Picking up where I left off yesterday, I completed the leftover portion of the big climb from yesterday. The temperatures were significantly lower along with the traffic. It was a tough steep climb of 6 to 7 percent. The views from the overlook, part way up were fantastic. The climb from the bike vantage point didn’t look that bad until I looked down from the overlook and realized what it was. I started out covered up in cold weather gear but it didn’t take long before I shed everything after about two miles. Getting to the top and dropping into the next town was quick and a little scary. It was pretty much a 7 per cent grade 90% of the way. The curves in the road demanded that I control my speed. The sign at the top told truck drivers no faster than 25 miles an hour. I completely understand. I didn’t feel like using the truck runoff to dump into sand because I was going too fast and burned out my brakes. As we descended into Virginia City Montana I couldn’t help but wonder how many runaway trucks came bombing through that city with no brakes. Virginia city is a very cool looking old gold town. Rolling through the town there were all kinds of old wooden structures. I stopped to talk to a woman who was unlocking all of the buildings. I asked her if she was the mayor since she had the keys. She laughed and said she was not, but she was in charge of unlocking this town and Nevada City. She told me it was the only two remaining towns of 9 from the original gold rush that brought the population to the area. I took a few pictures and continued on.
As I came out of town I ran into another cyclist named Jeff who had traveled from the Pacific, traveled through Glacier, and was now heading to Colorado as his final destination. Jeff was anticipating the climb that I just completed and he mentioned to not miss the next town, Nevada City. He said it was a must-stop. Less than two miles down the road, Nevada City came into view. There were remnants of old gold mining operations, trains, and more super cool historic buildings. Drew you would love this place. Coming into this little town I had to stop and marvel. I then saw a little breakfast place that I decided we must go in and eat. I am so glad that we stopped. We met Jamie the chef as we came in. We sat down had a wonderful meal and he gave us the history of how this little town was restored by a local rancher. Prior to the rancher coming in people were scavenging the wood for fire. In the end this place is now owned by the state of Wyoming and it’s truly worth seeing. Jamie was a trained chef who worked in clubs and all kinds of wonderful places but decided to come out here to take some time off. I wish I could recount the history lesson he gave us but I’m gonna have to point you to good old Google to look up Nevada and Virginia City.
Thanks Jamie for the hospitality!!!
Heading out of town, I saw some other historical mile markers talking about the gold rush, the bandits, and the vigilantes trying to protect the area. You can see the effects of the large dredges that came in churning up the soil, digging up rocks, looking for gold. From there we rolled through a couple other little towns, Sheridan and Twin Bridges. Each having their own unique character. At Twin Bridges, I stopped at a rest area and noticed a specific bike only building. This building was dedicated for any of the cyclist coming through to have a place to shelter, shower, and rest. To get the password to enter you had to send a picture of you and your bike in front of the building to two dedicated phone numbers. (No one else) I’m sure I would have been staying here if Lisa Marie wasn’t with me. Heading SW there were numerous signs marking the Lewis and Clark expedition. At one point overlooking a valley and a large rock formation this was where the Lewis and Clark expedition met the Shoshone Indians to acquire the horses and supplies necessary to crossover the Rocky Mountains before winter. As the temperature rose mid afternoon so did the rolling hills. Eventually I found my way into our destination town, Dillon. It was a great ride today and I’m looking forward to tomorrow.
Insights from Lisa Marie
Left Ennis early to beat the heat and do some more climbing. Not much to see except cattle, horses, and sheep. We left the mountains in a haze and most of the day into the hills and plains was the same. Started book 3 which is only 200+ pages, so quick read😁. I did get a few pics including one of Norm coming up at the top of the steepest climb. Breakfast / Lunch at 8:30 was amazing because of where we landed in Nevada City. This and Virginia City are such cool historic places, reminding me of Greenfield Village for those from Michigan. Norms blog has much more detail so I will let the pictures speak. After this going through Adler the next town, Norm asked about the sign saying Ruby Dam this way. Did I want to go check it out? Before when I wanted to do some off roading he felt it wouldn’t be safe🥰. I of course took this opportunity and volunteered to go check out the dam! I followed this road for about 20 minutes seeing no water in sight or dam. Finally I asked a local walking where it was. The answer – see the split over there in the canyon, the dam is around the “corner “. It took me another 20 minutes to find the “dam” after first passing the big reservoir. As I finally thought its time to turn around there in the distance in the curve back 2 miles was what I would call a bridge. Driving back to it there was no access to see the water but it did function as a small dam allowing some water flowing down the canyon. In my humble opinion it was a large creek. Driving back to Norm almost an hour later, he had biked through the next town. He called me from the 2nd town he had reached asking if I had gone off roading?😂. We caught up at the rest area and made it to Dillon, Montana for another night of rest. The other highlight of my day was talking to my 3 kids❤️
