Augusta, MT

Greetings from Augusta, Montana. My eye is feeling much better after a little medication. After spending much of Thursday sitting in the dark with my eyes closed, we joined 4 other touring cyclists for the ride to Cameron. Fierce headwinds made for a tough day. Our fellow cyclists had been riding since Virginia and said these were some of the strongest and most sustained they had experienced. The folks at the RV/Campground in Cameron were less than friendly necessitating a night camping in the local gravel pit. Pictures of this will come later.

The following day we rode on to Townsend, MT. At 95 miles, this was our biggest day yet. Everything is very spread out in this part of the country. There is nothing but miles of ranch land with towns every 30-50 miles. Our night in Townsend was less than restful. We were forced to deal with partying teenagers and frequent trains.

Yesterday, we rode into Montana's capital city, Helena. I was suprised by the size of the city based on everything else we had seen in the state. We ate lunch in the shade of a tree next to the capital and then picked up some supplies around town. The afternoon heated up considerably for the ride out of town. For the first 25 miles we gradually climbed out of the valley. The final 15 miles from Canyon Creek to the summit of Flesher Pass were pure uphill. It was a pretty tough way to end the day. We did not reach our camping spot along the Continental Divide Trail until 8 pm. Erik was so tired when he arrived at the top that he fell off of his bike. We gorged ourselves on some Annie's and passed out.

This morning started with a sweet descent, the payoff for yesterday's climb. One more crossing of the Continental Divide at Roger's Pass led to an even bigger downhill. We bathed in the Dearborn River before heading for Augusta.

We have now ridden 438 miles and are closing in on Glacier National Park. Things are going well and I am having a great time.

Jon