Montana Time

The cows that came to watch
Earthquake Lake (landslide was toward the back of the pic)

We left West Yellowstone this morning pretty early, and there was a pretty thick fog for the first 15 miles or so. It kept things cold and mysterious, but I was happy to see the sun (and the mountains that were behind the mist) once it came out. We rode mostly downhill along the Madison River (including Hebgen and Earthquake Lakes) today, and the breezes even stayed in our favor most of the 78 mile ride. The sun was just burning through the clouds as we passed the lakes. In case you're wondering, Earthquake Lake got its name and its start to a '59(?) 7.5 earthquake that brought the side of a mountain down into the Madison River Canyon, closing off the exit point of the creek. The Army Corps of Engineers has since dug out a portion of the collapsed mountain so the river can continue downstream. The canyon was gorgeous - we were riding down through the middle of the mountains, and the river gradient at the end made for a pretty sweet downhill. The rest of the day, we rode through pastures that kinda reminded me of earlier ones in Wyoming. Massive mountains on the horizon but very few hills for us. This is the first day in a while that we've really managed to truck through the distance for the day (avg speeds around 14 with lots of 16-18mph stretches). A little over halfway through, I got a flat (the shoulder's had lots of broken glass and old tire bits). Dad had the necessary equipment to fix it, and with all the semis, he was just out of hearing distance. I hung out for a bit until an awesome lady in a Subaru came up and asked if I needed help. I got her to flag down my dad (who had gone a little over a mile) and waited for his return. The cows in the field next to me started coming over to check me out, and I have to admit, it was a little intimidating. By the time we had changed the tube out, most of the cows were standing along the fence staring at us. We crossed over to a fly shop to refill our water bottles and ran into the awesome lady again. The remaining 20 miles were pleasantly uneventful. There are a ton of fly fishers out on this portion of the Madison as well. Tomorrow we hit another pass with 2000 ft of climbing, and if that doesn't knock us out, we may make it to Dillon. Our other option is a newish hostel in Twin Bridges. There are actually quite a few climbs over the next few days, and while they may not be continental divides, they'll likely be tougher than many of the divides we've crossed. Wahoo.