Day 51 - Owl Creek Camp - Bigfork

My body clock seems to have adjusted the last few days - I didn't wake up until 6.40, compared to the 5.30 which I had been accustomed to. This is great for additional rest and recovery but less good for getting out on the road early. But made some breakfast and wished Mario safe travels.

Quickly back into the dense forest. I was grateful for the shade provided by the tree cover but after a while it became slightly disorientating. With no other reference points it felt like I was just riding the same stretch of road all day as there were no settlements or services for the 70odd miles up to Bigfork. Lots of southbounders though which did break the day up, stopping for occasional chats. 

On getting to town I headed to the state park campground, which I knew had hiker/biker spots. Nice site with our own little seating area that even had plug sockets. But the biggest luxury of all was a washing up station with hot running water. Virtually no US campgrounds seem to have dedicated places for washing dishes, I assume because most people in RVs will have their own facilities. But I’m yet to work out what they expect those tent camping to do. This was all slightly moot until my morning porridge anyway as I had no food to do my own cooking. Ryan and Jodie were also staying, who I’d not seen since Colter Bay. 

Showered and then cycled into the centre of town which was chaos. It’s only a small place with lots of restaurants centred around a couple of streets next to the river and certainly not designed for the Friday night masses arriving in their enormous pick up trucks. I couldn’t face battling the crowds so opted to go to the brewery which was slightly out of town. I managed to get a seat at the bar and had a pint and fish and chips - not as good as a British chippy tea. Back to the campsite to watch the sun set over the lake.