Suffice to say, it was quite chilly Thursday morning when we all awoke. A soak in the hot springs would have been welcome, however, one of our best days lay ahead. We sported some extra layers, for the first time on this trip, and headed east, to the edge of Missoula, for a bite to eat and some coffee to warm our bones.
As was custom during breakfast, everyone kept inquiring as to our plans for the day. I had something special for the crew and managed to play it close to the vest until the moment of truth. I let the crew ramble and fuss about our route and only talked about our final destination for the day. When breakfast was over, I managed to get suited up and take off with the pack in toe and smiled the whole way.
We headed south on 93 towards Hamilton. Once we passed Hamilton we turned east on 38 at Grantsdale. The boys didn't know what they were in for, but they were headed over Skalkaho Pass.
The pass is a 45 mile drive through the Sapphire Mountains; a passage from the Bitterroot Valley to the Philipsburg Valley. The fun part is that the pass peaks out at 7,258 feet above sea level and while half of it is firmly packed gravel, only one small section of it,at the waterfall, has guard rails.
Being the ornery one that I am, I never pulled over until the halfway point, which happens to be the waterfall at the top of the pass.Skalkaho Pass - Visit Montana
Needless to say, a few of the guys were white knuckling it by the time we got to the falls. The nice thing about being half way is...................... YUP, keep going.
Coming out the other side of the pass, it dumps you out, smack dab in the middle of the Pintler Scenic loop; a 64 mile rolling route through beauty. We headed southeast toward Anaconda. The folks at Anaconda want to make sure you are slowed down enough from your journey, so you can take in all the sights they have to offer. It sure seems that way, because they slow you down to 30 m.p.h. for the prior 5 miles before you reach town. We assumed parade formation and road as if we were riding with a 4 star general, anticipating a welcoming band. Nothing, Zip, Zilch!
The fascinating thing about Anaconda is the enormous pile of slag at the east end of town. I don't know where else in the world you would ever see another.Anaconda, Montana - giant slag piles
Once through Anaconda, we headed south on 274 towards Wisdom; our next stop was to be the sight of the Big Hole Battlefield. The scenery, all the way there way stunning, as each stretch seemed to rival the other for pure beauty.
The ride along the Big Hole River was way cool. It was wide open and a chance to open it up and blow out some of the dust; that's exactly what I did.
Big Hole National Battlefield - National Park Service
The picture above is the location where the battle took place. Standing inside the visitor center and reading the accounts of what happened that awful day was humbling and surreal.
From the Battlefield we headed to Jackson Hot Springs for the evening.
It may not look like much, but don't let looks throw you off. It is tops!
I had my own cabin, again.
We all got to soak in the hot springs directly after dinner; and then we had the entire hall, almost entirely to ourselves!
Big Timber, being the one to claim he loves being on the road more than the rest of us, upped the ante by sleeping in the middle of the road.
All's well that ends well!
No comments:
Post a Comment