Sunday, May 05, 2024

I head back to the landing by Highway 6 to do the next stretch. It transitions away from marshes and more into hardwoods with silver maples and ashes on floodplains. As you're getting into town, there is a spot by the mill that is almost blocked off by an island and rocks. A canoe will get through fine but anything wider might not. This was the only obstruction I've encountered on the river. There's no beaver dams, downed trees or anything down the river.

When I got to the landing in Bigfork, I met two guys putting together a small fishing boat. I chatted with them for a little bit before I left to drop my bike off at the bridge by County Rd 237. After Bigfork, I split up the river into smaller sections so I don't have to ride my bike as long and I can only sit in a canoe for so long. When I got to Rice Rapids, the waves were about a foot high and actually kind of fun. It was my favorite rapids of the trip. I dislodged an underwater stick going through it. There is a watercraft campsite somewhere but I couldn't find it. I was told later that its on the right side of the river tucked away where google maps shows it on the left side.

The trees transitioned slowly into more pines as you go down stream. A few miles after Rice Rapids, I met a young couple in kayaks and they were the only people I saw on the river during the trip. The rapids at the bridge looked intimating at first, but they're not that bad. I'm have always taken the left side (or center) through the rapids so I did it this time again since the right side near the landing looks more rocky. Going through, I had to make some maneuvers to avoid a couple boulders and then turn around to get to the landing.

I got done roughly around 5 p.m. I didn't had any plans on where I was going to stay that night. I thought about camping at the landing, don't know if its allowed or not but somebody before me has, but I wanted a place to sit and have a fire so I went to Bass Lake Campground. It's a nice campground. It was empty when I was there except for one person on the north side of the camp. Turns out it wasn't technically open yet until the 9th but oh well. I went to town on food making chicken sandwiches and smores.

I did 23 miles that day and I averaged about 4.5 mph. I should have gone a slower pace but I couldn't help myself so my shoulders were a little sore.