8/4/15

The camping area at Fatty Creek is very unofficial but it is on the map. Last night when I pulled in some people were already set up by the river, which was a very beautiful spot, so I set up about 100 yds back up the road to what looks like a parking area for the fishermen.

My tent is set up in a level spot off the parking area and as I was breaking down camp in the morning this guy pulls up and parks about 30 yds from my tent and lets his truck continue to run as he’s putting together poles and such. Then he sits in his truck with the motor still running. I need to slip into my bike shorts and felt this dude was creeping on me. I took off and found another spot to brush my teeth and stuff.

Didn’t have anything with me to eat for breakfast. So that means breakfast was waiting on me in Condon MT 18 miles away. Who knew riding down the highway this morning would provide me with a bit of entertainment. Riding up the highway there is a beat-up SUV parked on the opposite shoulder. As I get closer I can see somebody getting something out the back. As I ride past this guy is trying to roll a joint while his ‘woman’ is smacking him saying; “you don’t need to be smoking that shit”. Cracked me right the hell up.

Again the map symbols say there are all kinds of service in Condon but I pull into the first sign of life, a small store with the post office next door. Nothing else on this stretch of road but wild forest. I grab a good bikers breakfast of doughnuts and turnovers. At the checkout, I ask what else is in Condon. “The Hungry Bear restaurant is about 10 miles up the highway”. Well, I guess I’m doing some supply shopping here because I’m only a few miles from disappearing into the brush again for a couple of days. The Hungry Bear was just before my turn back onto the trail so I stopped for one more calorie binge.

The Hungry Bear Restaurant.

After lunch, I was soon reunited with the official Divide route. Even though it was nice riding on the smooth highway shoulder and not getting beat up on a rocky trail for a day and a half, felt good to be on the trail again in the middle of nowhere. From the highway, the trail would take me over a pass that had some very precarious riding going up and coming down the other side.

A section of trail where part of the mountain has disappeared a few hundred feet below.

At one point the route comes within 2 miles of Seeley Lake. At that point, a right turn will lead into town as a left will send me towards Ovando several miles away. Something was compelling me to go into town to end my day of riding, but a couple hundred yards down the road toward town I stopped and decided to take a look at a pavilion I could see the top of from the road. Turns out it was a snowmobile trailhead where cold snowmobilers can warm up beside a fire. I rode around the closed gate and went to the pavilion. Perfect spot for a stop to set my tent and it comes complete with Montana’s concrete shitter nearby.

Seeley Lake snowmobile trailhead pavilion

 

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