Tour Divide Part 1: Banff → Helena

Context

The Tour Divide is a self supported cycling race that loosely follows the Great Divide Mountain BIke Route (GDMBR) from Banff, Alberta to Antelope Wells, New Mexico. The Tour Divide has no entry fee and no prize. The route it follows (GDMBR) was developed by Adventure Cycling and the first maps for the route were released in 1997. The first Tour Divide race occurred in 2008.

The route first came to my attention my freshman year of college when I had made loose plans with a friend to attempt the route over the summer. However, those plans fell through. During my junior of college I joined three other in cycling the Peru Great Divide route which was a hard and excellent adventure and convinced me that cycling is the best way to see a country — fast enough to traverse significant distance in a month but slow enough to get a sense of the geography and talk with the folks that live along the route.

After completing the Peru Great Divide route, I was enthusiastic to attempt another month-long backpacking adventure but other life constraints got in the way. Finally in the winter of 2024, I left my job in Seattle and moved to California where I started a slightly more flexible role that would permit a continuous month off. I contacted Sam Abernethy (a member of the Peru trip) and Ronan Perry, a fellow I met in Seattle through the run club Cowgill. They were both interested! Sam planned to join from Banff to Helena and Ronan planned to bike all the way to Antelope Wells.

In planning for the trip, we chatted with friends who had completed the route and got helpful advice about water (Bring 5L+ for the Great Basin), food (Hard Boiled eggs are a great snack), and sites along the way (The Penitentiary in Pinedale offers free tours).

As the trip approached we had one more join our group. Linn Rising decided to quit his job and join for an indefinite distance.

On June 7th, I caught a flight from SFO to Calgary where I met my dad in the Calgary airport. He was on a road trip from Colorado, and spent five days together in the Canadian Rockies before the start of the trip.

Day 1: Banff → Blue Lake (95 miles, 7000 feet)

We started cycling July 12th at 7:43 AM — one day before the grand departure — from the Tunnel Mountain Campground where we had all congregated the night before. After a very dry and smokey week in Banff, a small storm moved in the previous afternoon and we woke up to wet ground and cloudy skies.

A handsome bridge across the Bow river.

Before a large trip such as this one, I always feel some amount of nerves. On this trip specifically, I was worried about my achilles which had been bugging me on and off during the spring and had flared up while I was taking my unloaded Specilized Epic out for a spin on the rooty trails around the Tunnel Mountain Campground.

After rolling from the Tunnel Mountain Campground, we briefly paused just past the Fairmount Hotel at the official start of the Tour Divide and were joined by Peter, a friend of Ronan’s from Seattle who was joining for the first day of riding. The first 20 miles of the route were idyllic. The trail was a smooth double track following Spray Creek.

Into the clouds!

Once we reached Spray Lake the trail briefly transitioned to single track before dumping us on the large gravel road that runs through Spray Valley. Shortly after joining the road, we were stopped by a roadstop manned by about 20 Canadian Police officers. They were very friendly but informed us that all the trails on the left of the road were closed, and under no circumstances were we to leave the road on the left side. The stated reason was the upcoming G7 conference. “Do the world leaders want to go out for a hike?” I inquired. No, said the police officer, but their meeting location is somewhere up in the mountains.

We agreed that we would stick to the roads and continued on. A friendly police officer caught up to us in a truck and offered to take our photo. I also took a photo of him with the boys, but after initially agreeing he had second thoughts and asked me to delete it.

We continued to see huge numbers of police officers for the duration of Spray Valley. In fact, we later talked with some bikepackers who met one hapless policeman who had run out of water and broken his radio but was unable to leave his post. The bikepackers served as bike messengers and biked back the way they came to raise awareness of his plight.

Leading up to Kanaskas Lake, there was some beautiful single track that paralleled the road. I was very happy with my front suspension and flat bars for this segment.

The Canadians know a thing or two about bridges.

After passing Lower Kanaskas Lake, we beared south and had a pavement stretch. We were even able to stop and buy ice cream at the Boulton Creek Campground!

We then had a steep climb up to the top of Elk Pass, the border of Alberta and BC. I biked most of it, but my stiff knees the next morning made a compelling argument that it would have been more prudent to walk the steep sections.

