Dillon

Left Darby yesterday. At first it was a little cloudy and thought maybe I messed up by staying the extra day. But, after an hour on the road the clouds went away and it turned into perfect biking conditions. I had 18 miles to bike before I came to the seven mile climb up Chief Joseph Pass so along the way I enjoyed my last look at the Bitterroot Mountains. Just before the climb began, I came to the southern end of the Bitterroot where in 2000 they had a series of fires that burned over 350,000 acres of wooded mountains. It was weird looking at the mountains with what appeared to be sticks poking out of the ground. Oh well I hope it was a good cigarette. Going up the pass I took occasional water breaks and at one turn jumped three mule deer. Haven't seen mule deer since South Dakota. I had about three miles remaining in the climb and was concentrating on my cadence and my breathing. I have a helmet mirror but was using my ears, relying on them to tell me if traffic was coming from behind. I was deep into the climb when, out of the deathly silence, this loud voice in my 4:o'clock position said, Don't want to scare you. I immediately snapped my head to my left and then back as I ran off the road into the loose gravel and had to stop. Oops I guess I did, said my female friend as she passed and then with a giggle she said you're almost there. Well, isn't that special. She was on a road bike with a camelpak and charged pass me. Now, I don't know if you have either been walking or riding a bike and a car blows the horn when they get right beside you, but that's the effect her voice had on me. I was steamed. She obviously had been biking for awhile and I think she should have known better. Anyway, I forgot about rest stops, water, and scenery. All I wanted to see was my new friend coming back down the pass. I was almost to the top when she passed and said yeah, you made it. I was nice. I just asked her the same question about the horn blowing but she didn't respond. But I have to hand it to her, she gave my energy to top Chief Joseph. After the pass I stopped at Big Hole Battlefield Park. Only fitting since it was Memorial Day. The 7Th Calvary and the Nez Perce fought an early morning battle where the brave 7Th killed over 90 Nez Perce Indians. About 63 of them were women and children. Shoot low, was the command, because they will be sleeping. In the end the Indians repelled the 7Th and even commandeered their cannon and resumed their trek to Canada. After the education, I found what I'd been looking for, Wisdom. The town of Wisdom. I spent the night there and this morning started late due to fog. I got on the road around eight o'clock and had two passes to climb, Big Hole and Badger. Big Hole was the longer, shallower climb and Badger was shorter but steeper. Along the way again I saw some antelope and more deer. After topping Badger I had the most amazing descent of the trip. It went on for ever, about ten miles. At one point I had to slow my descent because of crosswinds but later I checked and my highest speed was 39.4. Not too bad on a fully loaded touring bike. I planned to spend the night in the next town for my sister, Sandra. She is a big Gunsmoke fan. So, tonight I am bunking in Dillon.