Tuesday, September 15, 2020
COLD!!! That's what last night was. I got up three times to pee and put on more clothes. I put on nearly everything I had in the tent. It wasn't the best night's sleep I've had. And I believe I tested the 30 degree survival rating for the sleeping bag. It was definitely in the low to mid 30's. Tim and Dave had just as rough a night as I. When we finally got enough oomph to get out of bed, we found frost on our tents and bikes. So it wasn't just our imaginations. Breakfast and packing became an operation of doing something, going back to the fire to warm up, doing something else, going over to the fire . . . but we still got away around 9am. Probably because we got up earlier than other days because we couldn't sleep any longer due to the cold.
The Magruder isn't a hard road but it would have been really nice had the views been available. As it was, we skipped riding up to the Burnt Knob lookout because, well, what's the point? You can't see anything because of the smoke. Besides, a sign said it was closed. Still, the road and countryside have a beauty all its own. Like many areas we rode through, there was a fire here years ago, so some of the view is toothpick trees surrounded by vegetation.
We stopped at the sign for the Magruder Massacre. Lloyd Magruder and four other men were murdered by four "road agents" on October 16, 1863. They were carrying around $30,000 worth of gold dust. After being captured and tried, the four perpetrators became the first hanging of its kind in Idaho Territory. The actual site is miles away and only accessible by hiking, which was way too much out of our way and probably had nothing there to see anyways.
Continuing on, we finished the Magruder and stopped at the Ranger station of the same name. It's definitely an older station and a good place for us to take a short break. While there a couple of trucks with gear and pack horses pulled in. Probably headed out into the mountains for a Elk hunt. In no time at all we were on pavement and then pulled into Darby, Montana at 11:30am for lunch. We chose the Little Blue Joint for no other reason than it sounded cool. Warned it might take a bit because they were busy with take out orders, we ordered our food and then relaxed.
I went outside to call Vicki and after about 30 minutes sauntered back inside. The food was excellent (I had a beef brisket dip sandwich) and I would heartily recommend it. We also took the opportunity to recharge our Sena's which was good for me because I had no way to charge it while riding.
Because of the mileage we made yesterday, we decided today we'd shoot for Lolo Hot Springs which would allow us a shower along with a dip in the hot pool. To do that we'd bypass the alternate dirt track at the top of the highway.
Tom Clark
I'm a Senior Software Engineer at Intellitect, living in Spokane, Washington. I also do a little development work on the side. And I love riding motorcycles all over the country with my friends.
