7/26/06-7/27/06 Dancing Bear

7/26/06: I made it! I'm staying at the Dancing Bear hostel in Nelson, B.C. and it is sooo nice. The hostel staff have really made a strong effort to make this place a home away from home. There's a few families with young children staying here which is kinda strange, but it makes the place feel safe. Its quiet time at 10pm which is way early but with little children trying to sleep in a strange place I can understand.

Nelson town nestles down in the valley of a river running between two towering mountain ranges. Subsequently there is a huge outdoors/mountain scene here. Lotsa gear head shops mixed with hippy head shops. Its a lot like Madison before the Big Money Train rolled through. I was hoping the art scene would be bigger/better out this way but its all pretty chintzy craft shite. Not much of the fine art/sculpture that I'm interested in.

7/27/06: Where are all the good vibes? Last night the hostel was rockin'! People cookin' up grub in the kitchen, laughin', tellin' stories, the lot of it. The two britissh guys, Freddy and Alex, hasve left. Freddy the 60 yr old biker dude, all wirey, swarthy and tatooed. So full of stories and just fascinated with people, politics, foreign countries and languages. Totally taken by how awesome women are and how mistreated they've been. So full of energy. And Alex, the thirty something back packer with his dry wit and biting sarcasm. We had a lively discussion about british comedy which segued into television both british and american.

And the young couple from Calgary, Lauren and Riley. Lauren so sweet and generous offered me pie for dessert and cooked bacon and eggs breakfast. Riley who'd just been to Conference in Madison. All gone, off their seperate ways, most likely never to be seen again. I get the feeling that this is how the traveling life is, and what one can expect from hostelling as well. I think to continue this for much longer then I intend would get awefully lonely.

I'm leaving tomarrow. I can see the charm of Nelson wearing off and the dark underbelly rearing its ugly head. I can see it in the way I have no desire to leave Baker Street as though this is the only real Nelson and somehow evil monoculture is creeping in around the edges. I can see it in the way the misguided pseudo-hippies converse freely during the Reggae show, interfereing with the energy of the music. The days are hot and my money runs low. I must move on in order to save what little I have left. Tomarrow I will not head towards VanCouver as originally planned. Instead I will ride north to Nakusp and Revelstoke beyond. From there its east to Glacier Park and Rogers Pass on the way to Lake Louise. After a few days of exploring its north to Jasper for more. Then back west and south through Kamloops on to VanCouver beyond. I hasve inserted this detour into my itinery in an effort to buy more time so I don't end up spending all my money in VanCouver. I think I will also take a ferry to VanCouver Island to explore a bit.
One things for sure, I'm out tomarrow morn, bright and early. Geranimo!

7/24/06 No Sleep 'till...Balfour!

Here I am in B.C. in a little town called Balfour. I met this older couple, Bill+Roxy, on the ferry from Kootenai Bay. They were bike touring as well and gave me the heads up about Nelson, my next stop. I'm stoked. I'm chillin' in the shade right now waiting for the heat of the day to die out. Probibly won't be for another three hours or so. Crazy.

On my second day out from Whitefish (that's the day after camping at Lake Koocanusa) I rolled my way through Libby, Troy and over the Montana/Idaho border. I found company in another bike tourist named Brent who was coming out from Maine. He insisted that we stop at Kootenai Falls which was brilliant because I was starting to get heat stroke. I hung out at the river jumping in a few times.

The water was so cold I could barely stay in for more then five minutes at a time. It cooled me off as the sun wondered westward. I didn't get back to it until 6pm, two and a half hours after arriving.


That night I pulled off the highway and laid me down on some barren property. I didn't get any sleep though because the mosquitos were treacherous! Those little bastards were at it all night. Viscious. I tried everything to keep them away but to no avail. Finally at 4:30 in the morning I packed up my camp and rolled out. I was tired, hungrey and furious so I babied myself with a gas station/diner breakfast and a short ride to Creston, British Columbia. Over the border baby, yeah! I got a cheap hotel and just laid low, splurging on dinner as well.

