Fleecer Ridge

Hi all. Big day today.  And we're beat.  We only covered 52 miles but it was hot and we did two big climbs.

From Butte we headed south to our first climb of the day, CD crossing #5. The next 10 miles were through aspen, sage, wild flowers and vistas in every direction. We've got some nice photos to share.
 

Doug crashes :-)

Doug right before he crashes

The route then made a long descent down to the N/S I-15 and crossed under towards Fleecer Ridge. From here we climbed 2000 ft over 13 miles - a long, hard trudge in the heat of the day.

The last half mile was super steep. No way could we ride it, even without all the weight we were pulling. So we pushed up to 8000 ft.

The right turn to descend wasn't easily identifiable so we over shot the climb by half a mile. When we came back down we could barely see the intended turn and confirmed it when we saw tire tracks in the mud. 

Coming down Fleecer Ridge

From there the descent was unbelievably steep. We couldn't ride it. It was all we could do to keep our bikes in control walking them.  I had to keep the BOB trailer directly behind me or it would careen out of control. Finally towards the bottom we zig-zaged on the hill to lessen the severity of the decline.
Fortunately,  the rest of the section to Wise River was downhill, except the short 2 miles on the road into town.

We left at 6:30; finished at 5. Long day!

There was only one place to stay, so that's where we are - in a cabin. We had a four piece chicken dinner and are now planning tomorrow.

The bad news is my Achilles got worse. It's fine when I walk but the dorsa flex hurts. I iced it tonight and took Ibuprofen,  but may be forced to rest it tomorrow.

We're going to send some things home tomorrow and lighten our load. Doug will take some more weight and we shall see if that helps.

We are looking forward to tomorrow's scenery.  We will be on a National Scenic Byway and come close to Idaho.

We've come 490 miles. 2000 to go.