It's nice to see Adventure Cycling still going strong. I called into their offices in Missoula en route to Jasper (Alberta) from Lake Tahoe in northern California in 1994. They made me very welcome, bought an article from me for the magazine and Art Director, Greg Siple, arranged for me to be interviewed by the local radio station. I thought Adventure Cycling was a great organisation.
I have fond memories of the McKenzie Pass. My sister lived in Eugene, Oregon at the time, so I left her house, headed east up the pass and camped about three quarters the way up at a very basic campsite. The only other people on the site were a lovely couple from Washington state in a small camper van. After pitching my tent and cooking dinner, I went to say hello and we spent hours just chewing the fat, sharing a few (of their) beers and laughing a lot. Next morning, they filled me with the biggest breakfast imaginable - which was great - but it did mean I went up the remainder of the pass at a reduced speed! I sent the nice couple a postcard to thank them for their hospitality and mentioned that I was on my way to manage a small hostel in Polebridge, near Glacier National Park, Montana for a fortnight. A few weeks later I arrived at the hostel which turned out to be a former dude ranch, comprising two or three log cabins with no electricity and no running water. The local store in Polebridge (population 60!) was like something from a cowboy movie and I bought my groceries there. One day, on visiting the store, the owner told me there was a parcel for me. I was taken aback, because I couldn't figure out who could possibly know I was there. I looked at the sender's address, and it was from the couple I'd met on the McKenzie Pass. On opening the package, inside was a wide selection of local food from Washington state: cheeses, cooked meats and a whole cooked salmon!
There was a lovely note, saying they had enjoyed meeting me, wishing me well for the rest of my trip and hoping I'd enjoy the food. I know Americans take a lot of stick from we Brits at times, but I can honestly say that on my extensive travels in the USA, I've rarely encountered anything but generosity and kind hearts. I still think back to those good people and hope they are still together and happy.
I bought a couple of Adventure Cycling maps when I was in Missoula and found them extremely useful. When I finally got back to the UK, I got a job with the CTC and set up a reciprocal membership arrangement between the two organisations. It may still exist, for all I know. It was a long time ago.
