It was Freezing (okay, in the 40’s) when we walked out this morning, the fog was so thick, the mountains were totally hidden from view, but it was too cold outside to take the photo, so this is the best we could do. Since we had a short ride, we decided to take our time at breakfast over Huge pancakes and super good coffee. At eight, when we finally decided to get going, the fog had cleared and the temperatures had reached into the 50’s. The coolness was great considering the Over six mile climb we had to do to Once Again cross over the Continental Divide.   Thankfully, this climb was not the steepness we had experienced yesterday, nor did we have the time constraints, so plentiful stops and pictures.The destruction from a 2003 wildfire was still very evident in the foreground. It will take decades for the forest to restore to it’s original thick towering trees, but it was showing good promise with healthy flowers (locally called Blanket Flower) and undergrowth.At the top, without mountain tops obstructing the view, we could see forever. The drop from the divide crest was equally relaxing as the tall pines gave way to lush shrubs then green fields, the mountains ever present in the background. A couple more good climbs and we were in the high plains; a vastness of fields that seemed to stretch to infinity. The ride was not without awesome views and a MOST incredible experience. We doubt these were wild horses, as there is a lot of open grazing in Montana, but these horses were not fenced and definitely keeping a close eye on us. After taking way too many photos (seen below) we pulled ourselves away.  Shortly thereafter, we see cows getting in on the “out of the fence” party.By 11:30 we reached our destination, Browning (93% Blackfoot Indian population) but with the wind at our back on flat land, we could not bear to stop biking.

A quick lunch and back on the road, the mountains slowly fading.Jerry had the opportunity to chat with another bike tourer, but he didn’t stay long as he was logging about 100 miles a day.  The road and terrain became increasingly flat, a forecast for our next several weeks.  But we were enjoying the healthy fields, historical markers and the wind at our back.  On our entry into Cut Bank, we were greeted by Blackfoot Indians, appropriate for the huge reservation we had just biked through.  We stopped just before checking in for a cool drink where we ran into Bryce (who had biked with us earlier).He is on his way home to Michigan and we hope to see him on our way through, which is a long way from today.

Since we did 65 miles today, tomorrow will have to be short; our mileage at this point is dictated by where we can sleep at night (ie: a motel) and we have a bit of housekeeping to tend to.

Thank you for your patience as we catch up on the posts.