The ride up to Kootenai Bay from Creston was pretty though not flat as Crestons mayor insisted. I did it in the morning while the sun was still below the mountains so it was nice. I think its another two hours from here to Nelson and then I'm gonna hang out for like a week. Maybe. Oh my god I'm gonna spend so much money.

7/21/06 On The Road Again!

It was a tough decision but the time has come to leave this little slice of heaven. I'm gonna miss campin' out under the stars and waking up to fresh cherries straight off the tree. Nothing better then fresh cherry pancakes for breakfast, several rounds of fresh cherries all day and even fresh cherry midnight snack. Something tells me I'll be back for more. I'd like to see this part of the world in October.
Dana and I spent Thursday ramblin' about in Glacier National Park. Along one of the trails we came across a lame deer. She just sauntered down the path a little bit ahead of us, eventually hunkering down in a bush to watch us pass. Later we drove over Logans Pass which crested the Great Divide. It was beautiful and crowded. The days end found us full of greasy spoon truckstop food laying out in Danas truck in the middle of some feild. We slept too late to meet up with friends at the bar so we just passed out for the rest of the night. Its time to take my leave.
Todays ride was hot and long. Its gonna take a little to get my body back into it. Four days of feasting on fruit has worked a number on my bowels. I'm sure you wanted to hear that last bit. My stomach has stretched. Its after dinner but I'm still hungrey. I'm camped out on Lake Koocanusa, its pretty and pacifying. Highway 37 is dead at night!
-7/21/06 Along the Eastern Shores of Lake Koocanusa

7/17/06 Dana!

I made it! Here I am at Danas and it is lovely! She's got a cute little cottage with cherry, apple and plum trees in the yard. Amazing. It's up the mountains from the eastern shore of Flat Head Lake. She told me there's a path that leads up into National Forest land where you can just wander for days! So sweet. There are cherry orchards all down the coast.
I was so worried that I wasn't gonna get a hold of her. Yesterday when I pulled into Big Fork I called but she didn't pick up. I camped on the lake last night. Again there were too many motorboats and screaming children . Nice sunset.



I debated going to Kalispell and picking up some supplies but I thought I'd call once more. She answered! Hallelujah! We met at this old antique store filled with awesome home furnishings from another eras.



Lots of sweet sink basins for your faucet.



One was a huge peice of 1inch thick glass slumped into a sink form with the front end spilling over to make the shelf.



Its good to be here! Lovin' it!
-Somewhere south of Big Fork

7/15/06 Lincoln-Swan Lake MT

I keep telling myself I'm gonna take a break and then I push ahead again. I did baby myself a little yesterday and this morning with a couple of restaurant meals and a hotel. I'm trying to budget myself to $100/week. The first two days I didn't spend a red cent so I thought I might splurge. Two days later and I'm down to $20. Madness!
My hosts at the Hotel in Seeley Lake were aweful nice. They were the crazy type, moving from place to place, always just scraping by. The place was so small and in such a small town, I wondered if they got any relief. Apparently they're basically married to the establishment. What a shame. Sounds like they'll be moving on soon. They talked my ear off last night. Starving for attention, they would interrupt each other or talk at the same time. It was like trying to have a conversation with children. Nice people though. They fed me beer. Wes told me about his motorcycling adventures and selling antiques. Anne told me of her love for the Larch, a deciduous conifer that grows in the area. I thought that this was a contradiction in terms but sometimes truth is stranger then fiction.
Well, I've made it up to Swan Lake. I had meant to get here on my fifth day. I guess I'll have to kick it in Big Fork for a wee bitty. Dana isn't expecting me until Tuesday. I'll be there on Sunday. Whoops.
Its time for a swim. Peace.

