Bikepacking Overnight: GDMBR Somewhere Near Canada to Polebridge to Whitefish

After a whole lot of anticipation came and went, smoldered by the wildfire smoke that blanketed the American West, the women's bikepacking event Ride Beyond was rescheduled for mid-October. With the whirlwind of late summer and early fall, it snuck up on me altogether too fast and I found myself whizzing along the highway on a road trip with my gear haphazardly thrown in the back. Because of the shorter days of fall and the schedule of the official photographer, our route was shortened and turned into an overnighter with some free time to do some day rides.

We all convened at the Adventure Cycling Association office for a tour and some bike touring history, then headed up to Whitefish. After arriving at the Whitefish Bike Retreat, where we would base our adventures from, I was happy to have time to enjoy the beautiful space.

I don't have much to report from this trip, other than being blown away by the stunning beauty of fall in Montana. The dirt roads were just about perfect and we had a fun mix of smooth fast rolling dirt, to rocky descents, to some serious hike-a-bike, and everything in between. I definitely want to come back to ride the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route, but on my own or with one or two close friends.

 

Laura relishes her meat stick.

The larches made for fiery yellow highlights on the mountainside.

Snow biking! Okay, it was very little snow, but made us feel pretty gnarly.

 

Hello Glacier National Park!

Can we please ride to Canada? It's soooo close!

These views...

Some sexy steeds, a sexy creek, and sexy mountains.

We made it to the Polebridge Merc with just enough time to buy the out of pizza rolls, huckleberry bear claws, and all the pastries.

 

Sweet dispersed campsite along the North Fork of the Flathead River... right at Glacier's doorstep. 

Summit lakes make for the best lunch break spots.

Fall in Montana is gorgeous. Couldn't have asked for better weather. (photo credit: Cricket Butler)

The crew had enough energy to gather for one last group photo back at the Whitefish Bike Retreat and happy to be done!

Dipping my toe into the world of sponsored bike touring was a surreal experience for me and one I'm not sure I would repeat. While I feel privileged to have been part of a project to inspire other women to get into bikepacking, it wasn't my cup of tea. I'd rather focus my energy on engaging women in my little corner of Oregon. 

A few tips for cycle tourists:

• The route we ended up riding can be found here. According to local intel, there are a lot of different ways to cross the divide on dirt roads and each are all pretty great. We ended up getting a shuttle ride to allow us the best route for the time we had.
• If you can help it, stay at the Whitefish Bike Retreat. Cricket is a badass and wealth of information. Not only has she ridden the Great Divide Mountain Bike route at least four times, but she has thru-hiked the PCT and AT. There are miles of singletrack that leave straight from her property. She provides shuttles to Banff. Oh yea, and there is a wood fired sauna. Really, what more, could a cyclist want?
• The Polebridge Mercantile has everything a bikepacker could want, from showers, to hot coffee, and a surprisingly robust selection of groceries. During the peak summer months, there is also a hostel there, but I loved dispersed camping by the river.
• This ride was sponsored by: Ortlieb, Adventure Cycling, 7 Mesh, Masi Bikes, Exped, Skratch Labs, Hydroflask, and Whitefish Bike Retreat.

Days 2 and 3: Steens Mountain Loop

After luxurious night in our heated M.A.S.H. unit, we peeled ourselves out of bed only to realize that it wasn't *that* cold out. We watched the sun rise over the Alvord desert as we drank our coffee and made breakfast. We knew the second day of riding was going to be the longest with the most climbing, but we couldn't leave the Alvord desert without an obligatory roll out onto the playa.

Breakfast in the morning sun overlooking the Alvord desert.

Morning light on the backside of Steens mountain.

Playa selfie. 

Morning jaunt on the playa.

After playtime on the playa, we set out for what would become known as "the shitty windy day." We finished the last 10 miles of dirt road with no problems and climbed around the south side of Steens mountain. As we turned back north, we were pummeled in the face with a headwind so strong we had to pedal down the steep descent. With 60+ miles left to the ride, we put our heads down, created pace lines, and told long bad jokes to grind it out. There aren't many people who would make it through a day like that and still want to be my friend, but that's why Ani and Ed are the best!

Rolling out for the day and leaving behind the Alvord desert.

Breaktime.

More breaktime. We took turns drafting and slowly but surely made it to Frenchglen.

Ed's happy face... just 2 miles to Frenchglen and its all sweet sweet sweet downhill.

As we rolled into Frenchglen at sunset, high on the sweet descent, we had a decision to make. The Page Springs campground was still a 3-mile ride and we weren't 100% sure if the pump was still on, or if it had been shut down for the off season. The Frenchglen Hotel was full of people sitting down to a buffet dinner and looked so cozy and I felt done for the day. I wanted to ask about the Page Springs campground... and it dawned on me maybe there might be somewhere to camp in town. So we tiptoed in and asked if there was somewhere we could pitch out tent with access to a toilet. The owner said we were welcome to camp in their lawn and use the pit toilet. I asked how much it would cost, and he said "well, not really anything." Done and done.

