Great Divide ride report (long)

[MissJean]

Great Divide Ride Report -1st Leg of Montana

As some of you may now know, Beth Woodbury, friend & fellow SC NH nemba memba, is riding the Great Divide mtb route this summer and I joined her for the first 8 days.
Beth’s Mom and Mom’s friend Ann are in on the trip too. They are not riding, but driving the Jeep, acting as all around shurpa/support team.
Beth & I arrived in Kalispell on Sunday the 12th. On Monday, Mom drove us up to Eureka, where we had shipped our bikes ahead to Progressive Cyclery (owned by a real super helpful guy) and picked them up. We then all drove to the Port of Roosville on the US/Canadian border where we packed, re-packed, and re-re-packed our gear. Beth estimating she had 60 lbs in her BOB trailer & I about 35 lbs in my panniers.
All packed & ready to go.

[MissJean]

Day 1 was quite the adventure. Scheduled to be 41 miles from Roosville to Tuchuck campground in the Flathead National Forest, we said we would play it by ear, not pushing too hard the first day, stopping early if it was too much. But things went real well; the first 30 miles were easy rolling hills through beautiful MT farmland and into the forest. The clouds started gathering about half way up the 6-mile climb to Whitefish Divide and by the time we hit the 5-mile mark it started raining, thunder & a flash of lightning. We pulled on rain gear and after the lightning went away, we started up again. At the top it was pretty cold but the rain had changed to drizzle and with just 5 miles to go, all downhill, we knew we would have no problem making it.
That’s where we made a mistake though, we did not stop to change from our damp, sweaty clothes into dry clothes, so on the 5mile downhill swoop we got pretty cold. We made it to the campground but it started raining again, so we quickly set up the tent & changed into dry clothes.
Luckily there was a big concrete out-house with a large overhang, so we piled all our bikes & gear in there, set the stove up under the over hang and made some warm food. Then dove into our sleeping bags for an uncomfortable night.

Beth at the top of the pass.

[MissJean]

Day 2 started cold (there was frost on the picnic table) but sunny. It was 24 miles to Polebridge where we were scheduled to meet up w/Mom & Ann. We got our first views of the wild fire damage to the forest, great big swaths of 100’ tall black tree trunks, and our first magnificent views of the snow covered Rocky Mtns.

Mom & Ann had rented a cabin, so we spread out our stuff to dry. After a great lunch at the groovy little Polebridge Mercantile, we all drove over to Glacier National Park. Words just can’t do justice to how beautiful that area is. We saw a moose w/twin calfs, huge old growth cedar trees, we drove up Going-To-The-Sun road to 6660’Logan Pass, and even though it was raining on & off, the views were breathtaking.

[MissJean]

Day 3 was cloudy & chilly, but no rain. We did 44 miles, climbing from 3800’ to 6000’ through a gorgeous valley up to Red Meadow Lake; a pretty, crystal clear lake nestled in the pass. And there above the lake was a big Bald Eagle, it’s white trail all spread out, swooping up and around and around, up until we couldn’t see it any more.
We ate lunch there and then (after changing in to dry shirts) had a great, long, fun downhill. We hit paved road above Whitefish Lake and with the big pick-up trucks that everybody in MT drives whizzing by us on the narrow winding road, we peddled into Whitefish and on to the Whitefish State Park. Which is a spotlessly clean park, with wonderful spotlessly clean hot showers and super nice people, but is also right next to a very busy railroad track. Not much sleep that night.

[MissJean]

Day 4 was sunny & warm. We did 50 miles across the valley floor from Whitefish to Big Fork. Lots of big money spreads, cute log homes, tons of horses, nice people waving to us as they speed by in their pick-up trucks. When we stopped by the side of the road to eat lunch, one person even stopped to see if we were ok. We peddled through the funky little town of Big Fork and over to Flathead Lake met up w/Mom & Ann and camped right at the edge of that beautiful lake. We saw all sorts of water birds, a tiny humming bird, a turtle laying eggs, and deer. There are deer everywhere.

[MissJean]

Day 5 started off bad. Dark clouds, thunder and driving rain. We were tent bound ‘til noon then said it’s now or never, put on rain jackets, baggy rain pants, and over booties, and looking very silly, headed off over the Mission Mtns to Swan Lake, 28 miles away.
We made it up and over the 4900’ pass, where the clouds lifted to give us a spectacular view into the valley. Then down we went, riding along the edge of the Swan Lake Wildlife Refuge when I rounded a curve and there ahead was a bear! Thank goodness not much of a bear, a juvenile black bear, but a bear nonetheless.
We made a wrong turn and went a few miles in the wrong direction, but Mom & Ann tracked us down and drove us back to the motel. Ahhh, a cheeseburger, fries and a hot shower.
The small dark splotch is the bear.

