Great Divide Mountain Bike Route 2003 page 2

On July eighth of 03 saw us leave our bandit camp on Graves Creek Rd and ride thru our intended camp site at Tuchuk campgrounds. Here we found many mosquitos and we were the only food on the menu! Quick to leave and glad we didn't make it here last night. This part of Montana is beautiful, not yet the "Big Sky Country" but bear country as evidenced by the scat we found.
We crossed the Whitefish Divide walking thru the snow.

The pass had been offically opened just 4 days earlier. Eventually we came to North Fork Rd on the Western side of Glacier National Park. Along the way we came across 2 men cutting up firewood from downed trees. Here at an old homestead we stopped for lunch.

We saw bald eagle and western tanagers. There was a badass climb up to Red Meadow Lake tonites campsite as recommended by the guide book. Getting there put us back on schedule.
It was sooo pretty!! With MUCHO mosquitos! Now my second bear hang and I think I have perfected my technique. Now bears again and only 1 car drove by all day. We really felt like we were "out there" Just what I had dreamed about when first reading about the Pacific Crest Trail.
After dinner and setting up camp I looked over the bikes and made some adjustments.

July 9 2003
Waking up to a chilly morning Lynn and I cooked oatmeal and broke camp.

Since we had crossed the Whitefish Divide yesterday there was a great downhill awaiting us today. The downhill took us along the Eastern side of Upper Whitefish Lake and into Whitefish itself.
This night we camped along the Flathead River at Catharine's brothers house. Here we were able to swim in the river and get cleaned up.
We had ridden 9h 56m for 226.8mi

July 10 2003
After a restfull night on the comfy grass we said goodbye to our new friends and pedaled off around 10 am. Only an hour later and Lynn is struggling to keep up and is having bike problems. Over the years she has worn out her front rim from constant braking and the brake pad has gotton stuck under the rim.
We decided that she need to get her bike repaired back in Whitefish. So I stay there with all the gear while she rides back to get a new wheel. Around 2pm Lynn and Catherine return in a car. We have now decided to use one of our rest days because we have lost so much time today. So back to Whitefish, this time to Catherines parents house on the lake, which we took advantage of and swam in. Also laundry was done.
After dinner Catherine decided to join us for the ride to Bigfork where she will be picked up by Tanya her sis-in-law.
Not to far today only 233.7 total miles. A big 6.9 miles today!

July 11 2003 Whitefish to Bigfork
HOT 93F! Catherine rode with us today, she unloaded, Lynn with her panniers and I with my trailer. It must have been easy for her to keep up! We had a flat and met Tom Arnonne riding along the way. He invited us to his place for a rest stop where we met his wife, Patty,

and got to see his bike collection.
Arriving in Bigfork we stayed at the Wayfarers State Park. Had dinner in town and went grocery shopping for the next 3 days supplies. This time we swam in Flathead Lake, it was huge warm and rocky, and had showers!
time 4h57m55s dist 51.5mi total dist 285.2mi average speed 10.4mph