7/14/06: The Road to Bigfork

Oy! Hate to complain but the last couple days of ridin' have been tough. Bozeman to 3forks was smooth but ugly, mostely industrial ag. bs. 10mins outta 3forks the wind kicked up hard and I had to hunker down inna ditch for 2hrs. I was dissappointed and concerned about making it to my destination: Townsend. Basck on the road I hit a section thast according to the sign "pavement ends." I found myself struggling to climb 4 miles of muddy gravel while Semi's and RVs alike barreled past me. Very nerve racking. However after this atrocity I found smooth sailing and pulled into Townsend by 7:30.
I asked the Sheriff about camping and she recommended the high school football feild. Seemed shady but, oh well. It was odd fixing breakfast as the boys began morning practice. I tried to find water and was disappointed by the lack of help from the locals. The sheriff suggested a campground but I found all the pumps broken. I ended up replenishing in a RV park laundromat. Nobody was around, it may have been illegal but nobody will ever know.
First 10miles to Helena were up a gentle grade and through heavey wind. I couldn't get any momentum, going was real slow. Later the terrain tapered off and I regained lost time. Helena was weak. I considered getting a hotel and trying to track down Barry Hood, a local glass artist. I couldn't establish contact and decided to split.
The next leg included the Continental Divide. I probibly shoulda just waited for morning but something was driving me on. At first the road was real flat and again there wass wind. Finally I hit mountains and the road started to switchback and climb. It was brutal. After a while I thought I might just walk. I decided to take one more break and try once more. I got back on and hauled my poor ass over at 4m/h. 8:30pm 7/13/06 weary, beaten, delirious but never defeated I crested the Great Divide and began the plunge down into the arms of the West.

The feeling of triumph was slow to fade so I peddled on for another hour. 9:30 and I hit the sac hard. 85miles and I'm beat. Good day.

'sbeen A Long Time...

Hey kids! I'm back! Its two months since I left for my big trip. Its over now, I'm settling down in Seattle, trying to find my place in this glass heavy town. I like it so far.
For those who don't know the above image is the rig that hauled me across 1500 miles, over mountain and plain for six weeks on my scouting mission of the Northwest. Fully loaded. Camping gear, clothes, food and miscellania. I figure all in all about eighty pounds of extra baggage alone. Add the weight of myself and the bicycle and we're talking about roughly 250lbs. Everyday was a workout and some got real tedious or worse. But the highlights made it all worth it.
Stay tuned and I will relate all. Again most entries will be excerpts from my journel along with photos I took along the way. Enjoy!

Recovery

7/11/06 Whoa man. My return trip from Yellowstone (100 miles in 8hrs, OY!), destroyed my left knee. This really killed my ego. How am I to be a bike hero if I can't handle 100 mile days? So I laid up in bed for three days trying to heal. Completely overstaying my welcome, bloody hell. Mike suggests a return to the land for some recovery which was ultimately the best thing I could do. Out there it was real chill. I'd sleep in late, eat breakfast and then just hang out on the rocks watching the goings on in the valley below. Nice veiw.

There was dead sage brush all over that pulled loose from the soil quite easily. On my last day I amassed a large pile in anticipation for a huge bonn fire. As the day wore on flies were getting to me and I needed some fresh water so I took the bike down to the creek and busted out the water filter. The thing must of been dirty because it took forever but it was well worth it. The return up the mountain was sweet, my knee was nagging but never screaming. I would be recovered by the next day. I crested the boundary of the land in time to see the gayist sunset ever. The light was long and orange and there was this shelf of clouds extending to the horizon, just falling short enough to allow for the setting sun to wash the land in golden light. My neighbor the hawk embarked on his twilight hunt, sunlight glancing off his white underbelly. It looked straight out of some New Age illustration, it was so cheesey. I half expected to see some translucent ambiguously native american man rising over the mountains across the the valley, but such nonsense only exists on chinsey collectors plates available from Parade Magazine.
That night the much anticipated bonn fire came to fruition. Under a huge full moon, a perfect ending for a perfect day. I rest peacefully knowing that I soon, finally I will embark on my journey for real. The Road to Whitefish awaits. I am ready.
P.S. I may be out of touch for a little while. I may not have access to intro-net for a while. Never fear. PeteyTrips shall return!