[MissJean]

Day 6 was an easy sort of day, sunny & warm, 35 miles through the Mission Mtns to Cold Creek Rd, steady climbing from 3200’ to 4200’ and back down again. Today’s high light was meeting up with 4 of the Continental Divide racers. These loonies race the entire length 2470 miles of the Divide. Scott, on the right, this is his second time. The other guy, a Brit, this is also his second try. He has also raced in the Idid-a-bike in Alaska, and the Trans-Europe race. We figured they must do about 140 miles a day.
A couple of hours later, a third guy pulled up along side. I told him that they are nuts! And he said wait until you see they guy behind me, he is riding a fully rigid single speed AND he rode his bike from Washington to the race!
Sho’nuf, few hours later that guy passes us by, with a quick hello, standing to climb up the rocky road.

[MissJean]

Day 8 was the best day, 35 miles from Holland Lake to Seeley Lake. Perfect blue sky, dry and warm. We stopped to look at the charming log cabin style Holland Lake Lodge then started down the gravel fire road into the Swan Mtns. Lunch was on the banks of Clearwater Lake, a popular fishing spot. We eventually turned off the fire roads and onto a grass-covered road and then onto a “primitive” road. We climbed & climbed, around each turn the view just got better & better. At the top, 6500’, I was wheezing a bit, that was the only time I felt the altitude.
The lake in the background is Clearwater and to the left you can see the road we took. This is where we got a scare when we heard a loud crashing through the woods, but it was only a young elk that ran out onto the trail behind us.

[MissJean]

The trail down the backside of the mtn was awesome! Very narrow, with a sharp drop off where there was an old landslide, fallen logs to haul the bikes over (you can’t hop logs w/panniers) or go under. The view was as always spectacular.

The red thing in front that looks like a fire extinguisher is bear spray.

[MissJean]

Last day was 29 miles from Big Larch campground to the minuscule, but very cool town of Orvando, pop 50.
We rode out of the mtns onto rolling grasslands, past ranches and hay fields over Rt 200 (2 lane road w/70 mph speed limit) into Orvando.
We stopped at the café for a bite then went over to the mercantile to look around.
We had noticed that there was a tiny museum and commented to the lady behind the counter that it was too bad it was closed. She said Oh no problem, if you want to look, I’ll call the guy over at the other shop. She then gave us the key and said meet the guy over there and he’ll let you in. So we did and when we were done, we let him know and he went over & locked up. Very cool place.

[MissJean]

And that's it! 286 miles and about 11300' of climbing and 11100' of downhill. No grizzly bears that goodness! ;D
I had a great time and I thank Beth for inviting me to share in a small portion of her big adventure.
One last shot of wild flowers, they were all over the place.

[minkhiller]

Jean that is awesome. Thanks for a great report!

[Quo Fan]

Looks lik I got to get to Montana to ride. Thanks for the wonderful photos.

[EVIL BOTA]

Now thats livin..Great job Jean.G/L to you and Beth!!!!!!!

[jerseygirl]

What a great trip...thanks for sharing. The pix are awesome.

[radair]

Excellent adventure, Jean! You must have your climbing legs on for the summer after that trip. Thanks for sharing!

I'll be watching Beth's site for her ongoing ride, too.

[Slider]

Amazing shots, and a true lifetime adventure. Thanks for the report.

Now you gotta pick a new Forum name. No "oldbroads" I know could complete that epic. Impressive!

But please tell me - day 10 or whatever - sore? Cranky back? Tired of all the saddle time? Or simply ready for more?

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[ArmOnFire]

I like the part about the racer on a SS who rode from Washington to get to the race, that's freakin' dedication.

Awesome insight to your adventure.

Thank you for sharing.

-dan

[AA]

All I can say is WOW, what a great experience.

[huff'npuff]

Awestruck,dumbounded,and enthralled ! Absolutely fantastic!

[MissJean]

But please tell me - day 10 or whatever - sore? Cranky back? Tired of all the saddle time? Or simply ready for more?

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I will confess that at the last minute I did buy one of those seat covers. :-[ Not a big puffy one! just one with a bit of extra padding. The purists may scoff, but I am very glad I did. Sitting on a bike seat all day, even w/padded shorts, is just not fun. :-X

Other than that, I was pleasantly surprised at how will my body handled things. There was no time that it said “OK that’s enough of that”.
We did make a point of getting off and walking for 15-20 min every couple of hours just to use different muscles. There were also a couple of stretches that were just so steep that we had to get off and push the bikes. Sleeping on the ground was much harder on me than the riding.

Ready for more? Well, yes & no. 8 days was just about right for the way we had to do things. Beth has a schedule she has to stick to, so we had to cover a certain amount of miles. At a more leisurely pace, I could see myself very happily riding & camping around the west for the whole summer. Now I just need to win the lottery.

[peterdbikes]

If you want to continue reading about Beths trip, check out her website at www.summeronthedivide.com