DAY 16: Wilderness Gateway Campground to Lolo Hot Springs (Montana): "Blessed be he who has rain pants, for he shall only lightly freeze and will bask in evening hot springs"

June 14, 2016

DAILY STATS:

Mileage: ~61

Average Speed: ?

Maximum Speed: ?

Darn it! I just deleted my journal from this day. Alas, it will be a shorter one, and my stats are (mostly) missing.

I woke up to heavy rain, so I broke out my rain gear and got going! It was in the low-40s, so the life was just sucked straight from my hands and feet. I was the only one with good rain gear, though, so I fared better than the others.

It may have been pretty, but it was a pain to cycle in.

Dan and the fam! I rode with them for two days after we meet here. Great fun.

It was so cold I almost couldn't take this picture.

After a brief stop at the Lochsa Lodge, I summitted Lolo Pass and entered Montana!

About 25 miles in I stopped to try and warm up under the awning of a forest service bathroom. Very classy. But luckily it started to slowly clear up.

It was 38 degrees and raining and sleeting, so I had on almost every one of my layers.

After a freezing descent, I joined Dan and his family at the Lolo Hot Springs campground for the evening. We decided to splurge and spend the $5 to go to the springs, which were MARVELOUS.

And there, mingling with the locals and their talk of PORTLAND, the NRA, and big trucks, it truly hit me:

I must be in Montana.

Today's ride: 61 miles (98 km)
Total: 999 miles (1,608 km)

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