Hill Climbing on the Louis and Clark Trail 66 miles/ 3600’

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Today was a challenging ride.

We went over two significant passes before we continued another 30 miles to our destination of Wisdom.

The second pass was Big Hole Pass, (7360’ and the Continental Divide again), and the placard at the top noted that Merriwether Louis said it was the highest point on the Louis and Clark Trail.

After climbing over BHP , we rocketed down into Big Hole Valley. The valley’s monicker is the land of 10,000 bales of hay.

We saw thousands of them for sure.

I must admit I was pretty tired when we reached Jackson at the 48 mile point. I took a look at the bicycle campsite and noted that the only restaurant in town was closed on Thursday.

Pat is a very strong rider, and there was no hesitation on his part that he wished to continue another 18 miles to Wisdom.

He is also a very patient guy and convinced me he would take it easy to Wisdom.

I decided to gut it out and stayed with him for the last 18 miles and I am so glad I did.

Our campsite here is much nicer, and tomorrow Jane will arrive with her trailer.

(She decided to stay behind in Dillion and catch up with her Red Cross work by computer.)

Pat set up his tent and cooked us a great dinner. He is a much more experienced camper and I have learned a lot from him.

I must say that as I become more experienced at camping I am beginning to enjoy it.

There is something pretty cool about going to sleep in your cozy tent.

After dinner we went over to the Crossings Restaurant for dinner and bumped into a bunch of bicyclists having dinner.

We chatted for about an hour and said our farewells.

Tomorrow is a day off and I am looking forward to sleeping in, having a leisurely breakfast, and catching up on baseball and the Tour de France.

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Photos

Beaver slider hay bailers and the stack they leave
These are the oldest hay bailers in exhistence.