Epic Great Divide - Day 11

Friday, July 17, 2026

Lost Moose Meadows RV Campground, Lincoln, MT to Barbara and John Nye’s Llama Ranch

28.9 miles/46.5 kilometers

2634 feet/803 meters elevation gain

Camping at privately owned Llama Ranch. Pit toilet, sun showers, no electricity, potable water at house.

Elevation – 4715 feet

Today’s ride was short. Wait. No, it wasn’t. It was actually the longest 29 miles I’ve ever ridden in my life. The scenery was stunning and the ascent up the mountain was manageable.

The descent down the mountain? Gruesome! So very, very rocky! My hands hurt so much from braking! Was ever so relieved to be done with that ride!

At the end, we stayed at a Llama Ranch which has now been designated as an Alpaca Ranch because there are no llamas. The place is owned by John and Barbara Nye and they offer it for free for hikers and cyclists to sleep at. There are small structures you can reserve ahead of time but they really aren’t large enough to sleep in. You set your tent up around the structure and in event of a storm, you can go in the structure to take shelter.

About an hour after we arrived, it began to rain. We thought for sure it would end within the hour but no, it continued through the night until about 5:00 am. I slept like a baby but yikes, packing up wet tents and ground covers was such a mess in the morning!

While at the Alpaca Ranch, we met several hikers who are attempting to hike from Rooseville, MT (Canadian border) to Antelope Wells, NM (our route). We met a young guy, Alex, a middle-aged guy, Marilyn Monroe, and a deaf guy, Golden Ray. Ray invited himself to both dinner and breakfast with us.  That was fine but some other hikers accused him of stealing their hiking poles. Let’s just stay the scene got a bit sketchy for a bit.

When I woke in the morning, there were about 20 new tents set up all around our van and trailer. Perhaps they were hoping for coffee? We offered but only a few peeps took us up on it..

Oh, yes . . . Mike. Mike is a 74-year-old cyclist who had every intention of completing the entire route. It was not meant to be. Mike crashed the day before. Not on the treacherous rocky descent, no, Mike wiped out on a short gravel trail along side of the highway on his way back to the camp.

The next evening at the Alpaca Ranch, he was in enough pain to go find an emergency room to check him out. Turns out he broke three ribs and one rib punctured his lung. And just like that, Mike had to quit the tour. He wanted to continue, but as a retired physician, he knew better. His wife also instead that he stop. Sad. We are now down to four gals: me, Stephanie, Suzanne and Esther, four guys: Doug, Dave, Steve, and Mark, three college folks: Jada, Clint and Darrin, and two leaders – Richard and Adrianne. Am really hoping we have no further injuries in the group!

Other: While at the Aloaca Ranch, I did some knitting!

Almost forgot ,,, when leaving town in the morning, we discovered they were having a chainsaw carving competition! Ha! These artisans took their work very seriously! You surely don’t want to upset them, that’s for sure!

Okay, just a few more pics from the day: