We came closer to the mountains along the Beaverhead River. When we came to the Clark Canyon Reservoir, the river seemed to be more filled with fishermen than fish. At a nearby campground there was a shop, but all they had was for the fish, nothing to eat for humans. 

 

Along the shore of the Reservoir, we made our way 12 more miles to Grant, a little community of 16 people and an estimated 16 million mosquitoes. If you stop riding, they will eat you. But there was a little unusual cafe in town, under a big tent. 

 

       

Our cafe (tent), our lodging, and the town of Grant

 

The lady who served (Barb) was very friendly and immediately knew what was needed: Mosquito-Spray. After a few refreshing drinks we had to decide where we wanted to stay. Either in our tent (no, too many mosquitoes) or in an Indian Teepee (no, also mosquitoes) or in a mobile home with 4 beds, kitchen, two bathrooms, living room etc. on top of a small hill nearby (YES, because it was a good price and we saw some dark clouds rolling in from the west). We made it into our new home for the night just as the first gusts with raindrops were reaching the hill. We were safe inside and I went from one window to another to watch the weather and the beautiful clouds rolling over this valley. We spied a Prairie Fox nearby in the high grasses. 

 

Later we saw a few other bikers arriving at the cafe, but it was closed until dinnertime. It had stopped  raining so I went down to those guys, introduced myself, and offered them a warm and dry room in our home atop the hill until the cafe opened at 5:30 PM. Those four young men were from Sweden and doing the "Great Divide Mountain Bike Trail". Later we went down to the cafe for dinner and offered to share the mobile home with them. They each paid a minimum fee to the owner and stayed with us. It was their first indoor night in 30 days. They used the laundry and all bathrooms extensively. We sat the whole evening sharing stories about our travels.

Next morning we awoke to the sounds of heavy rain. But by the time we got up, it cleared and the sun came out. Maren and I had breakfast down in the cafe while the Swedes came a bit later for a coffee. We heard that there was road construction the next 10 miles or so. The rain from last evening had made the road too soft to travel on a bike. We asked Barb about a lift available in town and after a few minutes she came back from the kitchen and announced that her husband Mike will give us a ride up to Lemhi Pass. Good for us. The Swedes headed on for a few miles on pavement but later that day, they had to go off road again!

After breakfast Mike arrived with his truck and we loaded it up with all of our gear. Again (like in Akaska, SD) we were very happy to sit in the truck. Occasionally the road was very soft and muddy and it would have been very tricky if not impossible to bypass these sections. Mike was very knowledgeable, especially about fishing and hunting in this area. He also could tell stories about the big ranches who - when buying land - buy it in the size of 'sections' which is a square mile! We also spotted many wild animals. Once on the top of Lemhi Pass (which was gravel all the way up) we took a little detour (easy in a truck) to one of the headwaters of the Missouri river. It is also a commemorative place for Sacagawea. We took a photo by the source of that little water.

Going down Lemhi Pass on the Idaho side

The downhill on the Idaho side of Lemhi Pass was gravel too and extremely steep the first 3 miles. Later it flattened out a bit and we could enjoy the great landscape of the valley. By the end of that 14 miles we had to push a bit due to an upcoming thunderstorm. We made it under the porch of an old schoolhouse. Thunderstorms usually don't stay very long and this one was no exception. After 45 minutes we could head on and came back to asphalt. We had a cup of coffee in a little country store, run by an old lady who knew much history about the region. Then we finally made the last 20 miles slightly downhill into Salmon, ID in 75 minutes. We reached the motel just before the next thunderstorm rolled in.

On Monday we started with sunshine and light tailwind to North Bend. During the lunch break, we decided to make it over Lost Trail Pass back into Montana in the afternoon. It was about 24 miles uphill, with serious climbing the last 5 miles. But we had to take shelter twice due to rain showers. The serious climbing started by around 5:45 PM and we needed to make it to the top by 7 PM . The downhill required permanent use of the brakes until we arrived late in Sula at a campground with cabins. Restaurant and store were closed and the coke-machine wanted my money but refused to deliver a bottle. So we sat on the bed of our cabin, drank water and ate the leftovers we could find in our panniers.

Bitterroot Valley in the evening

Next morning with many clouds (but still dry) we rode to Darby, had some pie with ice cream and then on to Hamilton. Maren's bike suffered from poor shifting for a few days and although having tried several solutions, I was not able to solve this problem. But the guy in the bike shop (no waiting required for us) knew - a new shifting cable. Maren also got a new rearview mirror, which we had seen on other bikers.