So I know I was complaining about the cold in the last post, but I'm definitely complaining about the heat for this one! After dropping in elevation to Fernie, the last few days have involved riding through temperatures touching 40C And trust me, that hasn't exactly been fun. It turned out day 4 wasn't as bad as first thought. After a great evening spent at the brewery and dinner with one of the brewers, it was time to set off for what we thought was an 80 mile day. Turns out we had our maths wrong and it was more like 70 which gave us an immediate boost. It seemed much of the day was on paved roads too, but the gravel sections were exhausting in the dry heat and dusty conditions. Having just got over my cold, the dust wasn't exactly helping my cough much. Near the end of the day we also crossed over into the U.S. I got pulled over at the board...turned out it was just to do the standard paper work...but for some that got me pretty nervous. A beer was needed at duty free on the other side to relax for the last 8 miles to Eureka. Eureka was a weird little boarder town. I had actually been there in 2012 when on the Northern Tier, but didn't seem to recognise the town much other than the library. Thankfully there was a nice creek next to the town park we were staying at to cool and clean off. The night was also a strange one with what seemed like the whole towns worth of teenagers deciding to use the park as their site for the start of some 'pub crawl'...not that there were many bars in town. I wasn't sorry to say goodbye to Eureka and start what was going to be a big day to Red Meadow Lake. It consisted of two mountain passes and over 65 miles in the heat. Whitefish pass started nicely with a steady grade, but like most passes the end kicked up and the gravel became looser. We were in the heart of grizzly country up there which helped to kick us up the mountain. The descent was pretty wild with drop offs to the right and rock walls to the left, but with a bit of care we all made it down. On the way we seemed to end up in a Death Valley, where all the trees had been killed by an invasive beetle. With no shade, we weren't hanging around there for long. The second climb of the day was the real tough one! Having just had an excellent rest stop by a river running off Glacier National Park, none of us exactly wanted to get rolling. The views of Glacier had been incredible all day, despite the slight haze caused by the current fire on the East side of the park. An 11 mile climb to end the day wasn't ideal, but we all seemed to be cruising right up until the last 2.5 miles. Having spent a little under an hour to get to that point, those last miles took 30 minutes alone where the grade ramped up and after every turn the climb seemed to continue straight up. With my knees close to blowing up, I found myself creating the climb to a large expanses of crystal clear water! Red Meadow Lake. I have never before been so excited to run into a lake of cold water. Even in the evening light, temperatures were still high and having just ridden up my own temperature was through the roof. The camp spot there was stunning and I had to put up my hammock to just sit back and take it all in. Pretty sure it's the most beautiful spot I've ever camped, but I'm starting to think we may have others on route. Day 6 started with the rewards from the previous evenings climb. 10 miles of almost straight downhill made the day start very nicely indeed. Whitefish town was waiting for us at 30 miles and we weren't hanging around to get there. This was another town I had been to in 2012. In fact I had to hitchhike there with my rear wheel then having just broken a spoke and buckled the wheel. We dropped into the bike shop to find my name in the tourers' book from that day which was cool to see. After a long lunch, mostly spent with everyone contacting the outside world after a few days with no service, we were in no state to actually want to leave. The heat and wind had picked up and we still had a 45 mile stretch to go to Big Fork which none of us were excited for. This turned out to be my worst stretch of the trip so far. Low on water and energy, the sun and wind were really beating me up. Thankfully we found a small library in the middle of nowhere where we managed to get to refill is nice cold water. That helped to get me through to Big Fork but only just. A few celebratory drinks and food and we all were ready to head to the hotel. The campsite we had planned to be at had been full and the backups didn't seem to exist anymore, so a motel was our only choice...not that we were complaining. With little energy left we all crashed more than ready for the following rest day. Thankfully today has consisted of nothing other than doing laundry, food shopping and calling back home. The sun is back out after a cloudy and humid start to the day, so it's time to enjoy the pool for the afternoon! First week done, is that all?!
