Mechanical problems strands C-Falls biker on Big Mtn.

A 48-year-old Columbia Falls man spent the night at a survival cabin on the back side of Big Mountain after his motorized bicycle had mechanical problems and a flat tire.

Dennis Pike said he headed up the Canyon Creek Road around noon on June 12. He thought he was in the McGinnis Creek drainage and found instead that he was behind Big Mountain near Chair 7.

He started down a road heading back to the valley when his bike had mechanical problems. That’s when he found the survival cabin. A map inside helped him figure out where he was, but there was no cell phone service to call his wife.

Using a headlight on his bike, he proceeded up a snowmobile side road to a dead end near the top of the mountain.

“I turned around and started coming down the mountain, and a tire blew out on me,” he said. “The next thing I knew, a bear was crashing around below me, and that went on for a while. I realized I needed to get back to the survival cabin, so I rode with a flat for a bit to try to get away from the bear, walked a little bit, and finally made it back.”

Back at the cabin, Pike chopped wood for a fire, dried his sweaty clothes and at a beef stroganoff ration he had with him. The next day, he repaired the flat tire with Gorilla tape so it would hold air for 5-10 minutes and fixed the clutch.

He traveled about two miles or two-thirds of the way back to Chair 7 when he heard the Red Eagle Aviation helicopter carrying Flathead County Undersheriff Dave Leib that was searching for him.

Leib advised Pike to wait for the North Valley Search and Rescue crew, which transported Pike off the mountain. Leib said Pike was heading the right direction and would have made it home eventually without problem.