Wednesday September 26

OK, that day was harder than we thought it was going to be!  The cue sheet said 42 miles and uphill all day but no big hills.  One thing weren't counting on, though, was the wind.  We have been spoiled on this trip with so much "following" wind.

We didn't venture out this morning until after 9:30.  With a short ride and cool weather first thing, we all like to wait for it to warm up a bit.  About 6 of us took a 4-mile detour right away to see a mansion built by the widow of the founder of Hamilton.  Known as The Daly Mansion, it has beautiful grounds but the architectural style is somewhat "restrained".  We didn't stay for the tour; just a walk around the grounds.

Back to the main route and into the wind - ugh!  Although  it was a balmy 8C the wind had a bite to it.  We had good views of the Bitterroot Mountains to our right,  including Trapper Peak (the highest peak in the range).

Not too far from town we passed a small forest fire burning.

I stopped in the small town of Darby where they had a field full of metal sculptures.  I thought the rooster might make a nice handlebar ornament, but it was a tad too big.

This was a rather well-to-do ranch entrance along the way.

Up until Darby (at about mile 20) I was feeling that the ride was a bit of a slog.  The headwind was part of it, but also the views were largely obscured by vegetation along the roadside.  After Darby the wind lessened (and in fact became a bit of a tailwind at time towards the end of the day) and the views opened up.  Very different views on the right (west, Bitterroots)

and the left (east).

We were often riding beside or crossing over the Bitterroot River.

Someone was all decked out for fall.

We went through a rather large burn zone that was probably at least 10 years old.

We're staying at another cluster of cabins in the middle of nowhere.  Lost Trail Hot Springs Resort.  There is a hot springs pool but I didn't bring my "swimming costume".  I got in up to my knees and didn't feel the need to borrow a costume.  Nice place, though.

Here's our rustic 3-person cabin.

And some of the grounds, including carvings of Lewis and Clark.

Stats for the day:
74 km / 46 miles from Hamilton MT to Lost Trail Hot Springs Resort (near Sula, MT)
1933 feet up, 361 feet down
Temps:  8C to 23C.  Biting headwind to start the day, but it ended very nicely.  Bright sunshine all day.