We started on July 6 — trail buddy Tom Bernards, me, The Marshall and Cole– from St. Regis, Montana.  It took about 2 weeks to reach the community of Ovando, which is on the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route.  Before reaching Missoula, we had some rugged, steep, narrow trails to negotiate in the mountainous timber country east of St. Regis, as the photos show.  Later the trail opened up to more rolling hills, in some of the prettiest country I have ever seen, as the route took us to Frenchtown and then Missoula.

My wife, Kris, and I and trail partner Kandi Hansen returned to the trail on August 1 at  Ovando.  Our goal was Yellowstone National Park by the end of August, and into Wyoming by mid-September.  But not everything works out as planned, especially when riding and packing on the Continental Divide.  We had lightning and thunder storms that slowed our progress.  We had forest fires that closed portions of the Continental Divide Trail and Great Divide Mountain Bike Trail (I rode both trails intermittently).  And my primary pack horse, Cole, developed inflammation in his croup area, along his spine.   It was not a saddle sore,  but probably caused by excessive climbs and descents in the steep mountain trails over the summer.  In any event, our trip was cut short by several weeks (a couple hundred miles), so I didn’t reach Yellowstone National Park.  I was about 130 miles northwest of the park when we packed it up and went home in late August 2019.