At 6 am we got up, packed, and left. We had no breakfast food on hand. We gained elevation along the Tobacco River, then emerged on a rolling grassy plateau. In 7 miles we arrived in Eureka, where we bought breakfast food that we ate at tables along with coffee. We biked southwest on US Hwy 93 through Tobacco Valley to Fortine. We stopped at Renee’s Rolling with Dough pastry shop. Virtuous Betsy ate nothing, while I ate a piece of cherry pie and a cookie.
We continued southeast on US Hwy 93 past blue-green Dickie Lake, the along the Stillwater River. The hill sides had the customary cloak of Douglas-fir and Ponderosa pine trees. We saw our first white-flowering bear grass plants. Striking when flowering, these common plants on the Northern Rockies are not really grasses. We stopped at a bar at scenic Lower Stillwater Lake for a rest (see photo).
We hopped back on the bikes for 16 miles to Whitefish; traffic increased markedly. About 4 miles west of town, the highway shoulder disappeared and traffic increased further. This was unpleasant biking. At last we reached Whitefish and pumped up our tires at Glacier Cyclery. Now heading south in town on US Hwy 93, traffic crawled. We bought food at Safeway and then checked out the Whitefish RV Park.
We continued on to Hwy 40, biking east to the Mountain View RV park. It did not look inviting. We continued east on busy Hwy 40 for another mile to the Glacier View RV park. This park was much better. We paid our fee and sat under a shelter as a brief rain shower passed over. Then we began the usual chores of setting up camp, cleaning up, and cooking dinner. We called Helen for a chat. We enjoyed today’s riding except for the last part near Whitefish. Today’s total: 70 miles.
