Day 6: Big Fork to Holland Lake

August 24, 2024

Stats:

Distance: 125km

Climbing: 1925m

Start: 9:00

6:45pm

The power was back on so we got to use the shower tokens first thing in the morning. Having been able to do laundry a few days ago and shower today, the main reasons we might want to get a motel at some point are reduced. We still might want to after a nasty stretch of weather, but I had been estimating maybe once per week. If it continues in a similar vein perhaps we won’t need to as often. The camping has been pretty pleasant so far and we have the routine pretty well down.

We stopped in Big Fork for groceries and then passed through the historic downtown on our way out of town - one of the cutest towns around. It would have been nice to stop at the cafe but it looked like the wait would have been over an hour.

It was a big day for distance and elevation, but not for scenery or pictures. We spent the vast majority of it in the “green room” - forest on both sides on gravel roads. Yesterday’s windstorm, or perhaps earlier ones, had knocked down some trees on our route - most were easy to go around but a few require both of us to haul each bike over.

One of many fallen trees we had to get over or around.

Lunch is never just lunch: eat, fill bottles, change clothing layers, hang wet clothes in the sun, etc

We broke out of the forest in the last few km for a brief stretch on the highway and then back into the woods to Holland Lake.

We aimed for a “packers camp” which is run by the Montana Forest Service with sites for people with horses as well and hikers and bikepackers. There are feed stations where hay can be stacked for horses, and several are in use. ‘Never camped with horses before.

You find the strangest things along the side of the road.

Word has it that Seeley Lake, which we’ll pass through tomorrow, has great huckleberry ice cream.

Planning around good places to camp makes sticking to a distance target challenging. It’s more of an average distance target, but if we want to do 110km in a day then having camping options at 80 and 140km would be frustrating, so we’re trying to look a bit farther forward to avoid that. There are also a few famous spots along the route that it would be a shame not to include in our plans such as the “Llama Ranch,” the ghost town of Bannack, and the “Toaster House” among others.

Today's ride: 125 km (78 miles)
Total: 719 km (446 miles)

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