Monday July 18 - Day 23

Monday July 18 - Day 23
Start - Sula, MT
End - Jackson, MT
Miles - 57
Start time - about 820am
End time - about 530pm
Weather - sunny in the 80's

Sula is at an elevation of 4420.  After about 6 miles we started climbing up Lost Trail Pass which is at 7014.  There was road construction on the pass which made it nice for the climb as all traffic followed a pilot car.  When we got to the top there was fresh oil on the road with a layer of gravel?  I made the mistake of riding over it for a short period of time and found the gravel sticking to my tires.  I carried my bike over the last part.  The construction ended at the top of Lost Trail Pass which is right on the Idaho border.  We had lunch at the top and then after lunch proceeded to climb Chief Joseph Pass elevation 7241 - really a short climb from one pass to the other.

We had a nice downhill off of Chief Joseph pass and then stopped in Wisdom, Montana for another break.  Wisdom is in the Big Hole valley which is beautiful and wide open with a lot of haystacks - land of 10000 haystacks is what the sign said.

Our last 18 miles from Wisdom to Jackson was south bound which on this day meant we were riding right into a headwind.  We stayed at Jackson Hot Springs Lodge which had a hot springs pool, restaurant, lounge with television and wifi and a grassy area to setup camp.  More mosquitos here as well.  I enjoyed the ride again with Caleb, James and Zoe.