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.