Today we rode from Upper Red Rock Lake Campground, Montana, US to Buffalo Campground, Idaho, US. Sunny weather with little clouds. Road conditions included great gravel roads and very little paved roads. Highlights of the day include single track riding in Idaho.
Riding statistics: on Wednesday August 17, 2022, the 17th day on the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route route, it took 07:04h (04:15h moving time), between 09:31 and 16:36, to cover 69 km (43 miles), including 437 m (1434 ft) elevation gain, with an average speed of 16 km/h (10 mph). During today's ride the average temperature was 30 °C (90 °F) with a minimum of 16 °C (62 °F) and a maximum of 39 °C (108 °F).
Totals: So far, it took 4 days, 19 hours, 6 minutes and 59 seconds of cycling time to cover 1648 km (1024 miles), including 19902 m (65298 ft) elevation gain, with an average speed of 14.6 km/h (9.1 mph).
Leaving the Campground
We already decided that we would not set our alarm clock and see when we get up. Eventually it was 7:16am when we got out of our tents and started to gear up and have breakfast. It was slow going because we liked the scenery and the morning sun. Not a cold morning this time. We also chatted with the other campground guests, and at 9:30am we left the campground. We rode until the end of the valley which we started in yesterday after Lima. 30 minutes later we were at the end and had a steep climb to get out. Surprisingly when we reached the top, we also left Montana and entered Idaho. Another state done.
Big Springs
Gradually the scenery changed back to the mountains we have seen before. With actual forests on it. We had a great downhill from the pass and after having cycled a paved road for about 2km we took a turnoff back into gravel. The gravel changed into double track, and eventually into a trail (not accessible by car there was closed gate which we could bypass). The trail was mainly singe track, and lots of fun to ride. It was on a hilly section of the mountain, between the pine trees. A great environment to be in. After 5km the trail became a gravel road again. Not much later we came back into an area with large houses and finally we reached Big Springs. We went to the nearest Subway and bought a footlong sandwich. Not as good as the wrap. In the US they still don’t know much about good bread unfortunately. After taking a longer break at the subway we went to a small grocery store for some more food for the coming days because it will be more remote again.
Island Park and Buffalo Campground
Big Springs was next to a busy main road, and therefor our road went through the back country via grave roads. After about an hour we were back on a paved road, and eventually ended up back at the busy main road. We’ve reached Island Park, one gas station. We decided to go the the Buffalo campground and keep it a short day so that we might be able to push on in the next two days. On the campground we washed / rinsed most of our clothes, and ourselves, in the river. I definitely needed that! After a noodle soup it was time to get a good night of sleep.
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