July 5, 2003 Today marked another major benchmark in our journey - we reached the Continental Divide. Check out LaValle's pictures to see just how happy we are to have achieved that! The trip today took us from Wisdom to Darby, MT. Darby is a town of 850, and is sort of a western version of Solvang or similar places. It is a little on the touristy side, but fun to walk through. We left Wisdom at 9:00 AM after a leisurely breakfast that included talks with a group of people who were traveling through doing a combination of bike and truck trip. They are musicians, teachers and a scientific researcher who were interesting, and very interested in what we are doing. It was fun spending a little more time over breakfast than normal. Upon leaving Wisdom, we climber for about 2.5 hours, gaining some 1200 feet, to reach Chief Joseph Pass. The trip up to the pass was fascinating in that the terrane and foliage changed markedly. We went from valley floor grass and open country to hills, conifers, creeks and wild life. It was beautiful. The climb was very gentle until we got to the top, so we were able to enjoy our surroundings rather than just survive. As we entered the fir forest, the road sides were a burst of color from wild flowers in their prime. There were happy birds, many brooks, unusual formations and trees reaching right out to the road. At one point there was a magnificent 8-point buck deer that crossed the road. He held on the left hand side for a while, but I was talking and spooked him. He crossed the road, stopped just a moment, and then took off. LaValle wanted a picture, but he was not cooperating. Soon, we were approaching the top of the climb. As we ascended a short, steep pitch we could see a Forest Service sign in the distance. We were hoping for the Continental Divide, but weren't certain we had reached there. But, sure enough, we were there. The sign read, "Chief Joseph Pass, 7241 Feet, Continental Divide". We were stoked! We stopped to take pictures. We had packed a small tripod to make sure that we could take a picture of the two of us in front of the sign. However, we could not get the auto feature of the camera to work, and there was no one around to help us out. Therefore, we are settling for pictures of each of individually. But, hey, we made it and that is what counts. Shortly after leaving the summit, we passed the East Fork of the Bitter Root River, and sure enough, it was flowing west - the first time we have had a river with us since the Ohio! The descent from the summit of Chief Joseph Pass was amazing. It is seven miles long, and pretty steep. However, the wind was blasting up the valley, and was right on our noses. It really didn't slow us down so much as make the bike very squirrelly. Ron had to kept a tight rein on the speed. The drag brake went on for the first time since the Appalachians, and Ron went into the drops. It was a little hairy, but fun-except when the traffic got heavy, and we had to move over onto the shoulder. We made quick work of the seven miles, and were soon in the town of Sula. Sula should really not exist today. The fires in August of 2000 burned everything within 360 degrees of the town, but some way it survived. We were happy to be able to visit the town, and have a Mountain Dew, but we weren't excited about seeing all the burn area after all the beauty we had enjoyed during the morning. However, that is nature. The burn areas look like hills covered with purple-black toothpicks stuck in the soil. The area is doing a good job of recovery, but it is still obvious that a very bad fire took place there. Further down the road, we came to a turnoff to a little town called Conner, MT. Since that is the name of one of Ron's grandsons, LaValle suggested we make the side trip to see what we could do for him. We took pictures of Ron, the bike and the Post Office sign, and bought and mailed a postcard. Hopefully they won't use some mass cancellation on the card, and it will say Conner, MT on the postmark. Conner will be one year old on July 12, so he wont' understand, but hopefully in the future, he will see the card, and enjoy it. In about another 8 miles, we reached our destination for the day. Darby, MT. We had originally planned to stay in Sula, but decided to add mileage today, so that we get into Missoula earlier tomorrow. We have a rest day scheduled, and it would be nice to start it with a shorter day. We also have maintenance scheduled for the bike. We are not having any problems, but want to make sure something is not developing. The bike got through another day without mechanical problems, and the Team did great after a good night's rest in Wisdom. There was nothing to do there, so sleep was the order of the day! We had another great day of weather for riding. Of course, our friend, Mr. Head Wind, was with us for most of the day, but by now we wake up assuming he will be on the ride with us. If he doesn't show up, we just go our own way. The skies were clear, the temperatures very moderate and the day was just there to enjoy. LaValle and Ron talked about the fact that we have been blessed with good weather. We had a few rain days in the East, but have not had any significant heat during hard climbing days, and haven't had any other weather-related problems. We thank the Biking Gods! Ron