Day 82: West Side, Best Side

Much of today was spent riding along Koocanusa Lake (a portmanteau of Kootenai, Canada, and USA). There are two roads along the lake, one to the east (the main route) and one to the west (the alternate route). Tony, Claire, Latimer and Kari all insisted the west side was preferable, so despite the hillier elevation profile and slightly longer distance, we followed their advice. It was very good advice. The road was beautiful and quiet - only eight cars passed us on that whole stretch.

We woke up this morning to Latimer cooking up a big batch of waffles for breakfast while Kari scrambled up some eggs and made tea. They are both from Vermont, so naturally they had real maple syrup to go with the waffles. It was great to meet them and chat with them as we were both asleep before they got home last night. They’re serious adventurers so it was fun to learn about some of their trips. Phoebe also joined breakfast, sitting in my lap for a while.

Before leaving town, the only real town of the day, we biked through the Latte Dah drive through so MJ could get her caffeine fix. Because the lake we biked along today was created via dam in the 70’s the towns that used to exist along this route are no longer - it’s just a big ole lake surrounded by forest land. The bridge to cross the lake was actually built before the lake existed. They flooded the valley after it was completed. It’s the longest and tallest bridge in Montana.

The route rolled along the shore of the lake. Usually a ways up on the banks. As we took turns, there would be stunning vistas over the water and the undulating land to either side. At one of these vistas, we stopped for a lunch and rest break.

We rolled into the campground around two. There are tent sites nestled back a ways by the shore of the lake. Daryl, the camp host, came and greeted us and gave us the lay of the land. He hinted there was a trail down to the lake from our area, so we went to find it. It took us a couple tries, but indeed we were able to get down to a rocky beach. It’s pretty hot today, so it felt great to be in the water.

After our swim, it was siesta time. I then needed to run campground errands - registering for our site and using Daryl’s wifi to get in touch with our host tomorrow. Upon my return, MJ was cooking up some Mac and cheese! Pasta is hard to do with a camp stove, but it was still a delicious first dinner. I cooked a second dinner of mashed potatoes and a pre-made Mexican glop a couple hours later.

It’s early to bed here. Tomorrow should be a bit shorter and less hilly, but still hot, so we need to get our miles in early in the day.