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.
Leaving a smoky Seeley Lake
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.
A dirt road detour south of the official route
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.
Fire closure information board.
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.
Smoke in the distanceRiding an unpaved detour.The blue side of the sky.
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.
Highway riding into Lincoln, with forest fires burning northwest of town
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.
Softball tournament at the local parkMap of fire closuresWonder where they’re from?
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.
Views of the Mission Mountain Range
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.
Lunch breakWatching the helicopters scoop water was a major highlight for all.
As well as getting ice cream in town.
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.
Helicopter scooping water from Seeley Lake to combat forest 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.
David and Anna help distribute signs encouraging people to Welcome Your Neighbors; apparently some of those signs have made it to Montana!Near Echo Lake
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.
Primitive campsite at Cedar Creek
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.
Making my way to Hungry Horse
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.
Lake McDonaldSilas learning to skip (and throw) stones.Dintaman family at Lake McDonald.
Family selfie.
Grandparents bring welcomed new toys.
Uncle Abe brings mountain goat from Utah.Trying to keep babies, odors and bears separate.Our aspiring bikepacker.Highline Trail from Going to the Sun Road.Early morning.Hiking to Avalanche Lake.Lunch at Avalanche Lake.Walking the bench.Avalanche Lake.
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.
Today was easily our hardest day, to date—nearly our longest in terms of distance, with two significant climbs.
Thankfully, we were able to get off to an early start, but three days in and just getting my touring legs (and touring butt—I was starting to develop some major saddle-sore) under me, riding was slow going.
We started the day climbing to the top of Cabin Pass, where we were rewarded with some of the nicest views we’d seen all trip—majestic mountains on all sides of a narrow, flower-carpeted alpine valley.
The ascent to Cabin PassAt Cabin Pass
A steep descent took us down a tighter valley and past a backcountry homestead on our way to Wigwam River.
Wigwam River
After a quick jaunt on a dirt road heading south, we crossed to the west side of the Wigam River, on a dirt track for non-motorized vehicle use. From here, we climbed away from the river and traveled south, ascending away from and descending to a number of mountain brooks that fed into the Wigwam River.
Loaded bikes.Filtering water.
Shortly before arriving back at the Wigwam River, we headed right on a narrow single track that ran south, parallel to the river. The fun ended when we reached an extremely steep section of trail that ran straight up ahead of us—up we went, pushing our bikes, hoping that they didn’t push us back down over the hill.
At the start of the steep single trackNearly there!
The hike-a-bike section was, thankfully, soon over, and we were back on a double track gravel road, which eventually intersected a road that took us up, slowly, 2500 feet to the top of Galton Pass. We bombed down the other side, descending 3000 feet in about 6 miles, before continuing, exhausted, to the USA/Canada border at Roosville and on to Eureka.
Smiley at the top of the pass.It’s flat again!Eureka town park.
From Sparwood, we had two route options: head east into the mountains to the Flathead River—called the “Grizzly Highway” by locals in the area (according to our guidebook)—or continue south along on a shorter and more moderate alternative route through the valley, toward Fernie.
Intrigued by the challenge of the backcountry and promise of rugged scenery, we’d opted to head for the hills. Since we’d have around 110 miles without resupply, we packed up food and gear for two days and a night out on the trail, and set off, planning to meet Anna, Silas, and Eleanor in two days in Eureka, Montana.
The first 20 miles of our route followed paved roads gradually gaining elevation all the way to Corbin. Upon reaching Corbin, we turned south on Flathead Valley Road, a decent dirt road that climbed gradually to Flathead Pass.
From the top of the pass, we began a rough decent down the other side. Significant portions of the road had been washed out, and we picked our way through gravel and large stones, which tested our technical abilities with weighted bikes. (We found ourselves walking multiple sections.)
Eventually, we arrived to the valley and Flathead River, which runs all the way down to Flathead Lake in Montana, passing on the West side of Glacier National Park along the way—unfortunately for us, we’d have to climb a couple of ridges to the West to get back to a paved road and legal border crossing. At a different time in history, we’d just follow the Flathead south.
Dave above the Flathead River.
After following along the east bank of the Flathead for several rolling miles along a dirt road, we arrived at the river, where a bridge was out. Thankfully, the water was low—about knee high (and we’d known about the missing bridge and low water in advance)—so were were able to carry our bikes across with few difficulties.
On the other side of the river, we passed a recreation area, where camping was permitted, on our left and continued a number of miles before arriving at Butts Cabin—a public cabin available on a first come-first serve basis until beds are full. We ended up having the place to ourselves.
