Author: Matthew Harms

Day 11: Lowland Campground to Wise River (71.2 miles, 5,857ft)

We got off to an early start, quickly ascending to our 5th divide crossing, before continuing to Elk Park Pass a few hundred feet below. After a few more miles of descent on the dirt road past country ranches, we reached a paved road and continued through open, rolling countryside to Butte.

From Butte, we followed a relatively large road out the east side of town before connecting with Montana Highway 2. A few miles further south, we continued onto route 84, which ascended sharply to an open highland area with country homes. The road became a dirt road and continued gradually to our 6th divide crossing.

The next few miles passed through rolling highland and sparse pasture country. Our final descent was steeper than many we’d yet encountered, and we put our brakes to work on the way down to cross under interstate 15.

After following a frontage road north along the west side of the interstate for a couple of miles, we turned west following the gravel Divide Creek Road toward the mountains to our west.

Nearly halfway up our climb we stopped at Beaver Dam Campground to refill our water, before continuing up the remainder of the climb. After crossing over an initial high point, we reached a rough dirt double track in a saddle and turned left going up steeply toward Mt. Fleecer.

A few hundred feet higher we turned southeast and began a frenetic, dusty single track descent, which while manageable for the first few hundred meters, quickly became too steep, rocky, and loose for comfort. Even walking our bikes downhill, we had to take regular detours into the sage brush on either side of the trail for improved traction.

Once completing the worst of the descent, the road quality progressively improved taking us to a junction with Montana Highway 43 at Jerry Creek.

A couple of miles riding west on the highway brought us to Wise River, where we camped out for a fee behind a quaint local combo bar, restaurant, motel, and RV park.

Day 10: Helena to Lowland Campground (62.6 miles, 6,903ft)

We got off to a late start leaving Helena, since we waited until 10:00 to go to have a mechanic at Great Divide Cyclery give our bikes a once over. (They have beer on tap, so an afternoon/evening visit is worthwhile.) Given the all clear, we set off from town and began a 1,500 foot climb on a well-traveled dirt road leaving the city.

This being the day of a solar eclipse—we were just north of the 100% eclipse zone in the 94% zone—halfway up the climb the sun dimmed and air became noticeably cooler, making the climb a bit more comfortable. We pulled out our eclipse glasses—which Anna (always prepared!) had provided us with—took in the eclipse, and continued on our way.

After reaching the top of our first climb we descended through a mountain valley, past a number of homes, before beginning a climb up to another pass. Quickly, we left populated areas and after a number of miles came to a beautiful highland area. After the switchback the route led above a stunning lake—Park Lake—with a national forest campsite. After a few more rolling miles along dirt road, we reached a technical, single track climb. The trail required some brief sections of hike a bike, but for the most part we were able to ride out the trail, a fun (if difficult) diversion from the wider county and forest roads we’d been riding.

A fun descent to the little town of Basin followed, where we stopped at a little cafe—the only open business in town—for a water refill and ice cream.  From there we followed a mix of paved, then dirt roads parallel to the interstate. After five or six miles, we moved away from the interstate, and continued up the valley we’d been following, gradually ascending to our campsite—Lowland Campground, a wonderful, secluded national forest campground. (One of the highlights of this route are the amazing campsites you can find in national forest and Bureau of Land Management areas, either established or dispersed primitive camping.)

This wasn’t our longest day, but it was likely our hardest up until this point of the trip—and one of the prettiest.

Day 9: Lincoln to Helena (64.5 miles, 5,212ft)

After the relative ease—due to paved and dirt road detours away from forest fires—we knew that the ride from Lincoln to Helena would present a bit more of a challenge.

After having crossed to the west side of the continental divide on the second day of our trip, we hadn’t crossed again; today we had three divide crossings ahead of us. Leaving Lincoln we climbed gradually for a number of miles on wider dirt roads, before turning onto a rougher dirt track for the final few, steep and rough miles to the first of the divide crossings—thankfully, our legs were up to the test.

From there we descended sharply toward a valley on the other side and were startled by cows—which, to us with bears on our minds, look conspicuously similar to bears at a distance—that became more numerous as we rode through more settled pasture land.

