From Butte we rode to the tiny town of Wise River. It was a hard day, with 2 long climbs. The second climb was on notorious Fleecer Ridge. It was a steep last bit to the top and we had to push, but that wasn’t the real problem. To get down there was a 500 meter/1500 ft slope with a 38% gradient… So we also had to walk there and we had to try to prevent our heavy bikes from sliding or taking off with our bodies. In Wise River we could sleep in the communtiy center. The next day we arrived in Bannack State Park where there’s a goldmining ghost town.
And then it was over with the good (and very hot!) weather. The next day we woke up under a grey sky, but it was still dry. That wouldn’t last much longer. It started drizzeling quickly and it stayed like that the rest of the day. So we rode to Lima in the rain. Lima turned out to be a very shitty town, with only a gass station with a small convenience store where they had almost nothing, restaurant (that was closed) and a motel where you could also camp. The rain kept getting worse and it kept raining all night. It was dry early next morning, but again that didn’t last long.
We were worried about the road condition after all that rain and it turned out we were right te be worried. We had only left the pavement a few kms/miles when misery started. The mud was so sticky, like clay, that it stuck everywhere on the bikes and tires. Thick placks of mud formed between the tires and the fenders. Trying to get it off didn’t have any effect, after just a few feet it would be back. We couldn’t move the bikes forward or backward anymore and were absolutely stuck…. The mud had collected underneath the fenders, especially Linda’s back fender.
Fortunately a pickup came in our direction, it must have been the only driver that was brave enough to drive there all day, and we were able to get a ride to a point where the worst would be over. That was indeed the case, we could ride again for a while. But then it went wrong again. We decided to take Linda’s fender off so the back wheel could turn again. That helped and after a long, hard day with lots of pushing we arrived at a camp spot in the beginning of the evening.
The next day was a little bit dryer and we managed to ride into civilization. Fortunately the weather got a bit better every day and after a few days we were back to riding in warmth and sunshine, even though there were still dark, threatning skies and it stayed a bit unstable. We rode on a rail trail toward Grand Teton National Park. We wanted to camp at a ranch, but weren’t allowed to because of the many (grizzly)bears in the area. The bears had even been on the front porch so camping wasn’t allowed. We had to rent a cabin, but we didn’t even mind because there was another big thunderstorm that evening. We didn’t see any bears…
Just before another rainshower, we arrived in Grand Teton National Park and Colter Bay, the created village with hotels, campground, grocery store and restaurants. We treated ourselves to a pizza and stayed there on a rainy day to do some maintance on the bikes and to wait for better weather.
