Day 53: Mountain Pass

July 28, 2022 in Darby, Montana

Today started good, went awesome, and ended lovely. What more can you ask for?

I woke up this morning feeling super well rested in bed. It was pretty hard to get off the mattress, but since I'm on cargo crew this week, I need to get out early to load the truck and van.

We were light on breakfast this morning (don't worry, some teammates got groceries in the afternoon), so my ride partner Lorelei and I decided that we'd stop somewhere along the way.

Luckily for us, there was a cafe along the route around 17 miles in. The first seventeen miles flew by in less than an hour, and we arrived at Hook and Horn Cafe just before 8 am.

I got an awesome Montana sticker, and a muffin and coffee. It wasn't the kind of breakfast place where you could get eggs or anything hot, which was a bit disappointing, but we made do.

The next section of the ride led us out of the valley and into a gorgeous National Forest. It was quite similar to the one I rode through with my dad in that much of the greenery had been burned, but the streams and rivers still thrived.

As we got further into the forest, we started to climb. The mountain pass, Big Hole Valley Mountain Pass, started and ended within the bounds of the forest, so the views were spectacular all the way up.

I was really apprehensive about this pass going into the day, but I kept a strong, confident attitude and took it slow and steady. It was very challenging, but I made it all the way up.

Even better, someone wrote me an encouraging message in chalk on the way up.

After lunch at the top of the mountain, we had a 12-mile descent down a windy mountain road that was both thrilling and totally terrifying. We also briefly dipped from Montana to Idaho and back.

The last twenty miles of the ride were pretty relaxed, albeit hot, and we rolled into the middle school we are staying at after a very successful 74 miles.

I felt so immensely proud of myself for finishing the ride, and I called my parents and Nani and Buckie to tell them about my day.

After a shower and a (successful) search for my briefly missing laundry, a friend and I walked into town to mail postcards and a package for my brother. I can't wait until everyone gets them!! We also got some ice cream before heading back.

Dinner crew made dinner tonight, and we had delicious tacos and a very short town hall before heading to bed to rest up for another ride day tomorrow.