As we descended down Elk Pass, the weather turned and hail the size of small marbles (well maybe really small marbles) began falling out of the sky. We had our rain jackets on and made the questionable decision to continue biking downhill rather than put onrain pants. Our questionable decision was rewarded when, after ten minutes, we rolled up to a small backcountry cabin. We quickly rolled over to it and got our bikes underneath the eves. Two bikepackers were already inside — both named Zak and both from North Carolina. They were very gracious and we all squeezed in as the precipitation (now rain) pounded down on the tin rough. We ultimately stayed for about two hours at the hut and ate dinner there.

A well placed hut near Elk Pass.

Once we finished our dinner the rain had petered out, and we continued down the valley to Blue Lake where we camped. Heck of a first day! For the diversity of weather and scenery it was perhaps our most exciting day of the entire trip.

Day 2: Blue Lake → Fernie (64 miles, 4500 feet)

We did not begin rolling until 8:45 AM this morning, which would be our latest departure of the entire trip save Day 11 when we intentionally took a half day due to bad weather and did not start rolling until 2 PM. The reason for the late start was a combination of wet gear, our group getting used to breaking camp, and perhaps a miscommunication about our planned 8 AM departure. Fortunately, however, we had already booked accommodations in Fernie at the Raging Elk Hostel so our day was shorter than the previous one.

Easy rolling down Elk Valley.

The previous night we had decided to descend down the Elk Valley single track rather than follow the official race route and go over Koko Claims. This was the only detour we made from the official route (other than skipping all of New Mexico) and I think it was a good decision given that the Elk Valley single track was quite enjoyable, although not especially fast.

We ate lunch in Sparwood next to the visitor center and the world’s largest truck!

Ronan giving his bike a quick clean.

Proper single track.

We rolled into Fernie at about 5PM. We checked into our room at the Raging Elk Lodge, and then walked over to a Mexican restaurant right off the course in time to see the first place rider Robin stop at a gas station and guzzle chocolate milk. While we ate Mexican food, many other riders pedaled by.

Day 3: Fernie → Rabbit Creek (93 miles, 7800 feet)

We rolled at 7:50 today and after a pleasant coffee stop in Fernie and a short wait at a red light for a trail we were on our way up the first climb. Our original plan was to camp at Wigwam campsite. The riding to Wigwam was pretty straight forward — two passes and miles of very smooth and car free dirt roads.

Lightly traveled double track.

We made it to Wigwam at about 4PM, and given the many hours of daylight remaining, decided to push on a bit further.

The going got substantially harder once we departed Wigwam and turned off the main road. We continued upstream on Wigwam on an old double track with overhanging branches and small trees lying across the road that required one to dismount the bike. Many times I heard Sam in front of me singing to himself to avoid startling a poorly tempered grizzly bear.

A cattle guard of sorts.

The going became even more challenging once we turned off the double track onto single track so lightly trodden we initially missed the turn. Every 100 yards the trail became submerged by a creek or some other obstacle that made it unridable. Pretty soon we made it to a feature that we later learned is called “the wall”. The vertical change of the feature is only 150 feet, but the trail makes a steep rooty ascent that was challenging to push a fully loaded bike up.

Eventually we made it past the wall and camped on the side of the double track as it ascended Rabbit Creek.

Front row seats for the Tour Divide Race.

Day 4: Rabbit Creek → Upper Whitefish Lake (100 miles, 7600 feet)

Today we were up by 6:15 and rolling by 7:30 (our planned departure time). The efficiency of our morning routine (an efficiency lacking day two) truly warmed the cockles of my heart. Sadly, Linn’s knee was bugging him. He found that the knee hurt the most whenever he stopped riding and then restarted. So he stated his intention to bike ahead and stay in Whitefish that evening and give himself a rest day. We were sad to see him go but wished him the best for his ride to Whitefish and made plans to reconnect when we made it to Whitefish in a day and a half.

We made it to the top of Phillips Pass by 8:30.

Descending towards the border.

We assured the border patrol fellow that we were not carrying any fruit or chicken products, and he waved us through. After a brief bathroom break sponsored by the border patrol we biked mostly paved roads to Eureka where we had a very leisurely breakfast. I made the mistake of ordering one breakfast meal and one lunch meal. Should I first eat my pancakes and then my sandwich to follow the correct chronological order? Or should I first eat my sandwich and then my pancakes to move in the savory to sweet direction? I ultimately did the latter but was left a little unsatisfied and for the rest of the trip would order double breakfast rather than messing with any lunch food.

