The Ride to Hamilton, MT

Yesterday I got off to a late start, about 1 PM. As I was leaving the motel I was surprised to bump into Lucas (info about him, and picture, is in my see my posting from 9:04 PM on June 19). He had left Lochsa Lodge the day before me, but had spent three nights in Missoula rather than only two nights. He was leaving also, so we rode together out of Missoula -- or I should say that we agreed to meet at a McDonalds in Lolo, about 12 miles south of where we were. There was no way that I was going to keep up with a fit 25 year old.

After a light lunch we continued south toward Hamilton, but before long he was well ahead of me. If you are reading this, Lucas, I fully expect for you to give me a call when/if you get back to NYC again.

The road to Hamilton was a relatively flat ride through the Bitter Root Valley, with the snow-capped Bitterroot Mountains fairly close by on my right, and the Saphire Mountains (named not for their color, but for gems found there) at some distance to my left.
I think this valley is probably excellent ranch/farmland that also attracts wealthy celebrity types (Dave Letterman?)that like to have a ranch near the mountains. See photos. For anyone checking a map, the route took me through Florence, Stevensville, and Corvallis.

Hamilton is a nice little town. After a late breakfast I dropped my bike off at a shop to have the chain replaced (I had known that chains stretch and need to be replaced every so often, but was surprised to find out that the life expectancy of the newest type of chain is only about 800 to 1,000 miles). While waiting for the work to be done I enjoyed some live folk music at a town fair, took a quick tour of the museum, and then wondered over to the library.

I guess I will get a late start again today, but plan to go only as far as Sula, where I will probably have a rest day. I have decided to deviate slightly from the route I published before, sticking to the Lewis & Clark Trail System, but instead of taking the route they followed going west, I will take an alternate route that Clark explored on their eastbound trip. This will take me over the Lost Trail Pass (6,990 ft), the Big Hole Pass (7,360 ft), and Badger Pass (6,760), so I want to be well-rested before starting out. This is supposed to take me through country that is even more beautiful than what I have seen so far. (I will be passing through the towns of Wisdom and Jackson before merging with the "original" route just west of Dillon.