Independance For Us!

I saw some fireworks in the sky above Gardiner, standing on a hillock whilst the moon shone down. The wind was warm, a westerly, dryish and smelling clean. I biked and hiked across nothern Yellowstone, checkin' the sights and snappin' pix. 'Twas a shiton of flies and tourists as well. I guess Fourth o' July is not the best time to visit.

95 to Mammoth

Whoa! 95 miles and my ass is chafed! I need to invest in some bike shorts. I used to think such garments were for sissies. Now I'm singin' a different tune. I rode from Bozeman MT to Mammoth Springs in Yellowstone National Park in one day. It was rad, at first I didn't think I could rock that hard in one day but as I approached it looked more and more doable. I got to Gardiner outside of Yellowstone and it started to rain, thought I might need to get a hotel which I should probibly avoid. I decided to press on and rolled into my campsite after seven hours of hard ridin'. I was dog tired and hit the sac immediately.
The bivey sac is a strange bedding choice. AImagine being inside a person sized sock made of raincoat material. There's a pole creating a slight arch over your head but otherwise you're just inside another sac. The rain hits the surface and you can feel it but the moisture doesn't penetrate...we hope.

To the west as the light begins to fade, the overcast sky becomes illuminated with an eerie yellow-orange glow. The cliffs across the valley from camp reflect the luminescence with alien splendor. I am in another world. As soon as I wrapped my camera away in rain proof sheath a lady elk comes meandering through my camp. Completely uninhibited she dallied, nibbling at the undergrowth and raising her face to kiss the rain. I wanted to take her portrait but I had just finished putting the camera away. Let it be. Some things were meant to exist in the moment. Good night. 7/3/06

Trial Run Delta

7/1/06 Here I am up at Mike's land. Stokin'. The ride up here was arduous, especially the last two miles all steep and gravely. I walked most of it. After having trimmed some of the excess crap from my load the bike is a whole lot lighter, easier to manage. I'm diggin' this new bivey sac that I got to replace my tent. The Bikamper was a sweet idea but ultimately impracticle. Bivey sac is like a minimalist cacoon that fits just me. Its kinda neat. Last night I slept with my head pokin' out the flap just starin' up at the stars. I saw a whole lotta shootin' stars and these weird flashes like heat lightning, but no clouds...fascinating.
The ride back was sweet. Down hill the whole way and no headache. I think it took me an hour less to get home then to get there. Aww yeah, I like that.

battle ridge

There's nobody here. Two hours onna bike and 20 miles outta Bozeman and its completely devoid of human life. I'm at Battle Ridge cabin, all in all a pretty sweet place. Everythings locked up which makes me think that I may be here illegally. Nobody around to stop me...oh well.
The climb up here was brutal, I didn't think I was going to make it. I'm all right now. The flies are restless. I'm trying to relax, meanwhile the entire valley is buzzing. Its a sonic phenomenon. Time for a nap.
NEXT DAY
ouch, I'm hurtin'. Last night at the cabin some dude kicked me out, said he had rented the place. Fair is fair. I moved my camp under some trees and it was much nicer. Moving sucked becasue it had started to rain, I was worried and stressed out but it turned out fine. I cooked some rice in my camp stove which was remarkably quick and then I hit the hay.
Next morning (today) I woke up with a headache that didn't vacate until well after I made it home. It had rained through the night but my tent was mostly dry. I have this unique tent called a Bikamper which is essentially a huge sock that extends off your bikes handlebars. The front wheel is removed and used as a support for the other end. Pretty neat idea, doesn't require any tent poles so it packs small and light. I'm not sure it would've held up in harsher weather. Though I respect the innovations and design of the Bikamper removing that front wheel everynight is actually unappealing to me. Its a hassle trying to deal with all my packs and plus the process fucks with my brakes.
Riding back to Bozeman was no fun. The headache wouldn't go away and unbeknownst to me I was riding my brake pad the whole way. Shoulda got back sooner but the effort of hauling all this shite is bringin' me down. I'm having serious reservations about this trip. I don't know if I'm ready to tackle all these mountain passes, I might just burn out. Mike is eggin' me on, giving me advice about what sort of things to strip from my gear to make the whole unit lighter. All and all its a little rough on my ego. I hope something good comes from this.

