Day 9-10. Whitefish to Seeley Lake

Wild forest fires and all the best plans! So the original plan was to go off grid for three days, Whitefish to Swan Lake, then to Holland Lake then finally out of the mountains at Seeley Lake. However, the wild forest fires had other plans for us. We set off from Whitefish and had a beautiful cycle to Swan lake, climbing up through the Swan mountain range. Stopping at Big Fork on route for some brunch. The temperature reaching over 100 degrees by midday making the afternoon cycle petty difficult and very sweaty. We eventually arrived at Swan lake in time to enjoy the water in the late afternoon evening sunshine. So many families enjoying the lake it was beautiful to see. Heading back to camp to make my dried backpackers dinner of mushroom risotto and eat it by the stream, then fall onto my tent as the sun set. Up early at 5am in the dark, putting down tents and packing bikes with head torches, we wanted to head out before the heat of the day. Good job we did, it turned out that wild fires south of us in Holland Lake were spreading fast and causing evacuations. We had to come off the GDMBR route and our plan to stop in Holland lake was not possible. The only option was to head to the highway and try to cycle south fast, to out run the fires . A trail angel Dale who we met at a local store offered to give us a lift in his truck south ensuring that we would be south of the fires before they closed off the main route 83.
Arriving is Seeley lake we found a campsite and a laundromat where of course you can also take a shower! Ahead of the fires and ahead of schedule, today could have been very different. The universe certainly looked out for us today. A welcome beer in the local “town” then back to the camp site to reflect on the last couple of days and plan tomorrow (or try to).Read more