Day 12: Missoula, MT to Lubrecht Experimental Forest, MT

Miles: 31.2 Total Elevation Gain (ft): 1115.5 Weather: Sunny, Temperate
Hillbilly Insults: 0
Roadkill: 3 (1 Bird, 1 Ground Squirrel, 1 Unknown) Bugs Swallowed: 0
Mean Dogs Chasing: 0

Staying in the experimental forest is like being in the romanticized versions of summer camp I'd watch on ABC After School Specials.
It's conference center, cabins, recreation and dining hall are nestled in the woods. Congenial staff and grad students do earnest work and the place also supports Job Corps and forestry fire training.

It's a sure sign that my Geritol, prune juice, diaper wearing years approach as the young Job Corps and firefighter trainees call me "sir." What's worse is that this measure of politeness is genuine and not forced. I guess I'm not one of the cool kids anymore. I sense that they can just smell my decline. Sigh.

I chose to rent a cabin since the weather called for rain. It was a good call, as it hasn't let up yet this morning. Adventure Cycling makes scant mention of the Lubrecht project, but should emphasize it a bit more. It was a pleasant surprise. If anyone makes it to this area outside of Missoula, Check out their information here:

http://www.cfc.umt.edu/Lubrecht/

I swiped some WiFi from the conference center here and met a couple of affable U of M grads. Eryn and her assistant Christy are performing ecology PhD work in the woods. They make camp for four days and pack out for Missoula week after week. Our conversation quickly turned to questions about the best gear for camping, bikes, college mascots and Christy's fabulous dog, Diesel. The three of them are pictured below. (If you get a chance to read this Eryn and Christy, my offer to host you in Bend still stands. Feel free to bring the dog.)

It was a short ride and a nice day. The new hobo design seems to be working well on the Fargo. It will be a new test today to see how it all performs in my first day of rain.

Onto Big Fork, hopefully.