Day 26

Date: July 6
Mileage: 46
From: Twin Bridges, MT
To: Ennis, MT


Montana is my least favorite state. The bugs are horrible, more people have yelled at us and flipped us off than the total number in my entire life before this trip, people in campsites are weird, and it’s been record-breaking 100+ degree Fahrenheit weather. Bleh!

This morning dad drank a bottled root beer, which was a huge mistake (he has stomach problems and went through some surgery last fall). He was a mess for the entire morning. We didn’t make very good time and took a long break in a library in Sheridan. Lauren ran into Greg and Beth there, who sent her back to us with cold drinks (non-carbonated for dad!). Greg is riding across the country in support of his prematurely born granddaughter, and Beth is running sag wagon.

So it was HOT before we got in much mileage. We killed time in Virginia City during the hottest part of the day. We ran into Beth and Greg again there, and sat with them and their dog Charlie outside of an ice cream shop. Virginia City is a weird place—some people were hung there and there were some creepy museums, which included a petrified cat in a really painful looking position found under a house, along with someone's gross clubbed-foot that was dug up from his grave.

We took a nap in the shade by some picnic tables where people were picnicking, and a lady brought us half a watermelon, a cantaloupe, and 3 spoons…told us we could “eat like animals” and kind of gave us a funny look. Regardless, the melon was delicious.

It looked like a thunderstorm all around, but we started up our climb anyway. We made it dry, but got some awesome views with clouds/rain in the distance. I hit 46.5 mph going down the other side, even with excessive braking.

Tonight we’re in an RV park in Ennis, MT. People here are kind of awful…

It’s hot.


Today we met a father and son (Wendell and Ben) who are biking from east to west. We swapped some stories before taking a group picture.





Stormy views on the other side of the pass