What happens when you try to sleep three people in a two-person tent. We were surprisingly comfortable and with lows in the 20s, we were happy to snuggle.

Another perk of camping in the hotel lawn was a hot breakfast with all-you-can-drink coffee.

Turns out the hotel was half full of other folks who bike toured. We chatted with a few and got one last group photo before rolling back to Crane hot springs for one last dip.

The last day of riding started off with a leisurely breakfast at the hotel. We soaked in the warmth and drank bottomless cups of coffee and set off with a small cheering squad. Luckily, the wind had calmed down and it was a relatively easy ride back to the Crane hot springs, where we had one last soak before heading home. 

Day 1: Steens Mountain Loop

I've had my eye on a bike tour in Eastern Oregon for quite some time that the awesome folks at Oregon Bikepacking mapped out that circumnavigated and went up and around Steens mountain. The route has all my favorite things, including empty back roads, gravel roads, hot springs, and quirky tiny "towns." Sometimes, I find myself on so many adventures, that I just need to commit to a date on the calendar for a bike tour with friends and then make something happen. So a few months back, we put a 3-day weekend randomly on our October calendar for a bike tour.

As the date neared, we needed to figure out where to go. Three days was not enough to do the Steens route I had on my radar, but I realized that by cutting out the massive dirt road climb to 10,000 feet, we could still circumnavigate Steens mountain if we averaged about 70 miles a day. There are only a few people in my life that would find that kind of mileage fun, so team Ecuador was reunited for a lot of Type 2 fun, good food, and hot springs.

We piled our bikes onto Ani's car and headed out the Crystal Crane hot springs to camp before starting our bike tour. The folks there will let you park your car for $5 a day and having a hot soak in the outdoor pool made for a lovely starting and ending point. We demolished a pot of homemade pozole and then soaked and took in the brilliant starry skies, made more brilliant by the new moon. Shortly after sunrise, we pulled our gear together and braved the cold morning to head out for the first day of riding.

It may have dipped below freezing our first night at Crane hot springs. Ed shows off his new swim trunk style.

Crane hot springs is more like a ginormous pool. Don't let the sunny skies fool you, it's only about 27 degrees out.

After a leisurely breakfast, we set out and willed the sun to heat up the desert landscape. We blissfully rolled down the empty road. The air was still and there was nothing but blue skies. While Eastern Oregon does not have the majestic landscape of other parts of Oregon, the vast space and emptiness of the desert has a different beauty. These roads are empty, whether paved or gravel, and the few drivers cyclists encounter are generally kind people. We had folks pull over to ask us if we needed Cokes or water or just slow down to make sure we didn't get dusted out.

And, we are ready to head out, all bright eyed and bushy tailed or something like that.

On the long empty road.

First mechanical of the trip... a broken spoke. We were excited to try out the fiber spoke fix kit! It was amazing and it totally worked.

Road side snack break brought to you by the following sponsors: beef jerky, cheese, Trader Joe's fishies, olives, and peanut butter.

Delicious descent towards the Alvord desert.

The day passed by quickly and we transitioned from pavement to dirt. While the dirt road we easy, it had been a long day. One of Ed's front racks also broke and so Ani took one for the team and threw his pannier on her rear rack. As the sun set, the temperature dropped and we pushed on to make it to the Alvord hot springs by sunset. And then, at long last, the oasis in the desert appeared and we celebrated with some beers and whiskey. It had been a really long day and we decided to splurge on a sweet M.A.S.H. unit to sleep in. That, and Ed thought he had a 3-person tent, which was actually a 2-person tent, and having our own beds sounded awfully grand.

My favorite road sign.

M.A.S.H.

Our mansion for the night... drying out the tent from the frozen night at the Crane hot springs.

A few tips for cycle tourists:

• The route we ended up mostly taking can be found here. Depending on the time of year the route is ridden, it can be insanely hot and my understanding is that the dirt road from Page Springs Campground back to the paved road can be impassable after rain. We ended up camping in the lawn of the Frenchglen hotel and not Page Springs Campground as originally planned. The Oregon Bikepacking website does a good job of marking all the shady spots if you do an earlier season tour.

• Highway 78 has the "most" traffic and it can be fast-moving, however, there are very few cars and most will pass you with a wide berth. After the turnoff onto the Anderson Valley road, traffic is virtually non-existent. There is about 40 miles of good 2-lane dirt road on the eastern side of Steens mountain and it is basically flat. While there are sections with washboard, bikes can usually find a good line. 

• There are no reliable natural water sources between Crane and Fields. There is, however, water available for purchase at the Alvord hot springs office which is generally open from 9:00 am to 9:00 pm. 

• It can get really windy on this route. Really windy. Our second day, we biked into a headwind the entire way and it almost broke us. Tent camping could be challenging in high winds both at Crane hot springs and Alvord hot springs, but both have options for "cabins."