Today was a lot of climbing and I used all my gears. After about a 25 mi gentle climb, the grade went straight up… for miles…. and it was getting hotter. No nice cool river to cool off in, just me, my two water bottles, and a pocketful of candy bars. The reward was crossing over the Continental Divide and into Montana, woohoo! At Lolo Pass, I met only my second and third bicycle tourists, Jake and Adam. Very nice folks. It would have been nice to spend a few days with them but after I passed them in a tuck on the subsequent steep 12 mile downhill, I never saw them again.

My drive system had been making noise so I decided to check its chain stretch: 7.5% yikes!!!!! The chain was only a little over a week and a half old and it was completely worn out. That explained the noise though. Fortunately, in Missoula, the Bicycle Hanger Bike shop took care of me and sold me a new chain. Yay!!! This was only the first bicycle shop I’d seen in about 300 miles and they were great.

The next problem was finding a place to stay. Hotels were pretty much booked up in Missoula and the rooms that were available were $250+. Ouch! The local campgrounds were all booked up. I called the police and they said that there was no camping in the city parks. Warmshowers was coming up zilch. Damn, I was exhausted! I wanted Missoula but Missoula didn’t want me. Nothing to it. I found a campground 14 miles out of town with open spaces, filled myself with pizza and sugary drinks, and was on my way. Grand total today: 89 miles.