Day 24- TOSRV Part Two

The thing about the TOSRV is that it wasn’t all about the Swan River. It also was about Seeley Lake which is further south but on the same route (Hwy 83). Today I would see the Seeley Lake part of TOSRV.

The weather was nice when I woke up. I really hope this going to be a trend. I was on the road just before 9:00 (which is my “not very rigid” goal each day).

The scenery continued to be great. The Swan Mountain range was to the east and the snow capped Mission Mountains were to the west. I stopped in Condon for lunch. I don’t what it was about Condon, but a lot of cyclists stopped there for food about the same time as me. No one was quite on the same route as I was, but it was still interesting to talk to everyone about their route and individual stories. Lunch turned out to last 2 hours today.

The terrain definitely turned more rolling hills in nature in the afternoon. I arrived in the town of Seeley Lake around 4:00 and bought some Lemonade and took a little break before riding the last 7 miles to Salmon Lake State Park.

The Park was really nice, but the wind had really picked up in the late afternoon. The park had a separate bike camping area which was really set up nice. It had 8 constructed tent pads (perfectly level and smooth), electrical outlets at the covered picnic tables, and even a Park Tools bike mechanic stand in case you needed to work on your bicycle. Nicely done Montana Parks Department!

The park also had showers in the main camping area so I took advantage of that amenity as well. Then between the wind and mosquitos, I ended up in the tent around 8:30.

With only 7 miles of the TOSRV route left for the next morning I felt comfortable in concluding that it was a great decision to ride the Swan River and Seeley Lake Valley. My personal TOSRV was a joy to experience.