Day 13: Arnone's to Bigfork

Ride time: 2:31

Average: 10.6 mph

Distance: 27.09 mi

It was like leaving old friends this morning as we said goodbye to Tom and Pat.  Pat gave us a few pieces of venison sausage and some juice along with hot tea, and Tom walked us over the see the 8 foot around Larch tree in the lot across the road.  Our ride today zig zagged east and south, making our way toward Bigfork.  It was a quick ride, and flat to boot.  We then rode the dirt path along the Swan River, which is a Class 5 rapid.  Looking over the cliff to the river gave me the chills.

Overlooking the Swan River rapids

We came into town and found what we thought would be a good place to eat, Pocketstone Cafe, and it was horrible.  It apparently opened a month ago, and the food and service were horrible.  We then went to the post office to mail home some more stuff that we didn't need (water filter attachments, shoe inserts, extra patch kit for the sleeping pad, and some Velcro straps).  It's amazing what little gear we need to do this trip, and our bike weight gets lighter all the time!

One in a series of about seven pictures...

Our campsite was at Wayfarers State Park and we had a pretty neat site right down on the Flathead Lake.  The campground hosts were super friendly, cruising around on their golf cart.  In fact, all the campground hosts that we've met thus far have been extremely friendly to us bikers.  I think it's because once they hear that we biked from Banff and are headed to New Mexico, they perhaps feel some sort of pity for us or they think we're out of our minds and just want to keep us calm and happy...