Epic Great Divide - Day 17

Thursday, July 23, 2026

Little Joe Campground, Wise River district, MT to Beaver Head River RV Campground, Dillon, MT

51.8 miles/83.3 kilometers

2766 feet/843 meters elevation gain

Full-service campground. Flush toilets, showers, electricity, WiFi, potable water, picnic tables, swimming pool, mini golf, river. Laundry available at campground.

Elevation – 5200 feet

The day began with crisp temps in the 40s as we packed up our completely wet tents. No one was too grumpy, though, because sun was in the forecast. Sure enough, by the time breakfast was finished and we began to ride, it was in the 50s and quite perfect for climbing.

Again, we started out with an eight mile climb. This time, though, it was on pavement and much easier. No hike-a-bike required. The views with all the mist rising in the mountain tops were spectacular!

Once out the wooded areas, endless farm lands and meadows opened before us in all their splendor.

I have no idea what these weedy-looking flowers are but they smell so amazing:

At one point, I saw a sign by the side of the road that caught my attention. Apparently, the land I was seeing had been a lake at one point. There was a notice indicating that all the Cutthroat trout had been relocated. My Salsa Cutthroat gravel bike was created specifically for the Tour Divide. I wonder if it was named the Cutthroat due to the prevalence of Cutthroats in the area. Hmm. I’ll have to look into that.

While the majority of the route today was paved, the final ten miles were not and the first three miles of it was nasty. This especially irritated Dave, because this road took us nineteen miles away from the Tour Divide route. Stephanie, in her UK accent, exclaimed with exasperation, “This campsite we’re going to better bloody well be worth it!” She’s like an Energizer Bunny that never stops or complains, so it was quite telling of the less than great conditions!

Fortunately, the camp site was nice indeed! Everyone camped along the river running along one side except myself, Stephanie and Suzanne. Once again, we dolled out some extra dollars and rented a tiny cabin on site. It was only large enough to house two sets of bunk beds but it was still cute and still NOT a tent! We did set up our tents to dry them out but it was so great to sleep indoors. Well, kind of … we purposefully left the cabin door open all night for the fresh air. That was great!

For dinner, our leader Richard bought pizza in the nearby town of Dillon for everyone because the group made it seven days without an injury. There must be a lot of fishermen who vacation in Dillon because there was a definite fly-fishing theme to most of the businesses. Love it!