Epic Great Divide - Day 10

Thursday, July 16, 2026

Seven Timbers Campground, Seeley Lake, MT to Lost Moose Meadows RV Campground, Lincoln, MT

67.7 miles/108.9 kilometers

4609 feet/1405 meters elevation gain

Full-service campground. Flush toilet, showers, electricity, potable water.

Elevation – 4500 feet

Phew! Long ride today! We were told it was going to be pretty sunny and hot so we all agreed it would be best to roll at 7 am instead of our normal 8 am. Good call! The first 25 miles were incredibly beautiful on lovely gravel roads that woven in and out of forests and various stretches of farmland and meadows.

At mile 28ish, we came upon a quirky little mountain town called Ovando that consisted of general store, a gift shop, and angling store, a café/restaurant, a museum, and a post office. Most of us stopped for a scoop of huckleberry ice cream at the general store.

While there, a local told us how a group of cyclists were camped outside the museum when they were approached by a grisly bear. They sprayed bear spray and the bear took off running. All of the cyclists save for one woman decided to take shelter in the museum and sleep inside there all night. The odd woman out chose to sleep in her tent. There was food in it. The angry grisly came back and attacked the woman and killed her. Ouch. This happened five years ago. Gruesome, I know, but I did take a pic of the site:

Following the ice cream break, Doug, Stephanie and I set out on the route again. For a while it was great! And then it wasn’t. We had to climb a mountain for ten miles and the nice gravel turned into an extremely rocky suffer fest. I kept thinking how grateful I was to be ascending instead of descending. But then after the ten miles, we did have to descend. It was harrowing! And as far as I was concerned, it was much more difficult than the ascent.

In the last seven miles of the ride, the route thankfully became manageable gravel again. Praise the Lord! Doug had long abandoned Steph and I on the climb so the two of us rode until we came to our campsite, which is an RV site. All of us have our tents pitched around the van and trailer that are with us. There are no trees and it was hot and windy until the sun went down. But at least there is a nice building with bathrooms and showers. Wahoo!

For dinner, Doug and Clint made what they called “Straw and Hay.” It was linguini with mushrooms, peas, onions, prosciutto and condensed cream sauce – very much like Alfredo sauce but made without flour. Prior to yesterday, we had just one fussy eater who refused to eat gluten (even though it didn’t cause a life-threatening reaction).

Yesterday we picked up a new leader and another person involved with the air quality control research team from the college who are both extremely fussy vegetarians. What a pill! We don’t have many pots or burners to cook on and now we have to cater to these outliers. It’s a pain.

Anyway, as I write, it’s finally cooling down. Time to crawl in my tent and catch some a long nap until tomorrow! The ride tomorrow is short – just 26 or so miles – and we’re staying at a llama ranch. Until then, good night from the outskirts of Lincoln, MT!