Tuesday, August 3rd

Today started late, around 10am, with a good almost 6 mile climb. It was all dirt road and not excessively steep but still a good pull around 1800 feet of vertical ascent. As we crested the summit we saw another woman picking huckleberries in the middle of a forest. We are seeing people out in the middle of nowhere going to their secret spots to pick huckleberries. Shortly after the huckleberry pickers we saw our first bear crossing the road about a 100 yards in front of us. It saw us and scrambled into the woods, alas it was only a black bear not a grizzly. The descent was long and unfettered. Several hours later we made a very short wrong turn and as we were going back to get the right road (unmarked of course) a logging truck comes barreling around the corner, had to scamper off the dirt road quickly to miss him. Next was another shorter climb only 1,000 feet to get closer to our final destination, a lodge next to a highway. We got in at just before 8pm and the only food for the night was a small grocery store a mile away. Mike and I dropped our trailers and rode like crazy to get there before they closed (we called ahead asking them to stay open a few minutes longer). As we were racing there Mike had a deer run right in front of his bike and he had to slam on the brakes or he would have hit it. We got the groceries for dinner and beer and headed back and it almost happened again! Only this time a deer ran within inches of the car 50 feet in front of us. The deer in this area of Montana are crazy! Another nice night of regular food, beer and a bed - man are we getting spoiled.