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, day 16 on the 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 (11 mph), while reaching a maximum speed of 47 km/h (29 mph). During this ride the average temperature was 26 °C (79 °F) with a minimum of 1 °C (34 °F) and a maximum of 42 °C (108 °F).

Totals: So far, it took 4 days, 16 hours, 5 minutes, and 12 seconds of cycling time to cover 1596 km (992 miles), including 19671 m (64541 ft) elevation gain, with an average speed of 14.5 km/h (9.0 mph).

Up at 6am, leaving at 7pm, like we have done on many other days. Getting up, cleaning up, getting our gear ready, and eat a little breakfast. Yesterday we had filter some more water from the stream at this campground (probably the same one as yesterday afternoon), mainly ‘just-to-be-sure’. We hope to get fresh & tasty water again in Lima. During the night there was a hard wind, and I was awake for a couple of times. Besides that, I have slept very well.

Anna and I left the campground before Tom & Becky. Fortunately, we soon enjoyed the sun because it was again cold this morning. It did not take long before we really got warm, because had a few short but very steep hills to climb. At one point we had to walk for a short section. The gravel road was perfect to cycle on. The scenery was the same as yesterday in the afternoon. Nice hills and mountains, with mainly sagebrush and cows. A small river in the middle of the valley where there was a little more dense and 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 room for the road and a small river stream. It was beautiful.

After a few hours we saw a road in the far distance, and about 20 minutes later we arrived at an unpaved frontage road next to the interstate. We followed the frontage road for about 10km (6 miles) before we arrived at Lima. Lima is essentially nothing more than a rest stop for people traveling the interstate. The are some houses and churches, but I think it is the interstate that keeps it alive. There is a small restaurant (Jan’s Café / The Homestead Café & Cabins) which still looks like to 60s, and honestly the food was probably also still from the 60s (I ate better hamburgers). Across the street from the café was an Exxon gas station with a Ralps Convenience Store. We went inside to get more food and rinks for the days to come. Unfortunately, there was not much healthy food, and the food they did have was very expensive! !). When looking around, we saw that Ralps owned half of the town’s businesses. We stayed for a couple of hours on a picnic table in a patio next to the gas station. Really comfy on a bench in the shade with ice cream and cold drinks. We already decided that we would not stay in Lima but cover some more distance before the end of the day. Looking at the maps we saw a dispersed campground 70km (43 miles) after Lima. While sitting in the patio we saw Tom & Becky arriving as well. First, they went to the restaurant, and after that they also came to the gas station to sit in the patio. Always nice to have them around.

Around 3pm Anna and I left Lima. Tom & Becky would also set direction to that dispersed campground but would leave Lima a bit later. Once we rode out of Lima, the scenery changed again. Now we cycled through smooth hills completely covered in long grasses 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. The lake looked almost empty. It seems that normally, or earlier in the season, the water level was 5 to 10m higher. We saw a few birds and other small wildlife around the shores of the lake. It turned out that we were riding in a very big valley, of which we would not see the end today. When we neared the location of the dispersed campground, we could not find any suitable camping location, it looked like a grassy wetland. We decided to move on, there might be another dispersed campground a couple of miles down the road. Unfortunately, there wasn’t. Next plan was to ride 28km (17 miles) to a place that had cabins for rent. While nearing a small settlement, named Lake View, we somehow missed the place with the cabins. It apparently changed names. We asked in the settlement if they had or knew a place where we could setup our tents for the night. We did not need much, and they had a lot of space, but unfortunately, they did not offer us to stay. Instead, they told us to cycle on to the night campground, Upper Red Rock Lake Campground, about 7km (4 miles) down the road.

We again moved on. Meanwhile the sun was set, and it started to become darker. Hopefully, we would reach the campground before dark. Unbelievable our legs did not complain. We enjoyed cycling this evening, especially during sunset. Just before dark we reached the campground. There were a few other people on the campground. Next to us was a pickup, with two tents and bicycles. It turned out to be firefighters. Two men ( Meric & Jake) riding the GDMBR as well, and Meric’s wife Stephanie riding the support truck. They already had a campfire going and invited us to join for a snack and beer once we finished pitching our tents. Just before pitch dark we finished setting up the tents and went over to the three next to us. We were offered a seat, cold beer, and snacks. We enjoyed the drinks and conversations. At 10:30pm we all decided it was time to go to bed. When walking back to my tent, I looked up, and I cannot remember when I have seen so many stars in one view. Incredible.

Gallery