July 15, Monday

I strolled down the shore before anyone else got up; lots of people out and about at 6:30am.  Really close to the CG was the start of our route for the day.  More closed road, then double track, then single track and back to gravel road. We were travelling up the road when a grizzly popped out of the woods and crossed the road at a leisurely pace about 100 ft ahead of us.  We immediately stopped and everyone (except me with no spray) pulled out their bear spray.  We made loads of noise and everyone (except me) grabbed cameras and took pictures.  From the photos, though taken from the rear and at quite a distance, most locals decided it was a grizzly.  I am still not convinced, for we could not see the snout or hump and I didn't see the golden hair effect grizzlies sport.  Finally, I envision grizzlies as huge and this one seemed the size of a large black.  Whatever.  It was probably a grizzly. Regardless—a pretty big bear.  We waited 15 minutes to be sure it had a chance to clear the road, then rolled down the road loudly singing bear songs and generally making a ruckus.

The long climb, turning steeper worried me greatly, 6.5 miles total, but it turned out to be very do-able in my lowest gears, just cranking away.  At the top of the road you could see the whole Mission Range, still snowy.  From there we started up a "fire" road, which vacillated between single and double track, with very small pine trees growing thickly between and beside the tracks.  I commented that the effect was like going through a car wash without the car.  It would have been more pleasant in long pants, but no harm done.  Beginning the descent, the brush impacted us more (ha ha) and we came to a junction at which we were unsure which way to go and we were getting chowed while we decided.  The descent eventually became more of a fire road once more, with dirt culverts.  These were great fun as they dipped down about a foot, then rose almost immediately allowing you to fly up and down at 15mph.  Careening down the gravel road, I topped out at 26.8 mph.  John topped out at almost 40 mph, but then suffered a flat.  I was smiling the whole way down, especially at the culverts.

We got into Seely Lake pretty late for us.  The Seely Lake Motor Lodge only had tent cabins, no sites, but we were tired and they were right in town.  There was a family run bike/outdoors shop.  They straightened a tooth on my granny gear and oiled my chain, lubed Jamie's chain and replaced John's tire.  Groceries, cooking dinner and showers followed in quick succession.

I hailed another loaded cyclist and invited her to stay on the floor of our tent/ cabin: Tricia from WV was riding south to north alone.

Stats:
Start ODO- 715
end ODo- 753
max- 29.7
avg- 8.1
total- 37.27
time- 4.34

July 14, Sunday

This was the first CG site without a picnic table/toilet, but we were fine. I’m glad for the closed cell foam pad; it gave me something to sit on. We had peanut butter and raisin tortilla roll ups for breakfast and undid our bear hang which we had suspended from the bridge.

There was a sign near last night’s CG at the junction we had left the route that noted the road was impassible due to a washout, but it was dated 6/9. Pah. Bridge out. Excavators on both sides of the gap, moderately deep ravine between lined with large rocks and a tiny stream at the bottom. On the far side a divide rider had written “JUMP” using the construction crew’s spray paint. Jamie and I separated our panniers from our bikes and made two trips across, while John and Roger lifted and control-rolled their bikes (difficult to unload those bikes). It was not as difficult as I expected, because you could lift and roll down the rocks while squeezing the brakes to keep the bike from rolling while you climbed up or down.

We hit our first closed road double track. It was a bit overgrown, with yellow flowers. My front chain ring jammed as I tried to shift to the smallest ring, my feet came to a sudden stop and I did what Roger called a “lateral dismount,” ie I fell over. Good thing it was grassy.

Most of the day was on dirt/gravel, as was yesterday, so when we came to a short patch of paved road, it was weird. Holland Lake CG, but the host told us we could camp in the day use area, which had a vault toilet and running water and was free to boot.  Instead of pitching our tents, we headed for the Holland Lake Lodge (another place I would like to come back to with Dwight), where they were fully booked for dinner.

John made desperate attempts to get food anyways and they did offer us box lunches.  We drank Moose Drool beer again and wrote out postcards before heading to the day use area to pitch and swim and make dinner.  Roger found someone in the day use area from Missoula he met last year.  The guy runs Missoula Bike Works and last year they met because he had been testing out a race route.
After all that, we had enough energy to travel 1 mile back to the lodge for dessert and another drink.  There were some people there who were scoping out the lodge because they are getting married there next weekend. The bride is a professional photographer and took tons of pictures of us in chairs by the lake.  We didn't get back to our tents until 11pm.

Stats:
Start ODO- 634
end ODO- 715
total- 42.42
max- 24.9
avg- 9.8
time- 4:19

July 13, Saturday

We decided to eat breakfast in Big Flats, which is a really small tourist town. At a popular café, we were able to get good food and charge our phones.

A bike path connected Big Flats to Ferndale and there were a lot of walkers, joggers and dog exercisers on it. It offered nice views of the river, even if it is mostly captured. About 4 miles we began about a 6 mile gradual climb at about 3-5% grade. At a certain cadence, I can do that forever. Roger and John are a bit faster, so they end up waiting for us to catch up. I just justify it by saying Roger and John needed time to rehydrate and eat (probably not quite that much time…).

