Tuesday, 23 August. Lakeside and Whitefish, MT

When we got up this morning our fire was very minimal.  I was hoping it was completely out, but it wasn't.  I figured they had it contained and were letting it burn itself out, but unfortunately it flared up again. Pretty soon they had two helicopters on it dumping water again.  It was not looking good for awhile.
We went for a walk to get Bella some exercise.  We walked up about a mile toward the fire and didn't encounter it, so it is farther than it looks.  That's good.
We came back and loaded the bikes up in the truck and all the associated gear.  I gave Bella a bunch of treats and told her she would be so much happier staying home today and that we would definitely be coming back and not to worry.  Also, that the helicopters that keep flying over and rattling the RV are a good thing and she need not be afraid.  Then we left
We stopped in at the office on our way out and let them know we were going Mountain Biking in Whitefish, that our dog was in the rig, and would they please call us if anything was happening in regard to the fire.  She said absolutely, so I gave her both our phone numbers, grabbed a couple chocolate chip cookies (she makes them fresh) and left.
We stopped in at Kalispell at Discount Tires.  When Rob had the truck serviced they pointed out that our right rear tire was weathered.  The sidewall was all cracked.  The tread was still good on all the tires, but the cracks were dangerous and could cause a blowout.  We've already had a blowout on that truck and it was not pretty.
So we needed to replace that tire.  I asked if it was smart to replace just one tire and they said not really.  That we could take the best tire off front and put it on right rear, then two new ones on front.  As it turned out, we got six new tires.  Rather be safe than sorry.  The good thing was we got some credit for the fact we still had good tread on the 5 we took off and there is no sales tax in Montana so we saved some money there.  I always feel much safer when we have new tires.  Now we have new tires on both vehicles.  
So, we finally went on to Whitefish.  
We drove to the Beaver Lake Trailhead, where we have been before.  

We rode our bikes up the dirt road to Murray Lake (middle left edge on map) because it is supposed to be a really nice lake for SUP as it has lots of beaches were we can pull up onto and have a picnic. 
We were hoping to pick up that green dotted line which is a future trail over to Rainbow lake, but it is still to be in the future and wasn't there yet.  Murray Lake does look like a nice lake for boarding and we can drive to it so that will be good.  
Since the trail wasn't there we had to ride back to the dirt road that lead over to Rainbow Lake where we picked up the green trail and went up to Woods Lake. Rainbow lake was cute with a bunch of Lili Pads all through it.  Didn't look like there was anyplace to land tho.
The trail is so awesome to ride.  It is really smooth with ups and downs and twists and turns.  So much fun.  
We got to Woods Lake and it was pretty.

I don't think it would be such a good place to paddle though.  It also didn't seem to have any beaches.
At the top right of Woods Lake we caught the look to the right which took us to the Whitefish Lake overlook.  It was nice, but not a great view of the lake.  

We rode down to dollar lake and as we were coming down we could see the lake and couple of the trails.

We rode the trail back up to the Woods Lake Trailhead and then bake to Rainbow Lake and back down to Beaver Lakes Trailhead.  

It was a blast.  Big smiles on both our faces when we got back to the truck.

We loaded everything back into the truck and locked the bikes in. We then drove into Whitefish for the Tuesday evening Farmer's market.

We bought more delicious tomatoes, a couple more melons and a small bag of white cheese and caramel corn mixed together.  We ate the entire bag there and on the way home.

While at the Farmer's Market we came across this young gentle giant.  He was there last week as well.

 

We drove back to the Rig.  The fire was still smoldering, but looked much better.  We sat and read for a bit and then when the sun went down we all went to bed.