Another very , very hot day – we should have taken greater benefit of the cool early morning. By midday the heat made the slightest climb challenging. Thank goodness for Holland Lake Lodge, near the camp site. Enjoyed the overpriced canned beers & views. This place doesn’t like campers of any description – even if we’d turned up in a $1m RV the treatment would have been the same – impolite, no food or use of Wi-Fi.

Big Fork is an impressive camp on the NE edge of Flathead Lake An impressive 35 miles long & up to 7 miles wide. Largest lake west of the Great Lakes – very popular. Though my leg has improved massively since riding out of Banff, it does not like the very steep climbs on loose gravel.

Therefore today I took a pleasant ride to our next camp, a quarry just across from Cedar Creek CG – the local Ranger Station providing our fresh water.

It was another cloudless day – temperatures of 35C made all peddling exhausting.

About to turn in, I was hanging food & caught sight of a cyclist aimlessly wandering around looking for a pitch. This was our first meeting with Harold from Norway, 65, he has since become a member of our Divide Team.

A little more GE work this morning before supply shopping & breakfast at the Cedar Creek Cafe. Sad to find that it had changed hands & the friendly people I had come to know had all moved on without a trace!!

Consolation was beef hash which was just as good but service was hurried & impersonal – only open for breakfasts until 11AM, they would no longer accommodate me setting up office on my work days.

The route today was a relatively easy 40 miles to Ferndale plus further 5 miles to Big Fork CG, taking in the railway town of Columbia Falls, small ranches, clusters of homes of all types set in forests & open plains. Never far from civilisation but no cold coke to be had all day.

Ferndale is another ribbon community laid out along a mile or so – mostly there to serve those travelling highway 83. The community hub probably limited to a few churches & a supermarket one mile out of town.

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Big Fork CG was a few miles off route but considered by many to be the place to camp!! Unfortunately A Bar Montana’s big dinners delayed our arrival until dusk – just enough time to pitch tents. The setting is amazing. We had a little issue with warden on where bikers should be, but soon talked him round.

By 7am, Dan had had enough & was packing. The thought of breakfast in town 16 miles away was a good pull – plus we needed to sort his torn tent & dodgy wheel.

Glacier Cycling were great & by lunch, bike was fixed. Unfortunately the tent was terminal but lucky to find a new one that fitted the bike.

The rest of the day we chilled, ate well & spoke to family back home.

Today’s plan was for 60 miles to Whitefish but I missed the turning & ended up in the surreal “village” of Polebridge. Set miles from anywhere the place had bar, mercantile, restaurant & camping – &, surprisingly, lots of customers!

Bryan Lynn & his wife helped me back to the turning – many thanks! They have promised me encouraging words as I head south. Needing to find Dan, I stopped & asked the next pickup – the driver promptly said, reassuringly yes, I almost ran him over 1 mile up!

My detour, plus the 35C, the climbs obsession to reach Whitefish Bike Retreat led us totally off piste & wild camping 20m from a railway line. 200 carriage trains passing by every 30 mins throughout the night. I slept like a baby!

A very slow start to the day. Dan was a little tired from his epic ride & we took a little time to tweak his set up for a more comfortable ride.

Out in the sticks, we rode past a sign pointing off to Dave’s Antiques – Open Today 10-4. Curiosity drew us down a remote track to Dave + younger brother, Steve. We found Dave to be the real deal – old time trapper come antiques hoarder with items from as far afield as UK. Most intriguing for us were his stories of trapping in Flathead & Glacier NP. Here trapping bear, polecat, beaver, wolverines & shooting coyote, & more. His trophies as far back as a boy of 15 yrs cover his impressive hand-built cabin. He is one of the last of the men who built Montana – what a privilege to have met him.

Sadly, onward & up over a high pass to Tuchuck CG. Late & near dark, we set up camp. With no gas for the stove, Dan lit a fire & managed spaghetti & pesto – living the dream!

Outside my tent around 2am, above my head was the most amazing sight – a sky crammed full of stars & galaxies, all different sizes & brightnesses. Looking closer I could even pick out satellites speeding along in different orbits.

Before leaving, Ken came by to check on me. He told me a little about the lake – draws its water from Elk River though no streams or rivers enter or leave it. It’s teaming with many types of fish, & is home to a large population of turtles which bask en mass at the waterside each year to lay their eggs. Must be quite a spectacle. He directed me to the Saturday Farmers Market at the old school house & here, I discovered, is where the community connects – starting with the CAN $8 big breakfast, then shop & hang out.

Anne came by and next thing l was being introduced to more locals than you could shake a stick at! All had stories from way back – early deaths when logging, crude surgery following gun shot wounds, but all about the strength of community – and that I can confirm is still very much alive!

I crossed the border into USA without event & on to a motel to wait for Dan. It was a little bit like the war film, One Of Our Aircraft Is Missing & true to form, after all hope had gone, a message came telling me he’d reached the Roosville boarder.

Today being my birthday, I woke to many online best wishes plus coffee in bed, card & gift – courtesy of Dan.

After, focused on preparing Dan for the Flathead Alternate – a challenging, remote 2-3 day ride.

Having waved Dan off, I turned to set off myself to find my Garmin (GPS) was frozen. Several attempts later it went to factory reset. – all routes were now lost! Again & again I’ve suffered the pain of poor quality on my Edge 1030. If anyone has £500+ & thinks buying one is a good idea – don’t waste your money!!!

Taking the quickest route to Fernie, Gear Hub (Elek Wenzlawe) helped me upload my lost routes. This is a brilliant shop with great cycle community attitude! Something greatly lacking at Straight Line Cycles – totally unhelpful – they just said no, without explanation.

Nessa, is the lady with the STOP sign on Cokato Road, south of Fernie. She kept me waiting for over 30mins whilst heavy machinery built up the road following last November’s floods – not from the Elk River but the many small streams that drop from the high mountains – & did not spare the expensive houses. Having tried living in Fernie, Sparwood is Nessa’s chosen home – real community there she tells me. I can see her point of view.

My destination for tonight was to be Elkco. 4 years ago, 2 brothers had, for the previous 30 yrs, run the gas station, shop, motel, camp site & pretty much everything else in town. They had moved on & now was far less welcoming. 8m on & I hit Baynes Lake.

Here I got lucky when Ken & Joanne kindly agreed to let me camp in their garden – most idilic spot looking out to the lake. Soon after a chair was provided to enjoy the sunset in comfort – after all it was my birthday!!

Most of m morning was spent working whilst Dan fine tuned his bike. For days I’d been banging on about the amazing breakfasts at Racecourse Gas Station aka ESSO so couldn’t leave town without allowing Dan the opportunity.

COVID had forced owner, Mark, to make a changes , Jenifer, the lovely young lady who had served my campfire skillet had left to work for one of the mining companies, the restaurant was self service but the food & welcoming remained as good as ever.

Our ride continued down the ever widening Elk Valley to Sparwood passing too many stunning views to absorb.

No rain last night so tents dry & packed , powdered egg omelettes & tortillas breakfast & early start

My memory of Elk Pass 4 yrs ago haunt me. This time much better prepared. A little bit of bike dragging up the serious slopes but we hit the Pass early, around 11 am. I get the impression BC & AB don’t get on. Both provinces have tracks up to the Pass but there’s a huge earth mound between them!

Once past the summit we got our rewards – fast downhills, more stunning valley & mountain views & a bear sighting. After 54 mile we ended with beer, a Chinese dinner & motel in Elkford. Good Day!