seem as curious as the next guy to check out that
"animal" from such a close distance!!
As soon as we try to move...Boom! They're gone!
Speaking of the doors on the tent, even if it's very hot during the day, the nights are
rather cool, that's why we lower the clear plastic doors France added on both sides.
After breakfast, we're back on saddle again. Trails change all the time. We never know
what to expect around each turn. Nevertheless, here's what a typical trail/forest road
looks like here:
A very steep hill on one side, the trail (more or less narrow), a river, another steep
hill, often very densly wooded.
Since there's a lot of dust, France and I leave a good distance between us when we
ride.
It's way cooler in the woods!
About 20 min. after we get going, we come across a group of 4 quads.
One of the guys says to me:
"That does'nt look too good..."
"Say what?? What does'nt look good? (I think he's talking about the trailer or
something...)
"That flat tire!"
"Holy cow! A flat! My first flat! (of this ride...). And I had'nt even notice it!!
It was'nt like that when left, I can guarantee that!"
The four guys stayed with me and helped me fix, or rather, they fixed my flat, using a
very clever technique to lift the wheel and work on the tire. More in the tricks
section...
So, a BIG THANKS TO:
RUSSEL SATHER
KURTIS PLANTE (who figured how to lift the quad)
RAY KUHN
And a very special thanks to Jim Shubert, for letting
me have his map of the St-Joe National forest.
Thanks to his map and a few suggestions from the guys, we plotted a route to Missoula
that seemed very interesting.
Hey! Here's France! She's back just in time to take the group photo.
Smile!
Here we go again!...Going up...
Ouf! That was worth it!...
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...Now we come back down again...Here's an easy and very enjoyable section that follows
along the St-Joe river...
...AAhhhh! The traditionnal "before lunch swim"...
...And here's Marc, always hard at work...on his tan...life's tough, aint it?
 
Yeah ! Unusual encounters!
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What are the odds that you'll meet, 30 miles from each other,
in the woods, 2 guys that live in the same town and work for same company, in the same
building and see each other every day? It's definitly a side of our trip that surprises us
and that we enjoy very much! PEOPLE ARE VERY KIND AND FRIENDLY! THANKS! |
| Bof... |
The first flat... |
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Probably not the last...It's still pretty good, one flat out
of the 600+ miles we rode on all kinds of terrain already. |
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Forest road 301. Like a postal card...Around each bend!
It only lasts about 10 miles, but it's very spectacular!! We ride at the bottom of a
canyon.
No, no! Those are not pyramids! These lines you see are all forest roads or fire roads,
how are we suppose to figure out which one to choose??
We just tell ourselves that, we don't know what we're missing in all the other trails but
we certainly know what we're enjoying is spectacular! Any way we go, we won'y be able to
see it all, it's beautiful every where!
Late afternoon break at Dismal Lake. We meet Brenda and Mike Walker. Seems
Mike and Brenda know our 4 friends of this morning very well...Mike works with Jim
Shubert...They see each other every day...it's a small world, is'nt it??
Thanks Mike and Brenda for the "ice cold Busch Lites"!
It's a yo-yo ride. We go up, we go down, we go up, we go down...
Here, we go up...
...When, all of a sudden...
"What in the world...A parachute!! A sky diver!?! On the trail?!?"
When I told you we never knew what to expect around the next bend...That's what I meant!!
He's a firefighter. There's a forest fire nearby and, since his plane was flying by,
they just asked if the guys down there needed help. Since they did, he simply jumped!!
I always thought you had to be very courageous (or totally nuts...) to jump out of a
perfectly good airplane...Imagine jumping to go fight a forest fire...You have to be
totally dedicated.
Hats off to you guys!! We salute you!!
Speaking of forest fires, it's the second one we see today!
The first...
...And the second one...this one a lot closer...We rode just a little bit higher on the
hill...
This could very well become a major obstacle to our progression. The
firefighter told me there was 26 active fires in this district of the St-Joe forest alone!
Some are big, some are smaller. We were very lucky to get through today, the fire was very
close...Tomorrow, you may not be able to ride this road...
This next photo really has nothing to do with the story...I just though I'd
put it on to try and convince you to get out of the house and live this for yourself...
The point here is to make your mouth water...
Tonight, our campsite is'nt really that scenic. But we get a unexpected
visitor to compensate...
Wanna share our dinner?
...Bonsoir...
 An easy trick to lift one
wheel of a quad:
Say you'd like to lift the rear left wheel. Find a rock, a tree stump or a bank or
whatever that's at least one foot high on which you'll run just the front left wheel.
That will put the quad on a balance between the front right and the rear left wheel,
letting you lift the rear one by putting some weight on the front one.
Hard to explain, easy to do...
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Instant jack! 
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Pour voir la liste de
tous les trucs,
cliquez ici
to see all the
tricks and infos
click here |
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Easy and beautiful, just like the girl next door...
 
| 78 |
Miles: aujourd'hui/today |
| 18 |
m/h average/moyenne |
| 608 |
Miles: à date/to date |
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| $0 |
Resto |
| $0 |
Épicerie/Food |
| $0 |
Essence/fuel |
| $0 |
Camping |
| $0 |
Divers/Misc. |
| $0 |
Todays total/du jour |
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Please note: All amounts are in
US $$. All distances are miles
 Déjeuner/Brfst:
toasts
Dîner/Lunch:Tomatoes + cuncumbers + hard boiled eggs
Souper/dinner: hot dogs |
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L'ITEM LE PLUS APPRÉCIÉ:
THE MOST APPRECIATED ITEM: |
| The tire repair kit (plugs). |
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Nous sommes fiers de vous présenter nos partenaires.
Ils nous ont fourni un soutien important afin de nous aider à réaliser cette aventure.
MERCI À TOUS
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 We are proud to introduce you to our partners.
Their precious collaboration helped us live this fabulous adventure.
THANKS TO ALL. |
Polaris Industries -
Canada
Polaris Industries - USA
Cellutron
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