Looking down at our first night's camp on Oldman Lake
John and I were so excited when we pulled a permit to for this treck in Glacier National Park. This loop is super popular and we usually apply every year but don't get in. This year, our son was gone to bike camp in Colorado, so Ellie got to bring a friend. Bringing a friend into Grizzly country is tricky. But we knew that our friends Angie and Steve raised their daughter's backcountry tough, so we invited Skye on our adventure.
(Angie and Steve were both Back-Country rangers in Glacier for years before marriage and kids)
When we picked up our permit at the Back-Country Office, we had to watch a video and get quizzed on Grizzly awareness and camping guidelines. The girls answered all the questions perfect and got Jr Ranger badges.
Cute.
These girls can hike!
13yr old Skye and Ellie were up for the challenge of packing through serious backcountry.
They were not winers at all, in fact - I cant think of a funner back pack ever.
(note to self - always let Skye come on Bardsley adventures)
Tip #1 - If you want to be loud and scare away bears......Bring Teenage Girls!
Honestly!
The girls were super joyful on the trail with singing, cracking jokes, clapping and yelling. John got to enjoy his "Nordic-self" and hike quietly in the back while the girls and I were super obnoxious with all kinds of noises.
My Specialized Girls
Up on Pitamaken Pass.
Second day of our backpack looking down on Oldman lake and Pitamaken Lake.
Side note;
Pitamaken means Running Eagle and was named after one of the only female Blackfoot warriors. She was orphaned in her teens but kept her siblings together. Later she became a great horse thief. She never married to the disappointment of at least one great chief.
John above Pitamaken Lake
Ellie's leg going down in Oldman's Lake
Wow!
Breathtaking view from Daweson's Pass.
We are set to hike along super-exposed trail.
Amazing glacier carved valley's below reveal thousands of year of erosion.
RATPOD is a 130-Mile, one-day bicycle ride to benefit Camp Mak-A-Dream, a cost-free, medical camp in Western Montana for children, teens & young adults with cancer. Riders are encouraged to raise donations for the camp and bring them to the event Prizes will be awarded to the top donation-earning riders.
The ride takes place in the remarkably scenic Big Hole Valley of southwestern Montana. Riders will encounter three wilderness mountain ranges. Pristine rivers are followed. The valley is sparsely populated and therefore lightly traveled by automobile. This is bicycle nirvana!
RATPOD starts and ends each year in Dillon, Montana. Registration for RATPOD is open to individual riders who are welcome to ride as much or as little of the route as desired. Riders who choose to ride only part of the 130-mile route are responsible for their own logistics and transportation between Dillon and their alterate start/finish location(s).
There are five food/water stops along the route, as well as pre-ride pasta dinner (Friday evening) and post-ride barbecue and music (Saturday night) following the ride at the start/finish on the University of Montana-Western campus in Dillon.
For me, the first 35 miles to breakfast was the hardest. I did not eat enough at 5am to have the fuel to feel strong over the pass.
The second section of was 40 miles to lunch with the hardest mountain pass. I felt the strongest riding up the mountain. We had perfect weather, cool temps and the forest smelled so good.
At mile 70 we stopped to stretch. My lowerback & neck and sit bones were getting tight and uncomfortable - with another 50 miles to go, we tried to make every pedal stroke intentional.
After lunch we road into a nasty storm. Rain, strong side winds, and lightning made for an interesting experience during miles 80-100. Then in "Montana fashion" the sun came out and we were rewarded with a sweet tail wind after the watermelon stop. We cruised quickly to the last stop (PIE!) and were told that there was an awful storm ahead and the organizers were sending out a bus to get us.
We decided to leave and ride anyway into the storm. It started out icky, but then the winds shifted and we motored up the last pass to mile 120. The last 10 mile to finish in Dillon at mile 130 were easy. It was awesome to arrive to cowbells, clapping and cheers at the finish line.
I had been trying to get John to ride with me for weeks. He was stuck in his "Deer Creek Loop" and had not done one MTB ride with me on single track. We headed up to ride the "Three Larch" ride starting at the Linclon Hills trail head. On the way, we dropped off Alex at the Gravel Pits to work on his new trick jumps.
It was a beautiful evening and for some reason, nobody was out. Ellie was at a friends house and John and I were set to enjoy a good 2 hour ride.
After a fun hammer-sesh to get to the top, we dropped down for the fast single track descent.
John covered in pine needles and dirt to keep warm
It was just a little ways down from the top after the fun little log drop, and short little uphill that John hit a graded chatter section of the trail. He hit a deep divot and flipped over the handlebars. He was not wearing bike gloves, so with sweaty palms from the long uphill, his hands simply slipped off the bars.
Right when I got to him, John said "I broke something" - and then he passed out.
John covered with Pine Needles to keep warm - Search and Rescue crew arriving to assess John's injuries.
John has Vasogagal, which is an extremefight or flight response.
His body simply shuts down when he gets injured and he passes out. The bummer is that he also has jerky muscle spasms, dilated open eyes, sometimes foaming at the mouth and shallow breathing mixed with sharp inhales that sound raspy. Sorta scary if you have never witness it. It looks like a seizure, but it is not one. John has had these episodes with me many times, my job is to stay calm and if we are skiing powder, keep his face out of the snow so he can breath till he comes back.