Following a dirt road along the west side of the Flathead River toward Butt’s Cabin.Look’in good.Butts Cabin.Glad we weren’t eating dehydrated meals every night.
Throughout the day, we’d been very cautious about bears, trying to make as much noise as possible, due to the warning in our guidebook that the Flathead River Valley was a major thoroughfare for grizzlies and had the highest density of grizzly bears of any location in North America. We, however, didn’t see any bear signs–no scat, no paw prints, no sightings. A bit of a let down, but certainly not a disappointment!
Not quite a bear…
Tomorrow, we’ve got a lot of climbing as we head east on our last day in Canada on our way to Montana.
This morning began with a short detour: we had intended to start the day along a paved bike path that reconnected with the route a few miles down the road, but shortly after our campsite the bike path was closed due to bear activity. After a short backtrack, we were back on the paved road and quickly arrived at the trailhead for the Elk Pass Trail.
Reaching the first Divide crossing.
After a slow but manageable climb, we arrived at Elk Pass. Here we crossed the continental divide—the first of many such crossings on this trip—and entered British Columbia for the first time on the trip.
Elk Valley, leaving Alberta and entering British Columbia.
From the pass crossing, we descended gradually to Elkford, where we stopped for snacks. From Elkford, we headed straight south on highway 43—trail issues to the east made the GDMBR impassable for a short section—before we rejoined the GDMBR north of Sparwood.
Time to go down.Meeting our first fellow Divide riders.
All in all a good day, but I’m starting to notice some saddle sore. So far so good with our bike setups—no breakdowns so far—and David notes that his wider tires (2.5″ Surly Extraterrestrials), thudbuster seatpost, and leather Brooks saddle have made for comfortable riding.
Day 1: Banff’s Tunnel Mountain Campground to Elkwood Campground (64 miles)
Well, we’re off! I (Matt) arrived yesterday—flying to Calgary and shuttling out to the Tunnel Mountain Campground where David, Anna, and there kids, Silas and Eleanor, were waiting for me. After assembling my bike, we spent Tuesday night unpacking, repacking, and organizing our gear and support car (which ended up being stuffed to the gills with food and family camping gear).
On Wednesday morning we began the biking part of our journey. From the campground, we had a couple of miles on paved roads, into and through the town of Banff—this whole trip is a tease as we pass through loads of places we’d like to spend days exploring–before we arrived at the old, ornate Banff Springs Hotel, the start point (according to our Adventure Cycling maps) of the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route.
From there we rode out to the trail head of a wooded dirt track that went South along Spray River. After confirming that a section of trail ahead, further south along the Spray River, that was closed due to wildlife (more on this later) was not on our route, we headed off.
This track, following Spray River and Goat Creek took us out to Smith-Dorrien Spray Road—a well-used (and heavily washboarded) dirt road—which we took south toward Spray Lake.
After a few miles being beaten up by the road, we arrived at the northern end of Spray Lake. At a junction we had two options: stay east of the lake and continue on the dirt road, or follow a smaller dirt road and single track on the more remote west side of the lake. We opted for the latter and didn’t regret the choice. Passing few, and eventually no, cars we had wonderful views of the lake and forests on its edges as we traveled along a harder-packed surface.
We quickly realized that we weren’t the only ones using this trail: we saw many fresh grizzly droppings and a rather large grizzly paw print along the way; and while we managed to miss any grizzly encounters, a couple of other cyclists we met further down the road had encountered a grizzly in this section.
(Much of this route travels through grizzly country, so carrying bear spray is a must. Also, cyclists, because of their speed, are more likely than hikers to surprise bears, so bikers should be sure to make lots of noise and keep their speed under control, especially around blind corners.)
Soon we reached a lovely, wooded single track—a brilliant stretch of remote riding through beautiful scenery. Near the end of the track, we passed over a rushing, emerald stream, before climbing back up to the dirt road that we had arrived at the northern end of Spray Lake on.
The final miles to the campground were a bit of a slog (despite beautiful big valley views): we’re starting to realize that the more remote sections of riding, in addition to being more scenic than dirt roads that receive more car traffic, simply have nicer, harder riding surfaces; the roads with significant car traffic develop a nasty washboard surface, and as you move to the shoulder to avoid the washboard, you get bogged down in loose gravel and dirt.
That aside, the first day was a success. David and I both arrived a bit wiped out—for both of us this was the first major day of riding after some time off—but we’re excited to see what the rest of the journey brings!
