Day 59 Doctor's, Hostels, and the View

Day 59 - 7/14/08
Start - Glacier National Park
End - Mileage - ~40 miles
A nice relaxing morning with a big pot of green tea followed by oatmeal. Kicked out the campground around 10:30 am or so, which was not the best since bikes were not supposed to be on the next 16 miles of road after 11 am, but such is life. We made it through the "illegal" section of road without being stopped and lunched in Apgar. Apgar is a little touristy town in the park, nothing super special, but my double shot of espresso was rather tasty. Then we pushed on to Polebridge, MT, about 24 miles away from Apgar. There were 6 miles of gravel, which was super bumpy and not too much fun, but alas we arrived. Within a few minutes the guys on the porch delivered a cold beverage (yes, a beer) into our hands to ease our aching bodies. Once again I love Montana. Mark and I shared a few beers with them- they were from Whitefish and Calgary and were out boating for a few days around Glacier. One of the guys, William Ferril, is a doctor in Whitefish and practices holistic medicine. What a crazy thing to meet him in all the places but Polebridge. The paths of lives intertwined and he gave me some great advice on medical school and how to sustain the proverbial mojo, or gumption as Pirsig would say it. Dr.
Ferril writes books on holistic healing, so check out his stuff at www.thebodyheals.com. Meeting people on this trip is great, especial when it seems like they've been placed for a reason. We were then informed that there was a legendary hostel closeby. Ok, so you've got to understand something- Polebridge, MT has two stores, the very small bakery/cafe and a restaurant. Not much at all. It doesn't seem like anyone comes here unless they've heard about it before, or are delivered into their grips on a 3,000 mile bike trip. So of course I love it. I made my way over to the hostel to check it out- it's called the North Fork Hostel and Square Peg Ranch- www.nfhostel.com. Just perfect- no electricity, an outhouse, great people. So in spite of a little bit shorter day, I had to stop here. There's only like 5 days left of the trip, so we might as well soak it up while we can (before the "real world" hits). The afternoon calls for a little yoga, postcard writing, and reading. Sounds invigorating. By the way, Glacier National Park is truly stunning. Just to make that clear. Alright, I'm out.