Usually it is about 30seconds to a minuet. However, this time John was out for over 10 minuets! This was not fun. I called 911 and my son Alex after a minute. I could not explain the location of our wreck to the 911 operator, but I knew that Alex could guide them to us. Alex was awesome. He told me later that when I called, he just knew that something had gone wrong. He road his bike all the way up to the Woods Gulch Trail head to meet with Search & Rescue.
The Life Flight Helicopter
While that was happening, 911 also set up a team from the other side of Marshall Mnt with 4 wheelers. Within about 30 minutes a St Patricks helicopter was zig zaging slowly up the mountain looking for us. We were in a pretty wooded area, so when it got close to us, I ran to an open area and waved with my white bike jersey like a mad-woman. Then it followed me to John I knew that they had our location.
It was pretty cool when the Helicopter was above us. It was only like 40ft from the ground and the trees were all swaying from the force of the propellers.
After it left I thought, GOOD! They know where we are and folks are coming from either side to help. It had been 40 minutes since the wreck. Now I had the problem of keeping John still. He wanted to get out and walk. He did not want the fuss of all the rescuers coming to help. I had just taken an HHP class at the University, so I used facts from my class to keep John still. He is a logical guy being a Math Professor, so it worked. I was worried about his back, neck or head injuries that I could not assess.
We all hear about guys wrecking and breaking a bone way back in the woods. Adrenaline kicks in as natures helper and people just hike out injured. But, I was there - so I said, "no way" - this became an issue because John started lose the adrenaline and the pain was sinking in. He was still in shock, but he was starting to get cold and his whole body started shaking. I took off my shirt and covered him, then looked around for my options.
I could not lay on him for body warmth since he had broken a bone, so I started covering him with dirt and pine needles. It really worked! I put about 8 inches of forest compost all over him from head to toe.
It was comforting to talk to Alex and get updates of where Search & Rescue was on the trail. We were WAYYYYYYYY up there! Alex broke away from the crew once they were finally on the right trail, and biked up with extra blankets. It was so great to have him arrive. Alex is the kid you want when things go bad. He is level headed and does not freak out. Many times we have run into bears, been in crazy lightning storms, been caught in a flood while backpacking (Milford Track), underground in caves, and caught in rips in the ocean - and he handles himself like a Pro. Of course this is good thing since all his sports are extreme in nature. It is comforting that Alex is so good under pressure.
When Search and Rescue arrived things moved quickly. This was good since it was 2 hours later. John wanted to walk, but after taking 3 steps he passed out again. So they strapped him into a cozy rescue bag and put him on the board. Alex went with 2 other EMT's with our mountain bikes down the trail, and John and I started up the mountain too the logging road above us since it was closer. The Six-Wheeler was awesome! They started up the trail, but ended up just plowing straight up the mountain taking out bushes & small trees. We finally got to the ambulance on the Marshall Mountain side with the sheriff waiting. Since they open any gates, the sheriff has to file a report with the country why the action was taken place. So we are on record now. :)
A big thanks goes out to Kurt Kuger for hiking up to check on us and helping Alex with our bikes at the bottom.
Also, my MT ALPHA Women's MTB Team was ready to come save us - they were ready with riders to jet up the mountain too. They sent food to the ER (yummy soup & salads from the goodfood store!) And Sarah Castle brought me home from the ER so I could change quickly and get cloths for John since sweaty spandex is awful 5 hours later. Also, my Knitting group drove up to help too, we were gone already on the other side of the mountain, but they sent a delish blueberry dessert to the ER and Monica contacted one of my Professors since I had an Ethics final in the morning. *Also, thank you to Kylee's mom and dad for taking care of Ellie and letting her stay the night. We were at the hospital till midnight, so Ellie spent the night at her friends. Of course, Kadin - John's brother was a awesome being on call to drive us home from the hospital and help me get John upstairs without him passing out at midnight.
In the end, John broke his clavical (collar bone) into 3 sections. Heal time is pretty quick for that injury, so in 3-4 weeks he should be good.
Here is an edit Alex and I made in New Zealand - a spoof on "Born Survior"
Remember - this is joke.......
For Mothers day I did not want flowers, candy or jewelery. However, I do like a heartfelt note or card, but what I really wanted was an adventure with my kids on bikes!
So, I pulled the "mothers day card" - that means everyone has to do what I want.
This year, the earliest access of the Going-to-the-Sun Road in a car for its entire length is June 21, 2013 - it is open to bikers to ride up it until they each the snow removal.
Plowing the Going-to-the-Sun Road is a monumental challenge each year at Glacier National Park. Unpredictable spring snow
storms, avalanches and other weather related madness can stop its progress.
John and I were so excited when we pulled a permit to for this treck in Glacier National Park. This loop is super popular and we usually apply every year but don't get in. This year, our son was gone to bike camp in Colorado, so Ellie got to bring a friend. Bringing a friend into Grizzly country is tricky. But we knew that our friends Angie and Steve raised their daughter's backcountry tough, so we invited Skye on our adventure. 
These girls can hike! 
When Search and Rescue arrived things moved quickly. This was good since it was 2 hours later. John wanted to walk, but after taking 3 steps he passed out again. So they strapped him into a cozy rescue bag and put him on the board. Alex went with 2 other EMT's with our mountain bikes down the trail, and John and I started up the mountain too the logging road above us since it was closer. The Six-Wheeler was awesome! They started up the trail, but ended up just plowing straight up the mountain taking out bushes & small trees. We finally got to the ambulance on the Marshall Mountain side with the sheriff waiting. Since they open any gates, the sheriff has to file a report with the country why the action was taken place. So we are on record now. :)
