According to those that know the Great Divide route there is only about 10% single track and today we got treated to 1% of that 10. It must be some of the more spectacular because the adventure cycling Association chose this portion of the trail for one of their supported trips. ACA GD Montana

The climb to get there was 1500 feet in 5 miles. Views were spectacular and the trailer was pretty narrow and exposed in a few spots. Don says, “it was overgrown for many miles”. Downhill was fast and furious, not allowing for sightseeing unless you stopped to look.

We came into Sealy Lake where the ACA was camped in the local campground. Kind of overwhelmed the campground single stall male female restrooms were crowded with 38 riders and 10 support to say the least. There are also two thru-riders totally overloaded on heavy bikes. Since I am mentioning other riders we met with three northbound riders from Tennessee just about to complete their tour. All young guys who have carpetbags for a front handlebar bag.

Riding thru ranch lands south of Columbia Falls the distinctive aroma of Dill led me to notice almost a section of land behind split rail fence was entirely dill. As this was horse country, with every spread featuring corrals, stalls and hay stacks it seemed incongruous. It set me to thinking, ” do horses eat dill?” I doubt it, but it was a pleasant surprise.

Don’s rear tire was still losing air even with a new tire installed just the day before. Fortunately there was a bike shop only five miles off route half-way thru the days ride so we stopped in Big Foot for a fix. Unfortunately the sealant was on a. UPS truck due in by 3pm, hopefully. We took a real leisurely late breakfast and hung out until the delivery which came in early at 2pm.

On a long downhill high above a lake we were pretty surprised to come across an eight inch turtle smack in the middle of the gravel road. After watching him for a short spell we placed him on the down slope hoping he wouldn’t be road kill.

It was hard to start out once again in the mid afternoon especially when the route involved most the days climbing remaining. We opted for an off route campground near Swan River that was more swamp than campsite. At best you’d call it abandoned, however there was already a Canadian couple with there tent set-up next to the only broken picnic table. We asked to share the site, pitching our tents in the gravel driveway. Before long still one more couple cycled in and we had five tents clustered around.

Bugs and Mosquitos were the best redeeming factor of that site.