Day 23 – Clothing successes
You guessed it, I’m still in Helena. This morning, I returned to The Base Camp to see if any of the shirts had magically shrunk overnight. They had not, but I decided to peruse the women’s section. I found a white, long-sleeved sun...
Day 22 – Helena
Last night, as I set up my tent high on the Divide line, it began to drizzle. Just as I was about to doze off, the back of my eyelids lit a bright blue, soon followed by a clap of thunder. As the lightning became more frequent and closer in proximity, I became nervous.
Day 21 – Did it!
I’m now within striking distance of Helena! I’ll head in tomorrow morning to get the brake worked on and probably spend the night. It would be fun to take some time to explore the town while I’m there.
Day 20 – Lincoln, MT
What an active woods last night! I kept waking up to heavy footsteps and branches breaking. I swear I heard my food bags fall out of the tree. I didn’t hear my pots clanking, though, so I convinced myself that my food bag was still safe, and it was.
Day 19 – Cranes
Another 6:30 start! It's still taking me an hour to break camp, though. As I rode this morning, I remembered that I had not forgotten to buy lunch for this stretch; I had purposefully not bought lunch because there would be a place to get lunch in Ovando, a tiny town...
Day 18 – Change of Plans
Finally, a respectable start! I was on the uni and riding by 6:30 this morning. Riding in comfortable temperatures throughout the morning was nice, and I made good time. Thoughts of a shower and laundry in Seeley Lakes had nothing to do with my motivation.
Day 17 – Butterfly Race
Well, so much for my early start and siesta. [edit: In the previous day's missing post, I talked about waking up early and taking a siesta today.] I was so comfortable when I woke up that I just couldn’t bring myself to get up and move.
Day 16 – M.I.A.
I remember falling asleep in the tall grass on the side of the road with my pack still on, flies swarming, and an insane stretch of blowdowns. Climbing through the blowdowns was the fun part of my day.
Day 15 – I’m awesome
“You’re awesome!” is what a 4-year-old boy just told me. Unfortunately, I had to excuse myself from our conversation; it was past my bedtime.
Day 14 – Whitefish, Bluefish, Bigfish, Smallfish
My earliest start yet! After squirming around in my sleeping bag for nearly 40 minutes trying to change clothes, I was up and riding around 7:30...