Near the bottom we passed a wonderful little home and small ranch, whose owners host bikers traveling the GDMBR. The owners weren’t in when we passed, but it looked like one of those wonderful, unique places that’s particularly memorable on a long trip. Besides hosting cyclists, the home is a wonderful place for a quick break—while they weren’t home, the owners had left out a cooler with cold drinks and invitation that riders help themselves to a beverage.

Shortly after the bike-friendly home, we reached a T-intersection in the valley bottom and followed another large dirt road gradually upstream, now moving slower as we biked into a headwind.

Again, as we rode away from homes and fields, the road became rougher and we ascended through forests to the second divide crossing of the day. The ascent was more moderate than the first pass but challenging nonetheless (and deceptive—we passed at least one false high-point). Descending on the other side along a rough road, we again rode into more open pasture country with wonderful, wide views. From here the terrain was relatively flat, with some gentle ascents and descents along reasonably well-maintained dirt roads.

After passing a possibly still functional cargo train stop, called Blosburg (no town or services here), we soon turned left and made a very gradual ascent to the third crossing of the day.

All downhill from there, we continued to a paved highway that the route followed for the last 12 miles into Helena. Once in Helena we biked to the county fairgrounds on the north side of town, where (after some searching) we found the campground on the back, northwest end of the fairground complex. (Note: we heard from some other cyclists later on the trip that staying in the Helena RV park was sort of a sketchy experience.)

Day 8: Seeley Lake to Lincoln (62 miles)

Given that our route would take us east, directly toward the forest fires, we had to plan a detour to start our day.

The wind had changed over night, and smoke had settled in over the lake; we began our day riding through a smoky haze.

When we reached route 83 we turned south, off-route, and rode along the highway before climbing left onto a dirt road that a ranger had told us would cut the corner between highway 83 and highway 200—and with bikes set-up for dirt roads, we hoped to avoid pavement and cars as much as possible.

This road took us up into beautiful pasture land, despite having to adjust our route further upon meeting a sheriff who informed us that road closures had been expanded as the fires grew, we were able to cut out many miles of highway riding.

Eventually, we did arrive at highway 200, but thanks to a stiff tail wind when we turned east onto the highway, we were back to the official route in Ovando in no time.

Of course, we could only ride on the official route for a few miles before we detoured onto dirt roads south of highway 200—forest fires northwest of Lincoln had closed the official route north of the highway.

We reached a paved road again, just south of Coughlin, and rode north to highway 200, which we followed, assisted by the same tail wind, the last 16 miles to Lincoln.

After checking into camping at a local park, which happened to be packed with softball players in town for a weekend tournament, we decided on a quieter campground/RV park along a small stream.

Day 7: Cedar Creek Campground to Seeley Lake (56.7 miles)

During our ride the previous day, we’d heard that large forest fires in the mountains east of Seeley Lake would likely make the second half of our coming day’s ride inaccessible. Dave and Cathy confirmed as much: a ranger in Big Fork had told them that the route was closed east of Holland Lake. (Adventure Cycling was also coordinating closely with forest and other relevant services, regularly updating a forest fire layer on an interactive map on their website—great if you have a data connection.)

Somewhat disappointed—but certainly less inconvenienced than those who’d had to evacuate their homes near Seelely Lake or the fire fighters combating the fire—David and I started off, with full loads (in case, for some reason, we wouldn’t be able to meet the support crew later in the day) planning to follow the main route as far as the Holland Lake turn-off, before continuing the rest of the way along Montana Highway 83 to Seeley Lake, where the national forest campground had just reopened.

The first 30-some miles along the official route, following forest service dirt roads on the west side of Swan River, were lovely. Rolling through forest and pasture we thoroughly enjoyed the scenery and saw our first bear of the trip—a black bear that quickly took off after hearing us approach.

Eventually, after turning east and crossing back to the east side of Swan River we reached highway 83 and turned south, heading for Seeley Lake. While we now off the official route, the road was still scenic, and we managed to get some lovely views of the Mission Mountains to our east.

After a quick lunch break at a turn off for Holland Lake, we made good time along the rolling paved road all the way to the national forest campground on the west side of Lake.

 

The campground was great, with water, pit toilets, some bathrooms with running water, and a little beach along the lake front. Probably because of the forest fires to the East, the campground was nearly empty.

As the evening approached we got an impressive aviation show as helicopters, one after the other, flew in to scoop water out of the lake, before returning to the mountains to try to douse the fires.

After darkness fell, we could see the fires lighting up the mountainside.

