Day 41 – Three Climbs Gets Us Almost Nowhere!

For the second day in a row we departed the campground at 6:30 for breakfast as we anticipated a long day in the heat. It certainly would not be the hottest or the longest but everyone liked the idea of us leaving early. Dad and I wanted to get on the road early and the girls and children wanted to sleep in. They deserve it for all the work that they do or us on a day-to-day basis! We were all happy with the decision!

Sparky’s Garage gave us excellent service before we got on the road. No we did not get our bikes worked on or the Yukon, but rather the restaurant where we ate had this name. The decor was neat and it had obviously at one time been an automotive garage.
We followed the winding streets along I-15 to the road that would take us to MT-278 where we would be most of the day. There were three large climbs on the docket for the day and the 12 miles before the first one started gave us plenty of time to warm up our legs for the last day of the week. Badger Pass was the first and took us to 6,760 ft. The top provided us with an opportunity to do a little rock climbing.

Little is the operative word since climbing in cycling shoes is kind of like putting a horse on ice skates and expecting him to play a game of hockey. Dad and I both fell once trying to get to the top of this rock.
Down the other side of the hill we went. We followed the road along the base of the mountains so it wasn’t the straightest way but it certainly was beautiful. The horses greeted us from behind the fence, the cows looked suspiciously at us as we rode by thinking that we were the strangest looking cows that they had ever seen, the prairie dogs scurried off the road to their holes, and we even saw hawks sitting in their nest a top of a telephone pole. Strange things go through my mind throughout the day and this is the strangest one that I will share with you from today. Hawks have such good eyesight that they could read a newspaper from 100 ft. With this superb vision, when we rode by at a mere 50 ft did we appear like giants to the bird? How does he see things up close? Are they huge to him also? I told you it was a strange thought.
The second hill began gradually and we got some of the hill out of the way before we really began climbing the steep part of the hill. The animals watched us go out of sight and probably laughed at us knowing what lay ahead. I knew I was in for a long haul when I passed a pull off area designated for trucks to put the chains on their tires when the roads are snowy. I was right. The hill was long and just when I thought I could see the top I came around what I assumed and wished was the last corner another peak lay in front of me. I was not going to let this hill get the best of me so I grabbed a few more gears, stood up and powered my way to the top. While I was waiting at the top, a man came in his truck from a side street that led to the peak of another mountain. He was from MN and was on his annual wandering in the MT wilderness. He fills his truck with everything he needs including two spare tires (one full size and one donut), about 50 gallons of drinkable water, a truck repair kit, and protection from the bears. He was a nice man and quite impressed with the trek that we were going on. He took my picture and told me that it was going in his family photo album. We talked for a while and he continued on to his next stop! Dad and I thanked him for serving in the Vietnam War and he left.

When I reached the top the view was not all that spectacular but as we descended I the horizon revealed a beautiful range of snowcapped mountains. The wind was picking up and acted as my brakes so that I didn’t go to fast down the hill. I still reached almost 40 mph and would not have like the wind to stop blowing. The bottom of the hill gave us a very humorous sound. I pulled off to take a picture of the mountains with a large herd of cows in the foreground when the cows began to sing. I don’t know what spurred on the song but it was quite funny. One would start and another would harmonize then a few more would sing the second verse until all were lowing together and sounded a little like a choir.

I wish pictures could also relay sound but you will have to trust me on the singing part.

We pulled in to the city of Jackson, MT and had our normal ice cream and Gatorade. This town is centered around one place of lodging. In the middle of this place there is a hot spring. It attracts many people to stay there and also has created kind of a center of entertainment for the surrounding cities. Our blessed wives pulled in and we decided to eat lunch all together in the next town, Wisdom, MT. Dad and I both felt great and made the 18 miles through the Big Hole Valley (also known as the land of 10,000 haystacks) in 45 minutes!


It was a nice little town and the only bit of wisdom that I received from this town was this. When offered a place to sit in a restaurant out of the line of sight from the waitress, DON”T TAKE IT! If they can’t see you, they won’t serve you! Okay, enough about that.
We had 32 miles left to our final destination tonight. As we pulled out of town, we were met with rain clouds.

They did not produce much on top of us but the winds made riding fast less than easy. Then I looked up and peaking over the ridge was a thunderstorm. I have never heard thunder that was not preceded by lightning so my nerves were heightened when I saw lightning coming out of the clouds. To put it mildly, I was a bit nervous about the present situation but I saw a window of opportunity. If I kicked it into gear, I thought we could bet past the storm if we could just go a little faster. Dad was up to the challenge and the LORD allowed us get past before the lightning caught up to us. The speeds we were going allowed the time to go past quickly and we were at the base of Chief Joseph’s Pass in no time.

The pass was long and seemed to wind on for more miles than my cyclometer told me I was. Maybe it is broken. Probably not. The top gave us a sense of relief since the remaining 6 miles to the campground would be downhill. We came to the final intersection and I looked for traffic to the left and saw the Idaho state line. We were this close and didn’t go. I took a picture anyways!

The campground came soon and we enjoyed a cool night that a quick rain shower brought in. The day of rest will be nice.
Some of you may be wondering about the title. The day began in Dillon, MT at which is at about 5770 ft of elevation and we ended the day at 5805 ft of elevation. We climbed 4700 feet today in three passes and ended up at almost the same elevation as we started. I guess that is the way it goes as one goes west toward the Pacific. It should be all down hill from here!!