Day 60 Eureka: Movies and Beer

Day 60 - 7/15/08
Start - Polebridge, MT
End - Eureka, MT
Mileage - 55 miles
Took a relaxing morning at the hostel this morning. A big pot of black tea followed by the standard granola with powdered goat milk. After packing the life into the panniers, I migrated to one of the two stores and picked up a freshly baked huckleberry bear claw for a post lunch desert. Then we rolled out of Polebridge around 10 am or so. Polebridge has definitely been one of my favorites places of the trip, so if you're ever cruising around northern Montana looking for enlightenment, stop in and be sure to sample the bakery. We had 55 miles to reach Eureka with the idea of getting there before the post office closes. With about 30 miles of climbing, albeit rather gradual, we had to move our little hineys expediently. Nice road today, a little busy until we really started the climb up to the Whitefish Divide. Then the road became ours for the taking. On the way up we met another southbound Great Divide rider, they're starting to amass, which is nice to see I assume. This is the time of year for the southbounders to kick off their pilgramages, and there are definitely more southbounders than northies. Regardless, we hit the Whitefish Divide around 1:30pm and snarfed a quick lunch, which of course was terminated with the delicious huckleberry bear claw. Rolling out at 2pm gave us 2 hours to cover about 27 miles to reach Eureka, assuming the post office closed at 4pm (a conservative guess). It doesn't sound that hard, but having 30 extra pounds strapped to your bike tends to slow things down a bit. Gravity proved to be on our side for the rush on Eureka and I walked into the post office at 3:57pm. They closed at 5pm, so the sprinting at the end (sprinting by the way doesn't really happen on the single speed) was not necessary. I got my 3 boxes, and picked up like friggin' 15 extra pounds. All worth it. My dear friend Humungus of the Wasteland from the Pacific Crest Trail mailed me some amazing calories, including a stellar banana bread with flour ground by his divine hands. What a respectable homo sapien. So I mailed off my chacos because I got my hiking shoes to hit the trails around Banff, and then I was off. Eureka is quite the nice town. We went to the police station and found a campsite for $5, with a shower (but the shower is a bit ghetto, I was wishing my soap was on the proverbial rope). We're going to see a movie tonight- the Incredible Hulk (only thing playing) - and of course sneak in a few brewskies to enjoy the show. Gotta love life here.8 miles to reach the border tomorrow. Can't believe it. Then another 220 miles to finish up the trip to Banff. Time to eat brown rice and lentils- amounting to a total of 40g of fiber, or 162% of my daily value. I hope Mark doesn't draft me tomorrow! Laterz...