If last weekend taught me anything, it's that if it's going to be warm and sunny, it ain't duck hunting weather. So if it's too nice to hunt ducks, might as well get the bike out and go for a ride. One of my favorite rides to take during the winter months in Montana, is the mountain man run. I called my pal Chad and he was itching to log some saddle time as much as I was, so we were off.
The ride starts off at the base of the Absorkees and heads due north on U.S.89 toward White Sulphur Springs. It's not long before you get flanked by the Crazy Mountains and the Bridger's. (Named after mountain man,Jim Bridger) A man they said shot elk three miles away with bullets cast out salt; so when he got up to 'em the meat would be cured!
Soon after you get north of Wilsal, (Home of the "Black Jack Ditch"), you have to stop and have your picture taken (or your bike if you're camera shy like me) with Thunder Jack. He's a statue paying homage to the mountain men of the Rockies. After that, the road opens up and you have smooth sailing, all the way up to White Sulphur Springs. If you blink along the way, you will miss the little town of Ringling. A town named after John Ringling of Ringling Brothers Circus. The family owned quite a chunk of property there at one time. Jimmy Buffet even wrote a song about it called, Ringling,Ringling.
Not far past the little circus town, you head straight for the Castle Mountains that welcome you to White Sulphur Springs (WSS). Not much going on there, so we stopped for lunch at the Truck Stop Cafe. A couple of strange looks from the locals as we walked to our seats dressed more like snow mobile rider instead of bikers. After some good beef stew and corn bread, we headed out to the snow packed parking lot and decided to keep heading north. Funny thing about that truck stop is they keep their fine china stacked outside. Not sure what that is all about, but I took a mint out of one cup and put some pennies into another.
Normally, I like to head east to one of the reservoirs, to have my picture (my bike actually) taken next to the ice fishing shanty's. Today, we decided to head north towards Great Falls and stop by the Showdown Ski Lodge to taunt the sledders with our bikes. As we headed north into the Little Belt Mountains and through Lewis and Clark National Forrest we ran into too much ice and snow and had to pull a u turn. When the thermometer on Chads bike started to read 28 degrees, we decided that one or two bikes on their side would provide the local sled heads with more yahoo fodder than we were willing to part with. Besides what kind, if any sympathy would either of us receive for getting hurt while attempting to summit Kings Hill on motorcycles, December 17th?
We made a b-line right back to WSS and took the nestea plunge at the WSS Motel. It's an outdoor pool that is supplied by natural hot springs all year long.
Swanky, it ain't! But if you loved the 70's, man, you'll love this place. They just added a new pool that has lots of curves and good seating, along with a mock water fall. The 104 degree water felt good on the bones and the real challenge proved to be getting dressed in all our warm gear, without over heating.
Piling on layers, riding up into the mountains, taking a winters dip in some hot springs. Sounds like a mountain man day to me.
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