We had a much shorter route today of only 87 miles which was sorely needed after the last two long days. Despite the shorter distance we still climbed over two passes. The weather and scenery were again spectacular. The Continental Divide was crossed about 10 miles after leaving Butte at Pipestone Pass. We then rode through valleys the rest of the day until reaching Virginia City where we climbed another pass finishing with a massive 10 mile descent in to Ennis.
Distances are deceiving out here. On multiple occasions today we would see mountains off in the distance with the anticipation of getting to them in an hour or two. It actually took most of the day to reach mountains we saw shortly after leaving Butte. The landscape here is on a huge scale.
I took a little video to hopefully give you something different to look at than just still photos. The video should give you a sense of the speed of the descents coming off of some of these mountain passes. It's not unusual to struggle up the grade at 6-7 mph and then descend at 40 mph and then repeat the process multiple times throughout the day.
We went through several small towns today that were interesting. Virginia City is built on a hillside and has been preserved to look like an old Western town. It is a very neat place that looks like something you would see in an old Western movie. Ennis, where we are tonight, is a nice place. There are several nice shops and restaurants and even an old movie theater. And it's surrounded on all sides by beautiful mountains.
Tomorrow is an even shorter day of 71 miles to West Yellowstone. It will not be nearly as mountainous as today and will instead be a gradual climb following the Madison River.
OK, Shelly and I are liking the live action shots! That was fun. I had planned to go out for a short run this morning, but your climb wore me out. Thanks for taking the time to post these things after your long days. We are enjoying.
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