Day 6: Glacier NP’s Apgar to Cedar Creek Campground (83 miles)

After two days of relative rest (hiking in Glacier aside), David and I started out early from the campground, fully loaded, expecting to see Anna, the kids, and the rest of her family in 2-day’s time.

We rode 20 miles before arriving at our route (and a delicious breakfast at the Montana Coffee Traders) in Columbia Falls.

From there we continued on the route, south, riding through gentle rolling countryside in the valley, past lakes and rivers.

Alternating between paved and dirt roads, the miles flew by—probably our easiest section yet of on-route riding; before we knew it we’d ridden 50 miles and had arrived in Ferndale.

A few miles south of Ferndale we continued onto a dirt forest service road and began a relatively long, but relatively mild, ascent on the west side of Swan Lake. Of course, with every ascent there’s a pay-off on the other side, and we enjoyed the next 10 miles, losing most of the elevation we’d just gained. From there, the dirt road continued roughly south, following parallel to the Swan River, going upstream. Just after passing a sign for Fatty Creek Road to the right, we turned left, off-route, and descended to Cedar Creek, where we found a wonderful little campsite along the creek, complete with picnic table and pit toilet.

As it turned out, forest fires east of Seeley Lake—the intended end point for the following day, where Anna and her family were planning to meet us—closed the lake; so Anna and her family drove down to the Cedar Creek campsite to avoid the smoke further south.

Joining us, too, later and fully-loaded, towing full sets of pannier bags and a BOB trailer—these riders worked a little harder on the uphills than we did—were Dave and Cathy, a retired couple from Napa, California.

Detour: Kalispell to Glacier National Park (33.2 miles)

All along the GDMBR, you pass world-class national parks and other natural recreation areas. Just riding through this incredible landscape is a wonderful experience, but it’s worth your time to take a few days along the way to explore what sites along the route have to offer.

For this reason, and to build in time for fun activities with our awesome support team (David’s wife and kids: Anna, Silas [2.5 years old], Eleanor [7 months old]), we planned in a 2.5-rest day detour in Glacier.

Early in the morning (campgrounds at Glacier fill quickly), David drove into the park to reserve a group campsite, where Anna’s brother, Abram, and parents, Steve and Betsy, would meet us later in the day.

When David returned to pack up the car, I headed out by bike, first to Columbia Falls and then on to Glacier National Park and Apgar Campground.

The ride was pleasant, albeit much flatter than our previous few days of riding. To Columbia Falls, I could follow minor country and residential roads. From Columbia Falls, I followed US Highway 2 to West Glacier. With the exception of a couple miles into Hungry Horse, the highway had a wide shoulder (from Columbia Falls to a point 2 miles before Hungry Horse) or dedicated bike lane (Hungry Horse to West Glacier). From West Glacier, you can take either the road or a bike path (turn sharply right, downhill toward the river after crossing over the river on a bridge to catch the path) to the Apgar Visitor’s Center just past the entrance to the park.

At or near the park, there are grocery stores in West Glacier and Apgar Village. To explore the park, shuttle buses leave regularly from the Apgar Visitor’s Center to various trailheads throughout the park. (The visitor’s center has more information on schedules.)

Once in Glacier it was time to relax! We planned a couple of days of relatively light hiking with friends and family and enjoyed some time relaxing by Lake McDonald, not far from our campground.

 

 

Day 5: Eureka to Kalispell (60.6 miles)

Originally, we had planned a 90-some mile day from Eureka to Whitefish, heading back into the mountains and the Flathead River, but forest fires southeast of Eureka had closed portions of the route.

Instead, David and Anna contacted some friends of friends, who lived just north of Kalispell (south of the official route) and who were gracious enough to host us; so off we went for Kalispell.

For the first 12 miles from Eureka, we followed the GDMBR from town along a minor road that ran south parallel to US93. We then joined US93, and shortly ahead where the GDMBR turned east and headed for the mountains—and a fire related road closure—we continued on US93. Certainly not the most entertaining riding of the trip, but we made good time.

At one point, when US93 turned east toward Whitefish before going back south toward Kalispell, we cut the corner on KM Ranch road. Eventually, we were back on US93 for a short while—and in riding in rain for the first time on the trip—before reaching our friends’ contacts, Barb and Jerry, thankful for the hospitality of relative strangers and the prospects of warm beds and warm showers.