Day 14: Bozeman to Columbus

 Today was a red letter day…Ben joined me for the ride. He took it easy on the old man, allowing me to stay on his wheel while pulling me along at 23 mph for over 80 miles. The ride total was 113, with the 4 extra miles due to detours around the swollen Yellowstone River. The town of Gardner near the north entrance to Yellowstone Park suffered significant damage, and it’s likely the north entrance will remain closed for quite a while as they repair the washed out road. Not a good circumstance for the restaurants and businesses that depend on the summer traffic.

Leaving Bozeman, we made our way through Bridger Canyon toward the Bridger Bowl ski area. It’s a beautiful sight to behold. The snow capped peaks sparkled as the morning sun shared the first rays of the day. If you come to Bozeman to ski Big Sky, I recommend you spend some time at Bridger Bowl as well. While not the same scale, it offers equally challenging runs, and rarely do you wait in a lift line. In the summer, it’s a hotspot for mountain biking. Some of the trails are lung scorchers, as Ben and Whitney demonstrated to me and Amy last year. But the views from the top are worth the effort.

We did a lot of interstate riding today, more than planned, due to the flooding of the Yellowstone. I wonder what the river looked like when Capt. Clark floated the river on during the return trip of the Corps of Discovery in July 1806. He and Lewis had split into two detachments, with Lewis and nine men exploring the Marias River to determine if any of its sources originated as far north as 49 degrees, 37 minutes, marking it as the boundary between the USA and Canada. Clark, meanwhile, would explore the navigability of the Yellowstone River, and determine any future with regard to commerce in the way of fur trading. They had already determined there was no direct riverine Northwest passage. As such, any positives to be gained that would assuage the likely disappointment of the American public upon hearing that news made the Captains determined to discover resources and fix navigation points during the return trip. They were attempting to spin the news, albeit in a very difficult manner.

Tomorrow we cross into Wyoming, our 5th state.