Just before the town of Bigfork we were befriended by motorcyclist Steve, who lived up the road in Whitefish and offered us a spot on his back lawn to pitch a tent when we got there the next day. Whitefish is an old logging town turned ski resort/summer lake destination so it was nice to stay with a local. Ski instructor/assessor and ex-cycle tourer Steve was kind enough to get up early and cook us breakfast to see us on our way up and over our next high point, Red Meadow pass.
Our route skirts but does not enter Glacier National Park, so with time up our sleeve we decided to have a couple of nights on the edge of the park and cycle up to one of the beautiful lakes, lake Bowman. We rode up to the lake early to avoid traffic on the narrow rough road. The lake was mirror calm and we relaxed lakeside for a couple of hours till it started getting busier. On the way back I went on a wild huckleberry mission, sadly fruitless.
We rode to our last town in the US over the Whitefish Divide. Lodgepole pine trees need fire to release the seeds for the next generation forests and on our way up to the divide pass we passed thru recent firescapes that were already sprouting an undergrowth of new green trees.
Descending the pass we met a young family in the bushes alongside the road – that can only mean one thing at this time of year – huckleberries. We foraged along with the locals along this popular strip of berry bushes within the forest.
The border town of Eureka is pleasantly untouristy and they allow free camping in the town park – maximum stay 7 days but after a week or so in a tent we treated ourselves to a motel room, conveniently sited next to Subway, and both succeeded in consuming a 12″ sub for dinner – that’s 24″ of sandwich…
