Mood:  not sure

There was no sense in getting up too early because the earliest I could eat breakfast would be around 7:30 AM.  There was about an inch of snow on the ground, none on the road.  Hmm.  Maybe I can make it over the passes after all.

My new Jackson Hole friends, Jim and Betty Walton, were leaving at 9:30 AM, so here was my plan.  I would leave at 8:30 AM, knowing that if something went wrong, they would be coming by a little over an hour later, and could rescue me.

It was 11 miles to Big Hole Pass.  Hardly anyone was on the roads.  At     8:40 I took off.  It was windy and snowing, just like yesterday.  I made good time, hoping to make the summit by 10:30.  A little over 2 miles from the pass, Jim and Betty eased up and asked if everything is okay.  I assured them that I was fine.  I made the summit aound 10 AM.

The truth is I felt confident that I could reach the summit.  I just wasn't sure what kind of reception the summit would give me.  And I was nervous about the descent.  It would be cold, but, hopefully, not slick.

It was cold and slick.  There was a long descent, and I refused to go over 15 mph.  I was freezing.  After 1/2 hour of this, I was shivering pretty bad.  Finally the road leveled off and I could pedal again, getting those legs moving, the blood pumping, and shivering a bit less.  Now the intense cold wind was the obstacle.

Before scaling the second pass, Badger Pass, I knew I needed some fuel (food) to drive the engine.  I found a spot  where, mysteriously, the wind stopped.  Immediately I pulled over and started to quickly get a sandwich out, when just as quickly the wind started whipping again.  I ducked down in the ditch using the big saddlebags to block the wind, but it was an exercise in futility.  I was freezing there.  Three bites of the sandwich and I was back on the bike pedalling hard.

Badger Pass was almost anticlimatic.  It was only 600' shorter than Big Hole Pass, but it was much tamer, and I got there in no time.  From there on out, it was 14 miles, all downhill to the outskirts of Dillon.  A measure of how different this was over the part between the passes, I, at one point, just took my hands off the brakes to see how fast the bike would go.  At 45 mph, I slowed it down again.

When I got into town, it wasn't even 1 PM yet.  48 miles and two mountain passes and done by 1 PM.  That probably won't happen again. 

In Dillon, I had made arrangements to stay overnight with a fraternity brother of mine, Roger Norris-Tull.  Roger is the program coordinator of Health and Human Performance for the University of Montana-Western.  We had not seen each other in 40 years.  There was a lot of catching up to do.

Roger developed a love of the wild outdoors while living in Alaska and spends much of his spare time building a cabin in a very remote property on Grasshopper Creek, that is way, way off the beaten track.  He loves it.  And, lucky guy that he is, his wife, Deleena, understands his need and supports his project.  She is the director of Science Education for the same campus.  They are two, very talented and special people, who I, by the grace of God, was able to visit for a day.

Roger took me out to a ghost town called Bannack.  At one time, Bannack was the Territoral Capital.  It was formed because of a gold strike.  It died quickly when other strikes were made.  But the buildings are still standing.  Because of the dryness, the wood is still preserved.  It was fascinating to walk into the hotel, with its huge winding staircase, and look at all of the rooms.  Bannack is an amazing treasure, much like Nevada City and Virginia City which I would be seeing tomorrow.

The next day, Thursday, I was to ride to, and stay in, Virginia City.  Then, I had another steep pass to climb on Friday, part of a hurculeon 84 mile effort, all on an uphill grade, to get to West Yellowstone.  So when Deleena mentioned that she had friends in Ennis with whom I could stay, I was somewhat interested.  When it was explained that if I would go over the pass tomorrow to Ennis, then it was only 64 miles to West Yellowstone, a far more manageable distance.  It just meant that I would have a longer day tomorrow, closer to 80 miles.  She called her friends and they gladly welcomed me for tomorrow evening.  It was a very special and gracious effort on her and their parts.  I am just amazed at people's generosity.

 Will McMahan