We are already loosing track of the days! We keep wondering what day it is, what day tomorrow is, what day will it be when we get in to whitefish. It’s hard to believe it is only our 2nd day!
An early wake up as the birds started calling to us and the sun hinted at its arrival. I was up and making coffee while Crys started her protests but the kids pretended not to hear. By 6 am everyone was moving, deflating, stuffing and packing. A breakfast of homemade granola and powdered full fat milk was a good start to our fueling. Off at 7.15 for a fast 18 miles down where Sara saw a black bear rushing to get off the road before she got too close.
Last night at camp we meant our first southbound Great Divide Mountain Biking Route (GDMBR) through biker. He stopped by out site and hung out with us and chatted for a while. He was a Bostonian taking 4 months off from his biotech job to do this adventure.
As we hit the 12 mile, 3000ft climb Jeff caught up to us and he was super good with the kids, telling stories and playing riddles with them. It was like having a bikepacking camp counselor with us! 7 miles in we stopped to give Sara break and waved goodbye to Jeff. Good luck to him!
Jeff got us through a good part of the climb and we pushed up the rest of the 5 miles and by noon we were diving in to the lake at the top of the pass (Divide crossing #2). A nice lunch of tuna and tortillas (adults) and pepperoni, string cheese, tomato paste and tortilla ‘pizza’. An amazing spot, red meadow lake.
A fast 5 miles to whitefish lake and we found the 4th of July crowds here at the campground. We are confident that mid week this campground is amazing and quiet! It’s pretty full but we found a pullout with shade. A quick swim and we are here resting at 3.30.
Animal sightings:
Sara: 1 moose, 1 bear
Everyone else: chipmunks and lots of them.