We resupplied at the local convenience store where we also met up with Clay Ellington! He had been visiting a friend in Glacier National Park and joined us for a short out-and-back from Eureka. At one point Clay had considered joining us for a multiple day segment, but I had cautioned that he might struggle on his Specialized Crux.

The section Clay joined us for was smooth rolling pavement which then turned into smooth rolling gravel. “Wow, you guys really aren’t that hard to keep up with.” Clay marveled, and later “Paxton told me I would need 3000 mm tires, but this isn’t bad at all!”

Some MT locals left out tasty treats for us!

After Clay departed we summited the first unnamed pass and also climbed Red Meadow Pass. On the second climb I chatted with a fellow named Micheal from Breckenridge and a woman from Mexico — she was planning to ride the triple crown (Tour Divide, Colorado Trail, and Arizona Trail). Very cool!

We camped at Upper Whitefish Lake which was scenic if somewhat buggy.

Day 5: Upper Whitefish Lake → Cedar Creek CG (100 miles, 5300 feet)

The next morning started with our now routine 7:30 roll and a cold descent into Whitefish. Once there, we got a table at a local cafe where we met Linn. After a big day the day before (he had made it all the way to Whitefish by 4pm) his knee was still hurting and he was not confident it would recover quickly enough to finish the tour divide. He told us to go on without him. I was sorry to see our number reduced to three.

After Whitefish, we had many miles of flat rolling and many of them paved. Both Sam and Ronan pulled disproportionately with their drop + aero bar setups. I found that just to keep Sam’s wheel was some effort. I kicked myself for simply adding bar ends to my flat bar setup rather than investing in aerobars.

I attempt to stay on Ronan’s wheel.

At one point, we zoomed by a woman on a flat paved road in our tight paceline confirmation. “Does she think we are cheating at the race?” I wondered. I didn’t have to wonder for long. We stopped for a 2 PM break at Echo Lake Cafe (well timed because the cafe closes at 2:30). The women who we passed came in without a word. After she ordered I said hello and “My friends and I are just touring the route — not racing — in case you were wondering why we were pace-lining”. Her somewhat cool demeanor changed instantly. “Ohh wonderful! When you passed me I thought you were such motherfuckers! It really gave me motivation to bike hard and catch you”.

With this misunderstanding cleared up we exchanged names and had a very pleasant chat. We learned that Steph’s husband was also riding the course. After learning that she was from Australia we even realized that we had biked with Steph’s husband the day before! It was her husband that had told me the fun fact that the designer of the original Washington DC city plan, Charles L’Enfant, was the same fellow that came up with the design for Cansberra, the capital of Australia.

Steph departed the restaurant first because Ronan was fixing his chain which had a segment come loose. We subsequently passed her again as a result of our efficient pace-ling.

We camped along the Swan river where we had a nice dip and washed off the sunscreen and sweat from the day. No Swans were apparent on the river, but as their substitute many mosquitos buzzed about.

Swan River.

Day 6: Cedar Creek CG → Seeley Lake (73 miles, 6300 feet)

Rolling at our standard 7:30 we had a very easy and cool morning. At about 10 AM we came across a section of road that was actively being grated. The grating appeared to be finished, but the steamroller had not yet done its work. To avoid soft mud, we biked closely in the tracks of the handful of cars that had driven the road. At about 11:30 we had our next excitement when we saw Micheal (the pharmacist from Breckenridge) passed-out ten feet from the road. “He’s not dead is he?” I asked. We concluded he was likely just taking a nap, and pedaled on to Holland Lake which became a very pleasant lunch stop.

Suns out buns out.

After a swim in Holland Lake and a lunch of some cheese that hailed from Banff, we pushed over a significant climb which topped out with single track. The descent also began as single track before morphing to double track.

Sam descends towards Seeley Lake.

We made it to Seeley Lake at about 4pm and found a tasty Mexican restaurant to charge our devices and eat dinner. We camped at the Seeley Lake Campground and had a most pleasant leisurely evening with some more lake swims.

Evening swim.

