As good as the Lazy J was, there was no breakfast so we made do with granola bars and snacks. After heading west on I-90 for about 40 miles we exited north on Highway 89. We stopped for a nice cache called “Steve the Moose” named for the moose the cache owner had seen in this spot a number of times. Access required a short hike through the brush and across a short abandoned railroad bridge where the cache was located beneath the end of the bridge. We continued north on Hwy 89 until it intersected Highway 12 just south of White Sulphur Springs where we turned west. Heading west and northwest on Hwy 12 we passed through Helena before stopping at a very well done Travel Bug Hotel. It was a secure metal box affixed to a telephone pole requiring a combination to open the lock on the box. The combination was in a clue hidden in the description.
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| Travel Bug Hotel |
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| Nevada Lake |
At Avon we veered northwest on Highway 141 where we found an interesting cache by Nevada Lake where we rode our bikes down a hill on a dirt road. From there we hiked up a steep hill and commenced our hunt. I was just about to give up when I finally found it a ways off from where the coords had taken us. I was a little apprehensive getting my bike turned around where the road had petered out but I made it. Of course, Clint had no problem.
Our next stop was the only unsuccessful one of the whole trip which is amazing. It featured an Osprey nest and was supposed to be a bison tube hanging in a tree. There had been a couple unsuccessful tries before us so I suspect it’s gone.
We continued on around Flathead Lake on Highway 93. Where Hwy 93 loops back east around the end of the lake we turned west on Highway 28. On Hwy 28 we picked up a couple of caches, one that I particularly liked at Rainbow Lake. It required a hike up through some woods and rocks and afforded a great view of the lake. When Hwy 28 terminated at Highway 200 we rode the short distance into Plains to refuel and get something cold to drink. We then reversed direction back east to where Hwy 200 intersected Highway 135 and turned south toward our evening destination at St. Regis.
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| Rainbow Lake |
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| Clint and the Witch |
Some years before I had stayed at the Little River Motel there and I wanted to experience it again. It’s at the end of an old highway and is like what used to be called tourist courts with little cabins scattered about. Additionally it had these spooky wooden carved figures scattered about the wooded grounds. As is often the case, things are not the same as before. It wasn’t bad but not as good as before. Only one of the wooden figures was in decent shape and our room didn’t have air conditioning. Ordinarily that wouldn’t have been so bad but on what could have been the hottest day of the year things didn’t cool off as quickly as usual. We did have a big fan but it was rather anemic.
After getting unpacked and cleaned up we rode down town for
dinner. We had a great dinner and
afterwards got into a conversation with a couple of old bikers also staying at
the motel. I got the impression that
their talk was bigger than their deeds. Our
third day turned out to be our second longest with 447 miles and only five
caches found and our one and only DNF. (To be continued) M/W
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