Holland Lake - Seeley Lake MT

June 18. Holland lake - Seeley Lake

Jill had had hot coffee ready for us when we woke up. And Frank had a nice fire going. It wasn't as cold as the day before but still cool. They headed off for their ride of the a Icefields Parkway with Adventure Cycling and we took off for Seeley Lake. We hope to see them again so,we here in Idaho!

Our route today went through what is described as Grizzly highway. Lots of climbing and lots of scenery. As we got started a group of six cyclists were just ahead of us. We sort of leapfrogged with them most of the day. They are a group of local cyclists who ride a section of the Great Divide route on the weekends. We climbed for over six miles with spectacular scenery of Holland and Clearwater lake.

We ran into a couple of hikers who had a border college with them. Sure do miss our Katie the wonder dog. But we know when it is time to have another dog God will let us know. Then we ran into a second couple who had three border collies with them. Ok God. Come on. Really? They were beautiful dogs who had that look in their eye of ok what can I do for you? We didn't see the people and one of the dogs bolted out of the shrubs on a very narrow trail. Scared us both to death (remember we are on grizzly highway!). But the dog was on a mission and took off running in front of us to find his mom and dad. They were just down the trail so we stopped to talk about dogs of course.

The trail narrowed significantly. Until we were riding along an edge of a cliff. Freaked me out! In addition it was a narrow trail through high foliage so if there was a bear you wouldn't be able to see it until it was too late. So being noisy was important!!!! It was a spooky ride!

Finally we turned onto what we thought was an easy downhill into Seeley Lake. But it turned into a bumpy torture ride (at least for my back! Ouch!) for about two miles. No fun. And to add insult to injury. I managed to scrape my leg on a huge tree that I should've seen.

We got into Seeley lake and found a campsite at the seeley lake motel and rv. Yeah. A shower. We went across the street to a laundromat and bar. While we ate dinner and enjoyed a beverage I did the laundry. We had a nice campsite so sleep was the easy part.  

July 17. Holland Lake with Jill and Frank

July 17. Holland lake with Jill and Frank

Spent a lazy morning talking over coffee on the coldest days of our trip so far. I had on almost all the clothes I brought. We went over to the lodge to see if we could get some breakfast. We missed the breakfast time but fell right into the tweener time. Which means homemade apple pie ala mode all the way around! Good stuff!

After our breakfast we drove into Seeley Lake for some supplies. We were  out of peanut butter! Oh no! When we got back we got stuff together and headed back to the lodge to rent a couple of kayaks. Holland Lake is amazingly beautiful.  Lots of boats out today. The sun was shining and temps were good. Jill fixed pork chops and sweet potatoes for dinner. Maybe the best dinner of the trip!  

July 16, 2016. Cedar Creek - Holland Lake MT

July 16, 2015. Cedar creek campground -Holland Lake MT

The day started out overcast but at least not raining when we were packing up. Sure hate packing in the rain. We ate our standard oatmeal bagel and PB with the other guys before leaving. We started with a 6 mile climb. After climbing about a mile Hap says where's my bear spray that's supposed to be strapped to my handlebars? Uh oh. We turned around rode back and sure enough it was sitting right where we left it!! After our delay we rode up the 6 mike "moderate " hill as the map we are following says. Wonder what scale it is using?? I think the scale should change depending on the time of day and other factors. Your viewpoint sure changes with things like timing, am I hungry, is it raining, are Hap and I speaking, you know important things like that!

The day was just up and down all day. Mostly riding on gravel roads through beautiful forested mountains. Sure is pretty. When we got close to Holland Lake we decided to go out to the highway instead of following the route. We were planning to meet our friends Jill and Frank from Hamilton MT (previously of Circleville OH) at Holland Lake and just wanted to get there.

When we got to US 83 we rode into Condone MT and stopped at a gas station/store/restaurant/ice cream bar/laundry/shower place. Called J and F to find they were going to be a couple of hours away from Holland Lake. We figured we had plenty of time to eat, shower and laundry. We went in and the menu on the wall said they had sandwiches. So we ordered a couple. He said oh just get the ones you want out of the cooler and I'll microwave them for you..... The shower and laundry was great though !!

We arrived at Holland lake just as J and F were getting there. They drove to the campground and found it full. But the campground host said we could pick any spot at the horsemans camp. So we did. Found a nice site with electric. It started to rain so we went across the rode to play cards under an outfitters camp. No one was there except the mules. And they let their present be known. It was nice to be under shelter from the rain. Just as we got done playing, picked everything up the outfitter rode up on his horse. He looked at our tents and said this area is for outfitters only. I said sorry we didn't know is there a sign? He pointed to somewhere and said over there. When he left we never did find a sign!

