Today we rode from an Informal Campground 35km after Grant, Montana, US to Upper Red Rock Lake Campground, Montana, US. Very sunny weather with no clouds. Road conditions included gravel roads and little paved roads. Highlights of the day include 100 miles on the bike in one day, and riding through a beautiful canyon.
Riding statistics: on Tuesday August 16, 2022, the 16th day on the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route route, it took 13:40h (09:52h moving time), between 06:50 and 20:30, to cover 166 km (103 miles), including 1224 m (4016 ft) elevation gain, with an average speed of 17 km/h (10 mph). During today's ride the average temperature was 26 °C (82 °F) with a minimum of 1 °C (32 °F) and a maximum of 42 °C (114 °F).
Totals: So far, it took 4 days, 14 hours, 51 minutes and 10 seconds of cycling time to cover 1579 km (981 miles), including 19465 m (63865 ft) elevation gain, with an average speed of 14.5 km/h (9 mph).
Leaving the informal campground
Up at 6am, leaving at 7pm. We left before Tom and Debby and made very good progress. Yesterday my legs just could not get me going anymore. We were both happy with the informal campground were we pitched our tents. It was an open area at one side, the other side against a canyon wall. But it meant there was sun (and warm) until 6pm, but also that during the night there was a very strong wind from one direction. It woke me a couple of times. But all-in-all I slept very well. When leaving it was still quite cold, especially the fingers, fortunately, after about 20 minutes we rode in a valley in the sun. Not that much later we got really warm because there as a long and very steep climb. A short section we even had to hike-a-bike.
Getting to Lima
We continued in the same scenery as we stopped yesterday. Nice mountains, with mainly sagebrush and cows. A small river in the middle of the valley where there was a little more green vegetation. Eventually the scenery changed to more beautiful mountains (rocks and pine forests). We even had to cycle through a narrow canyon section with only the road and a small river stream. It was beautiful (and unfortunately I have no picture of it). When we got through the canyon it was again the same scenery as before, and after a while we reached a frontage road that ran parallel to the highway. We followed that road for about 10km where we ended up in Lima. Lima is nothing more than a rest stop for the highway people. A small restaurant which still looks like to 60s, and honestly the food was probably also still from the 60s (because I did not like the hamburger at all). Next to the restaurant was a gas station. There we bought additional food for two days (they really had not a lot of healthy choices, and it was expensive!). We stayed for a couple of ours in a patio next to the gas station. On a picnic bench in the shade. It was really relaxing. We decided we wanted to continue for 70km and go to another informal campground. We left around 3pm.
Informal campground
Immediately after we left Lima, the scenery changed. Only smooth hills, we grass and sagebrush. In a way it was really beautiful as well. After a while we reached the Lima Dam, where they generate power from water out of a lake (the Lima Reservoir) behind the dam. Very small, but apparently enough for the environment. The lake looked empty. It seems that normally, or earlier in the season the water level was 5 to 10m higher. We saw some birds and other small wildlife. Meanwhile we continued our ride through this environment and all the way from Lima the scenery was the same since it turned out to be one big valley, of which we would not see the end today. Our informal campground should be at the end of the Lima Reservoir. When we finally reached that we could not see any informal campground, not even where the GPS said it was. It was a grassy wetland and we did not wanted to go there. We decided to push on. Possibly to another informal campground (if it existed, or to a cabin that could be rented). So we continued.
Upper Red Rock Lake Campground
Unfortunately no trace of any other informal campground (which had a questionmark anyway). So we pushed on to the cabin, it would be another 17 miles. We never found the cabin, we just reached a small settlement, called Lake View, and that meant we passed it. The cabin was renamed and therefor we passed it. We asked in the settlement if the had any idea to pitch our tent for one night, and the women who came out could only refer us the campground 7km further. So that is what we did, we pushed on, again. The sun was already getting very low, meaning it was getting darker. Eventually we reached the campground. We were able to pitch our tents just before dark, really dark. There were other people on the campground, and all very kind. A couple that asked if we needed anything. But also two other bikes, Meric and Jake, and Meric’s wife Stefanie, who supported them by car. They already had a campfire going and invited us to join for a snack and beer once we finished pitching our tents. In complete darkness we went to them and drink a nice cold beer. They had lots of food and drinks in their 4×4 pickup truck. All three worked for a fire department and had now time of to ride the Great Divide Mountain Bike Ride. We enjoyed the drinks and conversations. At 10:30pm we all decided it was time to go to sleep. I also looked up, and I cannot remember when I have seen so many stars in one view. Incredible.
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