We saw several other divide riders today, two going north, one going south. Cedar Creek CG is not much of a CG. There appears to be one site with a picnic table and that site seems permanently occupied. There are 2 outhouses, one of which is falling into its own hole, the other has no place to sit. I later located a 3rd one, on its side closer to the river. There was also an area next to the river from which people and outfitters launch/land rafts. We stayed in this area regardless of a warning from a warden that it might be busy.

I did totally submerge myself in the river this time to de-salinate. Six rafts came down the river and landed at this spot, mostly double hulled with single occupants and beer coolers. Only one of the rafters was drunk.

We couldn’t figure out if it was an outfitter, but I think so, since the people with the trucks/trailer had not floated down. Several hours later another large raft with 4 guys showed up, but we were in our tents. They were older, maybe my age and after some discussion, they left in their truck/trailer to find another pull out with a campsite. I’m not sure why they didn’t just camp in the parking lot, but at around 9pm they came back and re-launched, immediately pulling out their fishing rods. It was getting dark already…

Stats:
Start ODO 634
End ODO 672
Max 24.5
AVG- 8.4
Total 37.7
Time: 3.37hrs

July 12, Friday

I woke up at 6:00 because the sun was streaming through the window and I worked on uploading my photos to my blog separately, since I had wifi. Typing was faster at the library yesterday, but they ask you to keep your time on their computers to one hour, so my photos are going up in groups by day.

When everyone was up we went downstairs for coffee and Jamie and I had fresh squeezed juice. Life is harsh. After saying goodbye to Kirtlye at the hostel (she took our photo with a tiny Polaroid), we headed to the Buffalo Cafe for breakfast. I got a Mediterranean omelet. Ahh.

It was mostly downhill today. At one junction a guy in a truck stopped us and suggested a slightly different route, which we tried out.

Near Big Flats, we decided to go the more risky 35 S, with no shoulder, where the speed limit dropped to 35 MPH shortly down the road, rather than try a dubious side road with multiple unmarked dead ends off it, not on our maps.  Drivers were annoyed they had trouble passing us for 1/2 mile and some of them may never get over it. Oh, well.

Just past Big Flats, we came to Wayfarers State Park.  More like a private CG than I am used to in a state park, it offered hot showers and meadow sites for hiker/bikers.  Apparently there didn't used to be sites for hikers/bikers; Roger was turned away last year because the CG was full.  The park warden, who came to "yell" at people swimming off the boat launch (just after our crew had gotten out) told us the policy had changed because the new parks commissioner was a huge cycling fan. Hurrah!
We showered and had dinner, then 4 more Divide cycling guys showed up, coming down from Banff much faster than we are.  They were all outfitted like Roger and John, with Revelate/ Cascade bags and such.  They took the other hiker/biker site.  If more had shown up, we would have welcomed them to share the site.  It started to rain, so everyone dove for their tents.

Stats:
Start ODO- 591
end- 634
max 31.2
avg- 12.5
total- 42.51

July 11, Thursday

It was looking stormy, so we decided to book down without breakfast. This meant we would not have to pack wet tents, though. If course the rain started and stopped before we left the CG and the skies even cleared as we began our mostly downhill scream towards Whitefish. As soon as we reached the pavement at the north end of Whitefish Lake the resort development began.

There was someone water skiing and huge homes set way back on huge lots. Whitefish itself has not yet been consumed by tourism, but still has a functional downtown, although it does have some sprall with big box stores along 93 to the south.

First stop was Glacier Cyclery. An excellent shop with excellent staff, both sales and mechanical worked with us. Jamie had ordered new panniers through them and they put a new tubeless tire on John's bike. They also told us about a new hostel in town called the Whitefish Hostel. So excellent.
The two sisters who started it are interesting to talk to and are hardworking entrepreneurs. They also have a juice bar there and were really helpful. I hope we helped them solidify some of their policies,  since we were some of their first customers and are a pretty laid-back bunch. Kirtlye served us fresh squeezed OJ, lemon and grapefruit juice the next morning.

After dropping our stuff there, we went off in different directions on errands.  I went to Radio Shack to get a phone on a service provider that actually works in the west. Then it was on to the Sportsmen's Outdoor (not useful, mostly clothing and low end camping/outdoor stuff), then the health food store and finally the library to blog.  The library didn't even ask for a card or ID. Sweet!

We reconvened at the hostel and then went to dinner at the Bulldog, where we were introduced to Moose Drool, a stout beer. We also tried Tamarack, which was not quite as dark.

At the hardware store they helped me find vinyl tubing and hose clamps for my racks and panniers to make them fit even more snugly. I spent my evening putting all that together on my bike. The panniers are more difficult to attach, but they won't be bouncing around.

