down the divide to helena

Hello all, I hope your summer is going well.

Noah and i have made it to Helena intact and in increasingly in better shape.
we departed Glacier np a few days ago and made our way south in the
tobacco valley towards bigfork at the north end of Flathead lake. We
rolled out of glacier late in the day, finally arriving in bigfork
around 11pm. We rolled around town looking for a gorecery store with
little luck.. i rolled up to a group of folks on a street corner of
all things. lighting fireworks, and asked if a gorcery store was open.
no luck, everything in bigfork closes early... crap, noah and i were
ravinously hungry. We ate nothing but a milkshake, fries and energy
drink on the ride down. oops.

before i know it, one of the fellows hands me a firework and lights
it. hmmmmmm....
i suppose i should probably drop this thing before it blows my hand
off... I think, so i did and it turned out to be one of those
fireworks that blasts colorful balls into the air. Instead they
blasted across the street and into a house.. luckily no harm done, but
it made for an interesting introduction to Ryan (the guy who handed me
the firework) he then offered us food that he had in his camper near
by that he bought on ebay and was touring around the country in. i
think he had a few too many drinks.

A kind woman in the group offered to put us up in her shwanky house on
the lake next to the marina. ahhh how i appreciate a bed, stove and a
washer.
The next day we hung out in bigfork and enjoyed a swim under the
sunset on flathead lake.

We made it to holland lake a day later and camped on a small vista on
the shore away from the main campground. in every direction, huge
mountains. there was only one way to go tomorrow... up. So we stayed
at the lake for a long while swimming and enjoying the scenery. We
started out in the afternoon on rolling gravel roads and began a 6.5
mile grunt up to grizzly basin on the otherside of the pass. this
section was fantastic with over four miles of singletrack!

the last few days really tested our fitness levels. we crossed 3
divide crossings and covered about 120 miles. We rolled into Helena
yesterday tired but feeling strong and ready to take a shower or jump
in a stream. we treated ourselves to some pizza, moose drool and way
way too much ice cream. After dinner we contimplated where we may
sleep and fortunately ran across a pickup game of ultimate. we joined
in and made some new friends who offered some fine grassy real estate
to sleep on.

Today we have spent most of the day at the Archie Bray foundation just
outside of Helena which, i have learned, is a world famous destination
for ceramics artists. The whole place full of skulptures and
brickwork. the area used to be a brick production facility in the
fifties but now is a place for creativity. Aww the life of an artist
and a bike tourist for that matter!

well i must be off, there is a presentation here soon.

peace and love,

Aaron