Missoula to Darby

With the threat of rain and after a night with some snoring fellow bikers, we left our hostel at 6:30. It was clear weather at first but then clouds started to roll in from the mountains. We're biking through the Bitteroot Valley and the high mountains on either side contribute to weird weather patterns.

Several times it looked really threatening and we stopped to watch the clouds, but then they didn't seem to produce rain so much as roll through with a lot of menacing wind before giving way to blue sky.

It actually rained a bit on us as we were on a "alternate" back road that included some gravel/dirt/mud. I stopped once to take a picture, but otherwise we just kept going. It had the potential to turn into a real disaster but settled comfortably short of that.

When we got to Darby, we just decided to stay there instead of fighting the wind another 15 or so miles to Sula. We rode almost 70 miles today.

We will be climbing Lost Trail and Chief Joseph passes tomorrow and will probably stay in Jackson. We'll also be going through the town of Wisdom, which we heard hasn't solved its mosquito problem.