Brrrr. June in Montana

Our place at the Mountain Spirit Inn, and yeah, it was cold


We woke up this morning at the Mountain Spirit Inn in Darby, MT to a very cold morning.  It was in the 30's, and in some neighboring areas it had snowed.  We are still looking up at mountain tops that are covered in snow and some are accumulating more.  Welcome to June in Montana.
Metal sculptures for sale in Darby

Knowing the nature of our ride today, we went to the local convenience store to pick up something for breakfast, and a sandwich for lunch.  Pat picked up a jacket to supplement the dearth of cold weather gear he brought.  He keeps picking up stuff as I try to get rid of items.  I tossed a couple of things on Sunday, including a complicated light system that had to be charged with a specific charger, the battery, and all weighed too much.  I replaced it with a little USB-recharge-able light "stick" found on sale Saturday in Missoula.  Much better.  

Our route today was to take us up to the highest height we will have surmounted so far, over 7,200 feet going over the Chief Joseph Pass at the Continental Divide.  We rode for about 18 miles into Sula, our hoped-for destination yesterday, and then sloped upward for about 7 miles and then WAY up for about another 7 miles.  After having a relatively easy time with the Lolo Pass on Friday, today's climb really took it out of me.  I think it took everyone the same way, as we all looked a bit shell-shocked when we all arrived.  Thank goodness they had a shelter at a rest area at the Pass, where we could sit down to eat our previously purchased lunches, and a warm restroom to change back into our rain gear as it had started raining again and we were going to head fast downhill, and we didn't want to freeze.  

Chief Joseph Pass and Continental divide



We went down the hill to a small town called Wisdom, where we sat down for coffees and cinnamon rolls and tried to find some wisdom as we contemplated the rest of the day.  Should we go to Jackson, another 18 miles along the road?  As the sugar rush hit us from our snack, we chose to move on down the road and get ourselves to Jackson.  Good choice.  Even though Jackson has a population of 36, we found ourselves at the Bunk House hotel, a very unique setup that combines the local Post Office, bar, laundromat, and of course the bunk house.  The "bunks" are queen sized beds in a big shared room with a bar, complete with elk-head, couches, and bathrooms a-plenty.  Since the three of us were the only visitors, this meant we had the huge room and the facilities, including the laundromat, to ourselves.  The proprietors rebuilt a 105 year old building in 2015 to make this place, and it really is quintessential Montana.  They knew the Trans-America Trail well, as they normally have many, many riders.  However, this year they have had exactly one previous TA rider all this year.  The Rose Cafe was next door, serving dinner.  Nice setup.  We even got them to make us sandwiches for both breakfast and lunch tomorrow, as there are no other options.  

Today's trip was 75 miles with a 4,200' climb. 

Our room at the bunkhouse

The Bunk House, a combination post office, bar, laundromat and hotel. 

Seeing as it could be a snow storm tomorrow, we need to skeedaddle out of here in the morning and get to Dillon, Montana, which is only 50 miles or so away.  Depending on conditions, this might be plenty.  


Lunch at the Lost Pass, where Lewis and Clark supposedly got lost

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