Gloria
We left at 7 am. The first few miles were nothing too difficult. At about mile 6 things started to change. The uphill was constant for the next 6 miles. We caught up with Kim (last night's dinner guest) on the uphill, and he rode with us to Jackson.
Since we were passing it, we decided to stop in and visit Big Hole Battlefield National Monument. It's has much nicer displays than it had 10 years ago. Such a sad story of Native Americans being killed and robbed of their land!
We stopped for a very late lunch in Wisdom, MT. We could hardly park our bikes for the mosquitoes - they were out in full force! Lunch was delicious, but I felt sorry for the waitress...most places out here only have one person waiting tables, no matter how busy the restaurant is.
Throughout today's ride, we saw elk, pronghorn deer, and a falcon. Eric almost ran over a skunk. Thank goodness he missed it!
Our ride today took us 11 hours to complete. We were not riding that whole time - we just needed a lot of breaks. We arrived in Jackson, MT around 6 pm. We're staying at Hardwood Bunkhouse Hotel. It's an old west hotel. It has 3 rooms downstairs (we're staying in these rooms) and bunks upstairs. Everyone has to share bathrooms. Interesting concept. The owner, Rick, is very helpful and welcoming.
I remember the Sula Country Store and Resort well. I believe that Bob and I stayed in the same cabin that Michael and I shared. Somehow the cabin seemed much nicer than 10 years ago...or my perspective has changed.
We woke up early (an ungodly hour as Sean said in his poem) in preparation for our 57 mile day that would include some tough climbing (over 2500 feet) and crossing the continental divide. Michael cooked bacon, I reheated some hash browns, then each of us cooked our own eggs and toast. We needed a hearty breakfast to get us up those hills!
We left at 7 am. The first few miles were nothing too difficult. At about mile 6 things started to change. The uphill was constant for the next 6 miles. We caught up with Kim (last night's dinner guest) on the uphill, and he rode with us to Jackson.
At about mile 12, we reached the first peak - Lost Trail Pass (7,014 ft.).
It had been raining lightly, but it became more consistent. The visitor center still had snow on the ground. And it was cold.
I put on my rain gear in preparation for the downhill that I knew would be coming after our one mile climb to Chief Joseph Pass (7,241 ft.).
It had been raining lightly, but it became more consistent. The visitor center still had snow on the ground. And it was cold.
I put on my rain gear in preparation for the downhill that I knew would be coming after our one mile climb to Chief Joseph Pass (7,241 ft.).
Since we were passing it, we decided to stop in and visit Big Hole Battlefield National Monument. It's has much nicer displays than it had 10 years ago. Such a sad story of Native Americans being killed and robbed of their land!
We stopped for a very late lunch in Wisdom, MT. We could hardly park our bikes for the mosquitoes - they were out in full force! Lunch was delicious, but I felt sorry for the waitress...most places out here only have one person waiting tables, no matter how busy the restaurant is.
Throughout today's ride, we saw elk, pronghorn deer, and a falcon. Eric almost ran over a skunk. Thank goodness he missed it!
We are often confused about which mountains we are looking at as we cycle. Yesterday we passed through the Bitterroot Valley and I think we left it as we climbed out of Sula. Today (and tomorrow) we are passing through the Big Hole Valley. All of the mountains are beautiful, although we tend to be more inspired by those that are covered with snow.
Our ride today took us 11 hours to complete. We were not riding that whole time - we just needed a lot of breaks. We arrived in Jackson, MT around 6 pm. We're staying at Hardwood Bunkhouse Hotel. It's an old west hotel. It has 3 rooms downstairs (we're staying in these rooms) and bunks upstairs. Everyone has to share bathrooms. Interesting concept. The owner, Rick, is very helpful and welcoming.
We ate dinner at the only restaurant in town. Nothing to write home about...but we're well fed. And the people have been SUPER nice throughout. Life is good~
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