Monday, July 23, 2012, 75 miles - Total so far: 1810 miles*
* Miles ridden on the TransAm route
Odometer miles - Today - 75.3 Total to date - 1884.4 miles
Beautiful, fast start - tough finish
Another cold start to the morning as we broke camp and left about 7:20am. The coldest part of these mornings is putting away a tent wet with dew. Cold fingers don't work too well, but we manage. Although it was cold getting out of camp, once we rode out of Jackson the warm sun shining strong from the east warmed us pretty quickly.
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| Early morning view of mountains to the west, riding north from Jackson, MT to Wisdom, MT |
The first 18 mile stretch from Jackson, MT to Wisdom, MT went very
quickly. It was flat and there was a decent tailwind blowing from the
south. We rode this stretch in just over an hour. We stopped at a cafe in Wisdom for second breakfast. The food was good, but as with most of these cafe stops it took about an hour. It didn't seem like a big deal because we were making such good progress in our 75 mile day.
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| We've finally found Wisdom (MT) |
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| Osprey nest - we've seen many of these on specially built structures throughout the west. |
Ten miles beyond Wisdom we came to the Big Hole Battlefield National Monument. We stopped there and watched a 25 minute moving telling the story of the battle which occurred on this site. It was the U.S. Army ambushing the Nez Perce tribe as they camped on the riverbank. This was the beginning of the end for Chief Joseph in his attempts to flee from the army and save his people. A very sad episode in American history.
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| Antelope herd near Big Hole Battlefield National Monument |
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| Entry road to Big Hole National Battlefield |
Beyond the monument site the road wound along the Lost Trail Creek for nine miles and then started a nine mile climb to Chief Joseph Pass (7,241 ft.) and almost immediately after Lost Trail Pass (7,014 ft.). This was the big climb of the day. It wasn't as steep as some others, but it was a classic teaser of a climb. Every bend you rounded near the top led to another bend with a bit more to climb. It probably seemed much longer than it was because you kept this up for eight or ten winding curves.
At the top we crossed the Continental Divide for the last time - back onto the Pacific side where we'll remain through Idaho and Oregon. We actually passed very briefly into Idaho at some point between the two passes. We stopped at a rest area at the top for lunch and then proceeded down for the 31 mile downhill ride into Darby.
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| Our route winds through forests along the Lost Trail Creek |
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| Our ninth (and last) Continental Divide crossing - Chief Joseph Pass, 7,241 ft. |
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| Lost Trail Powder Mountain ski area, near Lost Trail Pass |
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| On the downhill from Chief Joseph / Lost Trail passes |
The downhill side of the pass is even steeper and filled with winding switchbacks. It was easy to gain speed, but with some large wind gusts it proved to be a bit of a dicey descent. Still, we covered the first six miles down very quickly. After that things slowed a good bit. The 10 mile stretch into Sula was still a gradual downhill, but the wind picked up and had turned to be out of the north - a slowing headwind.
We stopped for a brief break in Sula, then I continued on ahead of the others. The remaining 20 miles to Darby was no fun. The first half was in a rather tight canyon of the East Fork of the Bitterroot River. Aided by the downhill, I was able to maintain speeds of 11-13 mph, but it would have gone much faster without the headwind. I thought it might get better when the valley widened, but it didn't. I made it to Darby about 3:30pm - not that bad, but much later than we were led to expect based on our first hour's ride.
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| The road winds through cuts in the valley of the East Fork of the Bitterroot River. |
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| Another view along the river valley |
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| "Welcome to the Montana's Bitterroot Valley and Darby" |
Our campground in Darby was at the Bitterroot Hideaway RV Camp. They had a decent grassy area for tents, a pair of bathroom/showers and a kitchen where we could cook. It was clear that some of the RVs in the "campground" were setup to be basically permanent, giving the place a sort of cheap mobile home park look. Not the nicest place we've stayed, but still adequate.
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| Our campsite at the Bitterroot Hideaway RV Park, Darby, MT |
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