DISTANCE TRAVELED: 40.41 Miles
AVERAGE SPEED: 8.40 MPH

          Everyone woke up around 7:30 for breakfast, which was easy for Marnie and me since we were having it at the lodge. We all sat at a huge wooden table and ate as much as we could of pancakes, French toast, coffee, and orange juice. (Picture19) It was a great meal and the French toast was very good. After breakfast, we packed up and left around 9:30. We knew that it would be a hard day from the maps but we did not know exactly how hard. We rode along as a group of eight and got onto another closed road which was thick with two-foot high grasses and flowers with a one-foot wide, half-overgrown strip to ride on. (Picture20) It was beautiful and the day was great for scenery. Every once in a while we would find a log across the road that we would have to try to ride over and frequently we failed to do so as the wet bark would slip under our wheels. The final 1/4 mile of this terrain was an old jeep trail, which was so run down that it was now a single track that we had to carefully weave our way along. For a stretch about 30 feet long, we had three or four people push each person's bike up the hill because it was so steep. Finally, we were back on a developed dirt road that we followed for about 8 miles. (Picture21) We climbed 2,500 feet in 4 miles and just as we were about to reach the top, (Picture22) we learned that Marianne had seen a grizzly bear about 1/4 mile up the road. We waited for a while and then rode on as a group of eight, making lots of noise and going very slowly. The bear was nowhere to be seen so we finished the climb. At the top, the road was closed again, so we rode past the barrier and found that almost the entire road was gone except for one lane. (Picture23,Picture24) In numerous places the bikes had to be carried because of huge obstructions. Tree stumps blocked the road forcing us to go below on a narrow path with a long steep slide on the edge. Later, we had to carry the bikes over a tree that was about three feet high and partially covered over in dirt. We even had to ride through some snow. On the downhill, we had a great time flying on single track between pine trees that we had to push away as we came down since they had overgrown the road so much. Our arms and legs were battered along with the BOBs, which bounced over a foot in the air as we hit rocks and dips in the road. Winding in and out of the trees at fairly high speeds was great as I followed Randy. Unknown to me at the time, Scott was frantically trying to keep up since he didn't want to get separated from us in the case that he came in contact with a bear. At the end of the single track, we took a short break before continuing on a dirt road downhill that took us into Seeley Lake, Montana. I rode to the campground to drop off my gear but no one was there so I rode back into town. In town, I took a shower, washed some clothes, ate a pizza, drank a PowerAde, and ate some skittles. I then rode back to camp where I set up my tent and ate dinner. At camp, I learned that Brian saw two more grizzly bears, making his total now three. Lou also reported seeing a 150+ pound mountain lion! After dinner, the temperature dropped and the wind picked up. Dead branches fell from the trees and lightening flashed over the lake. Tom and I watched the show as it slowly came closer. Eventually, the storm reached us and rain began to come down so we walked back to the tents and climbed in just as it started to pour. After writing for a while listining to thunder and rain, I went to bed around 10:45.