Stats
Start odometer 555
End 591
Total 36
Avg 11.2
Max 31.3

July 10

I woke up at 6:30, but nobody was stirring, so I took a walk around the CG and up the road a bit, then sat by the creek and read on the Kobo. We got a slow start, but it was a beautiful day.

We headed back towards "real" mountains with rocky peaks and snowy vistas.
They were working on the road to the pass, so we had to drag our bikes through so piles of dirt and around the excavating equipment.

We passed some pioneer cabins, which you can rent. One was the Wirtz cabin at which we found no water. We also passed the Ford Work Center, which none of us had any idea what it was.

There was a lovely little burn area encompassing the Flathead river, but no bears or moose. We turned off at FS Road 115, which was less travelled. The last section was a long 2 mile climb, moderately steep. I had to stop once, even in my lowest gear.

The Red Meadow Lake CG was a wonderful reward. Though few cars passed us coming up, there were several which passed when we were at the CG. Another frigid dip in a mountain lake.

Stats:
Start odo- 525
End - 555
Total- 30.17
Avg- 9.1
Max- 24.3

July 9

Jamie and I stayed back in the park to eat a grocery store breakfast, while Roger and John went to a restaurant. I volunteered to carry the second bottle of wine over Whitefish pass. Hopefully this bottle will taste a little better.

A little warm-up hill led us to rolling pine and aspen terrain.

We met 2 rangers coming down in trucks. They had been spraying herbicide on a roadside invasive species. When they came across us, we had laid all our bikes down on the road to eat something before the steep climb and we looked rather like we had all crashed. Roger left his water bottle at the snack spot, so he descended about a mile to retrieve it and found his towel had fallen off there as well.
We all met at the top of the pass after a long, rocky climb. That pass was closed to motor vehicles, due to construction (road is way too narrow to accommodate a car and the excavator), but we did see 2 cyclists and they noticed my Niagara Frontier Bicycling Club Jersey. They were from Rochester, NY, about 75 miles from my home. One was coming from Mexico and riding a Surly Pugsley. He reported that at a point in NM, he was carrying about 14 liters of water. The other had joined at the Montana border.

Flying down the other side,  John suffered a massive tear in his tire tread. I can't even call it a puncture. He was running tubeless tires, but even the sealant inside didn't save that tire. He swapped it for his folding spare and stuck in a tube later. Roger suggested it was because we were running at our top psi, so we all heeded the warning and let some air out.

Tuchuck CG was totally empty and had bear boxes for our food, though as I predicted, some lazy people had left their garbage in them, in a pack-it-in, pack-it-out CG. Tuchuck Creek was, of course, phenominally cold, but we all fully submerged ourselves, though some longer than others.

We dried our clothes on the warm stones if the river bank. I uncorked the wine by pushing it in with an Allen wrench, spraying myself liberally. Hope bears aren't attracted to the smell of red wine. I was asleep by 9:00.

July 8 pictures

 

I woke up to the call of a loon.  It seems like loons are pretty resilient, for this spot is not exactly remote, just rural.

The GDMBR was partly on paved and partly on gravel.  I noticed about 5 miles out that my tire was low.  I pumped it up to about 60psi and continued on to see how fast a leak it was.  I got another 20 miles, running in front of a thunderstorm.  We stopped for snacks and drinks and I pumped it up again with a little help from my friends.  About 5 miles from the border, I had to pump it up again and I knew a repair would not wait until Eureka.  We passed through the border crossing without incident and I pulled my wheel off.  A very small wire from a steel belted tire had penetrated the tire.  Roger had nice tweezers to pull it out. We moved on to Eureka, MT right down 93, since we had missed the turn-off to a quieter road. Dwight had sent me my BF saddle via USPS and I picked it up and shipped some things home.  The postal workers were kind to help us literally and figuratively get our stuff together and mail unwanted stuff home. Mailed home: cargo net, messenger bag and tri-flow. I could immediately feel the difference in the saddle. Thank you again Dwight. Roger sent a bunch if stuff home after laying all his stuff out, inventory-style behind the post office.

The motel was $36 pp, so we preferred to camp in the city park. A group of Adventure Cycling (AC) riders was already there; they are riding up to Fernie, then to Waterton Lakes and back to Whitefish through Glacier. They gave us 2 bottles of wine they didn't want to carry. Several other riders were camped out too, including Mike, it turns out, but we didn't see him until morning.

Another storm was approaching, so we went to a "casino" for dinner and John treated us all to ice cream. The restaurant opened our wine and it was pretty dreadful, even for a red.

Since there are 3 days until the next services in Whitefish, we stocked up on food to replace all the weight we got rid of by shipping stuff home. Jamie and I tried to sneak a cucumber face peel into John's cart, but he discovered and rejected it, though we tried to convince him it would make him look radiant.
Back at the park, the AC folks had gone to bed, someone doing the Parks Loop route had arrived and in the midst of us all, someone had an RV with a generator running next to it until 11:00. Earplugs!

Stats:
Start odometer 449
End- 493
Total 44
Avg 12.3
Max 46.9
TBC