Mt. Biking in Bear Country

bear spray where you need it....

he said his wife is training for a marathon, running 17 miles this morning, so he is riding with her for support.  There are about 30 grizzlies in the area.

Ennis to West Yellowstone

Rode past several mt ranges at 10mph.  And we were supposed to make west yellowstone but the headwinds kicked up brutally, over 25mph with higher gusts. Rich pulled, I drafted.  And the road went straight and hot for miles, making mirages way ahead.  we only made it a little more than halfway to West.  ( It reminded me of what a solo motorcyclist from Canada told me when i met her in Sula. She said somes friends rode bicycles across canada, thought after the Rockies would be easier. They hit headwinds where they could look back at the end of the day and see where they started in the morning.  A few days of that and they said, goals are goals but lets take a train for a while.)

When we came to a downhill, where we should have gone 25+, Rich went into a full tuck and we were going 8. It was kinda funny really, if he wasn't working so hard.

Halfway was  West Fork campground, where the valley narrowed and it changed to fly fishing area. We met Matt from Davis Calif. Rich asked him if he knew a good friend of his, and he did! (thanks for the beer Matt!) small world.....

I've fixed the comment form settings- anyone can now leave comments on this blog!

A few people have told me they couldn't leave a comment, but now I finally figured how to reset it where anyone can.  Looking forward to hearing from you!

Pass into Ennis.

A tough climb in hot weather, but certainly worth the extraordinary view.

Saw a herd of pronghorn antlope but I can only post 3 pictures....

Alder Gulch

The money came from gold, discovered in 1860's.  It led to a 14 mile long city of mining from Virginia City to Alder.  By the turn of the century, companies were dredging the entire valley, literally turning the soil inside out leaving it nothing but rocks.  Dredging financed Harvard in the 1920's.  Now the valley is all but abandoned, miles and miles of water tainting tailings- mounds of rocks not suitable for growing or livestock. They seem proud of their colorful history, but it will take centuries for the land to heal.

Virginia City

This historical town decided to go the tourist route, with alot of kitchy stores, candy and ice cream,  but still fun to stop for a few pictures before we headed up the pass. 

Nevada City

this old town is a living history museum. we didn't pay the $8 admission to mill around inside the village, but it seemed no one else does either.  Notice the old fire station 1.  It was getting into high 80's so it was a quick rest to stop for a Ginger Pop.