more excerpts from 6/23/06

Friday evening and Jen is whimpering bad. At Mike's request I take my leave. Its not my place to intrude or interfere. I came here for two reasons, to help fix the house and to launch my mission. I thought baby time would happen well past my departure date so I was content to linger and soak it in.
Mike asked me to skidaddle, which I did, mounting my bike I just rode until whaddaya know another trailhead. It starts out tame and I'm thinking this will be a leisure cruise. By and by it gets rougher and starts to climb. I probibly shouldn't continue, I've loaded myself down with way more then I need but I gots the fever! So I climb...and climb. The trail crosses several brookes where snow melt runs in spring. These are some of the lushest areas of the mountain. I stop several times to soak it in and photgraph the super saturated greenery. Crazy beautiful. And I keep climbing. Higher and higher and I love it 'cause I have no idea where I am. There's something invigorating about being in a situation completely foreign to your cumulative experience. I was alone, on a mountain preparing to blaze down at break neck speed for nothing but the love of it.
The path drops suddenly and then cuts left as it flattens out. The soil here is loose and sandy just before the wood bridge with the low rail capped with steel. My bike hits sand and skids wildly. I jerk back to counter but I'm not considering my handlebar bag which is throwing my steering out of wac. I have no traction and my face is b-lining for the steel cap at the end of the rail. Quickly I make my peace with my maker and prepare myself for lifes greatest transition. Suddenly God reaches out his gnarly fingers and brushes me aside. I narrowly avoid a collision with a material much denser then myself and behind me death howls in rage, cursing my name to oblivion.

excerpts from 6/23/06

Mike took me on my first mountain bikeing adventure today. What a riot. Never in my life have I had so much fun bringing my self so close to death. I have to admit I was ashamed of myself at first. On the way up the trail I kept losing control, losing balance, losing momentum, having to dismount and walk my bike up. The path was steep and the terrain very bumpy with large stones and thick roots almost a constant. Mike showed me the line where others had traveled creating the path of least resistance. This was helpful but I still ran into sticky situations that caused me to dismount.
We came across some other riders who were walking up which gave me courage to proceed. As long as I wasn't the only pussy walkin' his bike maybe I stood a chance in this arena. We made it to a bridge traversing a stream in a high mountain valley and it was time to turn back. Jen was waiting with lasagna and a belly full of baby. We began the descent. That shit was straight treacherous. It took a little bit to get a feel for what kind of and how much abuse my bike could handle. I know now that my Schwinn Moab II, whose been with me for a decade and is my soul sister, my familiar link, is built like a tank. She rallies, bouncing over root and rock, and catching her grip where a thinner bike might fail. She cradles me in her arms of steel, clutching me tight through the valley of the shadow of death. She never let me fall as we barraled down that steep mountain pass. I soaked in the fresh, rich air, the babbling brooke that ran with us and the gnarly pines that sank their roots into rock oh so tenaciously. It was beautiful but to take it all in you had to be completely on your game, fully aware and able to swallow it all. Admittedly I was scared on the way up, but coming down I was hungrey for my own death.
At one point, after having acquired a sense for my abilities I was ready to rockit hard! I'm still surprised by how much of a beating Moab can take, but I shrug and just let her kick. The land is dropping and ahead of me there is a rock followed by a root. I plow through jumping both in rapid succession. Suddenly I'm careening towards a gnarly pine that seeks only to impale me. In midair there is little opportunity to alter direction yet I manage to drop my weight away from certain death, narrowly avoiding the opportunity to never see the light of day again. Fuckin' sweet.

