Section One Superlatives

We’ve divided the trip up in our minds into four sections:

1. Seattle, WA to Glacier National Park
2. Glacier National Park to Fargo, ND
3. Fargo, ND to Niagara Falls
4. Niagara Falls to Brooklyn, NY

We think these sections hold together fairly well in terms of terrain, population, weather, etc. Here are our superlatives for the first section.

Best day: Day 12, Clark Fork, ID to Libby, MT (so beautiful!)
Worst day: Day 13, Libby, MT to Eureka, MT (too hot!)
Best meal: Mike’s Four Star BBQ (those garlicky cheese fries!)
Favorite post-ride refreshment: Nantucket Nectars Fresh-Squeezed Lemonade, Tim’s Cascade Snacks Jalapeno Potato Chips, Hostess cupcakes (Dani), Darigold Whole Chocolate Milk, Salt and Vinegar Potato Chips, Peanut Butter Oreos (Ted)
Best pass: Logan Pass (those views!)
Best campsite: Sprague Creek Campground (perfect swimming!)
Worst campsite: Riverside Park, Sedro-Woolley, WA
Longest day: Day 10, Colville, WA to Newport, WA (86.2 miles)
Shortest day: Day 17, St. Mary’s Campground to Many Glacier Campground (23.4 miles)
Best beer: Republic Brewing Company Brown Ale (Ted), Great Northern Brewing Company Huckleberry Wheat Lager (Dani)
Scariest day: Day 7, Tonasket, WA to Republic, WA (so many dangerous drivers!)
Scariest vehicle on the road: trucks carrying gravel doing road work on Going to the Sun Road (95 percent of them pushed either us or oncoming traffic off the road)

The next two categories are broad generalizations, but are common enough to be notable. As with all stereotypes, there are plenty of exceptions.

Drivers that give us the widest berth: Idahoans, commercial truck drivers, Subarus, cars with bike racks

Drivers that seem to be trying to kill us: British Columbians, flashy pickup trucks (the ones with flashy paint jobs, fancy lights, lift kits, etc.), pickup trucks towing boats, pickup trucks towing long RVs, RVs towing SUVs, RVs towing boats, coach bus-sized RVs, logging trucks

We also met some of the most wonderful, generous people I’ve ever met during this section of the trip, whether through warmshowers.org or at a local brewery. Thanks to Sue and Lloyd on Bainbridge Island, Patty and Rob in Republic, Terry in Clark Fork, and Nikki in Eureka. We’ll carry your kindness with us for the rest of our trip!