July 15, 2015. Bigfork MT - Cedar Creek Campground

July 15, 2015. Bigfork, MT - Cedar Creek campground

No early start again this am. Oh well. Left the campground and rode on pavement for several miles before the gravel and the hill started.  Looonnnnggg climb! Not steep, just llloooonnnnnnggggggggg! The sun was shining and it was a hot climb. We caught up with Bill and Cathy and stopped for a snack. Just before the top we saw a van pulling a trail or with 3 motorcycles and several bicycles stopped in the middle of the narrow road. We were able to ride around it and saw 5 cyclists and a couple of drivers. The cyclist were taking their bags off and putting them in the van. They asked us if we had plenty of food and water as we went by. Which was nice.

We finally got to the top and headed down. The five cyclist and the van/trailer passed us. We leapfrogged with them the rest of the day. Stopped to talk a couple of times. They were a family going 3 weeks on the Divide route, starting in Banff. It was neat to see a family having so much fun. Reminded me of my family riding GOBA (Great Ohio Bicycle Adventure). Fun times! Sometimes we saw cyclists and sometimes we saw some on motorcycles. Cool!!

In the afternoon the obligatory dark clouds showed up with the rain showers. Just a steady rain fell for awhile then it stopped. Almost to the campground we stopped to talk with a couple of the guys and found out they were from Indiana. Small world!

We all arrived at the campground together and camped by the river. A fun evening. The entertainment was them trying to set up hammocks. But they kept falling with the sample person inside. Not sure I could sleep in a hammock. We ate dinner, took a bath in the icky river and went to bed. A fun day of riding.

July 14, 2015. Bigfork MT

July 14, 2015.   Bigfork Montana

We got a fairly late start from Whitefish, all because of crepes. They were worth it. A lot of today was ridden on pavement through lots of wide open farmland. I think we are in the Flathead valley. Didn't mean it was flat though. Lots of ups and downs to keep us honest. We caught up with Bill and Cathy and rode a lot of it with them. The day started out sunny and warm. Saw an eagle just before leaving Whitefish. Loads of tourist traffic in the towns but no problems.

We stopped for a snack off apples and PB just before Bigfork. Really pretty along the river. We took a nice little trail along the river into town. Bigfork is a small tourist town on the river. Pretty but lots of people. We stopped to pick up some beer to take to the campground.

The campground was small and crowded but nice. Bill had a pass to get us a regular campsite instead of the hiker/biker site. Thanks Bill! We got camp set up just as it started to rain. Is anybody seeing a theme here?? We got the tarp set up so that we could put the table under it to eat out of the rain. It's so much fun to meet new friends on these rides. That's really the best part of touring, meeting people. After dinner it was shower time (I didn't care if it did cost me $3.00!) and then bedtime.

Whitefish MT

July 12-13. Whitefish Montana.

We arrived in Whitefish on Sunday and the bike shop was closed. So we'll have to wait until tomorrow to figure out Haps "creak". On the way into town we rode a really pretty road overlooking Whitefish. Lots of cyclists out for the day. We stopped for lunch at a Barbque place and to figure out our next move. Camping was available but we figured we deserved a hotel after the rain the last three days, and no showers. We just wanted to dry everything and get clean! I found the Downtowner Inn. It was a little pricey but what do you expect in a resort town.

The first thing we did was get everything out and hang it up. The hot showers felt great. We went to the grocery store to pick up dinner supplies. Bag of salad, avacado and tomatoes.  Mmm good! Then we hit the sack.

Our day off the plan was laundry, bike fix and eat. Not necessarily in that order. At the bike shop Hap got the parts he needed, new bearing in back wheel. As we were leaving we talked with another couple who are riding the same route. When I mentioned going to the laundromat she said I'm going with you. Hap went back to the room to fix the bike. Cathy and I got our laundry and I went to the sporting good store to pick up white gas for our whisper light stove. We can also use regular gas if we need to, it just burns dirtier. Clean stove is better don't you think?  While there I looked for Hap a replacement shirt. We dropped one of his on the top Elk Pass in canada and we weren't climbing up to get it! I also got us enough freeze dried food for six days. After Whitefish we won't have much opportunity to restock.

When I got back to the room, Hap had the bike together. He decided that he also needed a new tire so we went back to the bike shop and got one. He installed it and we went in search of Great Northern Brewery. Test rode some beer samples and Hap had one called "Guy on a Buffalo".  Now that's a beer name! We must be in Montana. Then we walked to an Italian restaurant for some awesome food!! Didn't take long to fall asleep after all of that.

At least until 2:30 am when the smoke detector started beeping. We called the front desk and had to leave a message. Hard to sleep with bird chirping all night. The next morning when I said something to the owner. She said oh well you didn't say what room you were in. No "I'm sorry or I hope it didn't keep you awake". She could at least of said something!  Oh well... We checked out and went to eat breakfast at a Crepe restaurant. I had a banana Nutella crepe. Hap had ham and cheddar. Mmmmm good.