Day 7: Seely Lake → Lincoln, Mt (68 miles, 4500 feet)

From Seely Lake we had about 28 miles of reasonably easy rolling to Ovando, a small town in Montana known for its hospitality towards bikepackers and as the site of unfortunate bear mauling fatality.

Climbing up from Seeley Lake.

We sat down at the local cafe for breakfast, and all got a coffee for $2.10 including free refills! About half the folks in the cafe were bikepackers like us. As a general rule, we liked our fellow bikepackers quite well. However, there were a minority of say 10 percent who perpetually seemed to be behind schedule, underfed, and in a bad mood. And indeed when we arrived one of the bikerpackers was complaining bitterly about how his food had been forgotten and generally what a poorly run operation the cafe was. Come on buddy, cheer up, you’re out here riding your bike I wanted to tell him.

Ronan works hard on his post card while Sam chows.

While waiting for our food, I purchased a postcard at the nextdoor fishing shop and started a tradition of mailing postcards which we would maintain for the rest of the trip. Post offices, we discovered, can be found in many small towns which may not even have a grocery store bigger than the local gas station.

We departed Ovando at 11:30, cycled over Huckleberry pass, and made it to Lincoln, Mt at about 3:30 where we got a room at the local Lincoln Log Hotel. We were checked in by a colorful fellow of the name of Roy who walked with a slight limp. “You came over Huckleberry Pass huh? Did ya know that area has more grizzlies per square mile than anywhere else in Montana? One grizzly every three square miles. I myself wouldn’t be caught dead on Huckleberry pass once the sun goes down.” Roy was a friendly fellow and allowed us to unscrew the outdoor hose from the lawn sprinkler to wash our bikes of the mud they had accumulated the previous day.

After cleaning the bikes and ourselves, I walked over to the local bar which also was the local laundromat. The proprietor helped me break a hundred dollar bill (the only cash I had brought). As I was getting changed one of the customers with slight aggression stated: “Bet you guys got tons of tonks out there on the highway!”

“Not one,” I said. “We came over Huckleberry pass”. The fellow’s attitude became more friendly. “Ah Huckleberry, I take my dirt bike up there sometimes. You guys biked over that?”

For dinner we all had hamburgers at the local hamburger joint.

Day 8: Lincoln, Mt → Helena, Mt (62, 5600 feet)

The first climb out of Lincoln is about 2k and although steep in places it felt reasonably easy in cool morning air. We descended down towards the Lama Ranch where we stopped for a sandwich and chat. The Lama Ranch is run by a woman named Barbra and partner named John. John met Barbra when he himself was a tour divide rider and came through the ranch as a guest. After completing the ride he came back to the ranch bearing groceries. Barbra was absent when we arrived but John was sitting on the porch. He invited us over and shared free drinks and homemade sandwiches. As we ate, he made a short speech: “everything is free, the only thing we ask is that you pay it forward”. The Llama ranch can sleep 12 people, and the previous night there were 18 guests meaning that some folks were camping in the yard. We chatted a bit more with John and then continued on our way.

Peter and Anna descend towards the llama ranch.

As we biked away, I debated the merits of such a place based on charity and forward gratitude compared to the more conventional capitalist approach of charging for services proportional to their value. How does John avoid becoming resentful of dirty guests? Do people actually change their behavior after coming to a place like this? Does that change last? I didn’t have any answers, but concluded that at least for myself I could not really imagine operating my own hostel on a free-basis although I could imagine operating a hostel on a for-profit model.

Descending towards Helena.

We made it to Helena in the heat of the day at about 3 PM. After getting into our motel room, I biked down to the local natural foods store and drank a liter of kefir and ate some food and cooled down and felt better. In the evening we walked down Helena Main St, ate more burgers, and bought locally made ice cream. While we were in line to buy ice cream a woman walked out with her kids balancing a Sunday and ice cream cones in her hands. As we watched, the whipped cream from Sunday slid off the coned ice cream and splattered on the floor. With her two kids in front of her, the woman was clearly debating whether to try to clean the whip cream up or continue walking. At this point Sam stepped in “We can clean that up for you he said.” After we wiped the ice cream up he turned to me and said “I was thinking about John’s line of paying it forward”.

It rained briefly and then the air was left with a pleasing scent that emerges after a short rain. Today was Sam’s last day riding with us. He was flying to Portland for his 30th birthday party.

Maps:

• Caltopo