August 23, 2024
Day 5: ‘Rest Day - Wilderness to Big Fork, Montana’
YES! I finally had a good sleep. I am hopeful this is a sign that I’m settled into this new way of life.
Today we woke up to a nice surprise. It wasn’t damp overnight and there was a bit of wind so our clothes were 75% dry when we pulled them off the clothes line. We managed to eat a really dry 3 day old bagel with peanut butter, pack up and hit the road by 7:15.
Our first 40 km into Whitefish was easy. It started with a significant gravel descent and then was we approached the town it turn to pavement and beautiful properties on a lake. it wasn’t long before we were in Whitefish. We had a few things we wanted to accomplish.
- Find a pannier for my bike.
- Have a second breakfast.
- Groceries.
- More bike stuff.
The first task was easy as we found a great crepe place on one of the main streets. When I travel I’m always curious about where the money comes from and how people live. I’m Whitefish it’s clear that there must be a huge infusion of money from the ski resort. There were multiple streets in the downtown that were full of nice stores. I’m not much of a shopper but some would have a heyday there.
The crepes and coffee were fantastic. I’ve had a few people reach out and ask how the hell we are keeping journals. It’s just a bit of a discipline. If we have a break during the day I pull out my phone and write into the notes section. Then again at the end of the day we do the same thing. Throughout the day we obviously take photos. I go through the photos every night and delete the duplicates or poor ones and move the good ones over to an album for the day. Then when we hit service I just copy over the notes and pop in the photos. It takes about 30 minutes and you can expect spelling mistakes :)
We spent 2,5 hours in Whitefish which was more than we wanted to but we knew today wasn’t going to be difficult riding.
Outside of Whitefish and for the remainder of the day we rode through very pretty countryside with very few hills. It was mostly just quiet roads with brief interruptions of short highway sections.
So far on our trip we’ve had almost everything go right. There has been no forest fire smoke. The weather has been amazing! Our bikes and bodies are functioning well. Sure, we got caught in rain a few times in Fernie but it didn’t matter.
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Today we could see a storm coming so we stopped and pulled out our jackets, of course stuffed deep down in our packs. Then we started riding and it opened up with huge cold rain drops. Luckily there was a school with 500’ and we sprinted to get under cover. While there I received a text from my son so I quickly called him, shared some stories, and caught up on what’s happening with his life; that was a nice check-in.
From there we rode to the campground which was only another 8 km. We arrived to a campground full sign but fortunately they have bike and hike only sites so we weren’t shut out. We picked up a couple shower tokens excited by the prospect but that may not happen because a giant wind storm whipped through and knocked out power. Nonetheless, our tents are intact and this is a great campground.
We haven’t spent much on anything other than food and so far the combination of the odd restaurant mixed in has been perfect. We’ve only paid to camp 2 of the 6 nights, along with a donation at a National campsite.
I was not successful at two bike shops looking for a pannier but one directed me to their town equivalent to an REI. They had one model that fit the bill. I really didn’t want to get a pannier. I know they are convenient and super popular for bike touring. But, being a mountain biker first and minimalist second I like to keep things really neat and tidy on my bike. It makes for better handling and less wind resistance. But, that being said, on this trip the dry bag wasn’t really working. So, now I have a pannier and first impressions are good. I also bought some heavily discounted gortex ski gloves and I hope they do the trick for the cold mornings.
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We are still right on track with our distance goals, slightly ahead of plan. That’s great because we have no idea what’s ahead for challenges. We can certainly understand how people crush out bigger distances. We are riding slower bikes and not pushing every limit. Instead of decent breaks in nice towns and stopping around 5:30 every day we could ride longer and add likely 30-40 km each day that would add up quickly. We met a lady on a big descent. She came out of nowhere on a gravel bike with a race setup and she looked the part. We chatted a bit and she disappeared. Peter guessed she was training for next year’s race.
Highlights:
-Bike in campsite complete with a bike stand, tools, and a shelter
-Mostly great weather, hot at times 29 C but mostly sunny
-Great scenery and generally easy riding with low winds
-Whitefish was a great stop
118 km / 760 m elevation gain
Today's ride: 118 km (73 miles)
Total: 600 km (373 miles)
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2 months ago