Sundown over a mountain lake. This landscape takes my breath away. It's wild, sweet and cool. Stoic, the mountain defies modern man, challenging our convictions about lifes possabilities. Out here you are confronted with her naked face and you turn away, ashamed, wishing you could represent, yet knowing full well how you still bear the sins of the fathers. Wish in one hand, shit in the other, which one fills up fastest?

excerpt from 6/19/06

It's good to be here. Friday June 16th I'm lurking about Madison, feeling salty about not biking to Bozeman especially after telling everybody I would. Lame! Saturday morn I'm onna plane, leaving the flatlands behind. Before the day is through I'm hiking up a mountain! Very surreal.
This is Big Sky country and it is beautiful! The weather is perfect, sunny and seventies all day cooling down to forties at night. Flawless!

intense week

Whoa dude. Its been an intense week. A lot o'shit has gone down, and I'm sorry but I've been too tired/busy to update. I'm mostly going to be free handing in my journel and reporting excerts online. A breif rundown: I arrived in Bozeman, MT a week ago by plane. Since then I have been helping brother Mike and Sisinlaw Jen with some remodeling projects around the house. Its a good launch pad for my up coming journey, I've been taking some intense mountain rides to get acclimated to the altitude, more on that later.
Yesterday Jen gave birth to a little boy and made an uncle out of me in the process. His name is Thorston (they're taking a vote on wether his name should be spelled Thorston or Torston, I think you can see how mine was cast) Nikolas Hornemann and he looks like a funny old man. I thinked he's stoked to be here.

Shwaaaar!

Aloha Amigos!
Its been a long time since I rapped at y'all, I know. I beg forgiveness. However nothing much new has happened so...I've been spending my time securing my flight plans. I leave Sat. morn for those misty peaks of Bo-Zone Montana. I'll be kickin' it with me bro' and me sisinlaw, who is heavey with child, for about two weeks before they kick me out. Don't wanna stress out mama bear during baby time, oh no. I'll probibly truck out to Whitefish MT to visit my friend Dana from college. From there I either head north for Canukland or back down to Bozeman to fulfill uncular duties.
Lately I've been rollin' around Madtown trying to soak up some hometown culture before taking what may become a very long trip. Check out some of my photos of the rad happenin's Madison has to offer. The first one is an aerosol painting (some would call it grafitti) on the side of Mother Fools coffee house on Willy street. They offer up the wall to grafitti artists every month, so the image changes around. If its legit/legal is it still grafitti? Who knows.
The two birds are welded from scrap metal and stand roughly 30ft. high. Rather impressive but if like his stuff you should check out Dr. Evermores sculpture garden off Hwy12 on the way to Baraboo. The Forevertron holds the record for biggest scrap metal sculpture.
I found this turtle on my walk through the woods today. He was stuck in the mud so I helped him out.
These ducks looked real cozy so I took their picture. They're the trusting sort, didn't seem to mind me approaching closely.
Allright. That's all for now. When next I rap atcha I'll be in Big Sky country. Peace!

Lame!

Sandbagged!
Yesterday I went on a trial run, fully loaded with all my gear. A little late in the game seeing as I wanted to depart for my trip by Wed. but that's me, always the procrastinator. I found out the hard way that carrying a frame pack on the back was not the way to go. I'm sure anybody could've told me this but I wouldn't have listened anyway. About an hour into my journey my wrist was going numb and I thought my spine was going to collapse. There's no working through that feeling, I was toast.
So I'm going to have to alter my plans significantly. I think I'm going to either fly or take a train out to Montana with in the next couple of weeks. This will get me to Bozeman faster then I originally planned. I'll be able to spend more time helping my brother fix up the house and prepare for babytime (uncle Petey, I love the sound of it)and for me to acquire some much needed gear to replace my current inadequecies.
Trust me, nobody could possably be more disapointed then myself but I do fully intend to continue my journey from Bozeman on to VanCouver, Seattle, Portland and wherever else the wind blows. Be good, stay in touch and do good work. Petey out.

Yeah Camera Digital!

Sweet. We have full photographic prowess. This message will self destruct.

Gestation

Is this thing on? Hello?...is anybody out there?...I just wanna know if this thing is working.