Day 47: Jackson to Darby

Total miles: 79

Sonja woke up a little early this morning to talk on the phone (in the very cold, ensconced in a sleeping bag!), then both Sonja and Alix had a small snack before biking down (literally, all downhill) to Wisdom for breakfast. We'd heard of this cafe back in Missouri, so we were pretty excited to check it out. Luckily there was only one eating establishment in town (population: 120) so it wasn't hard to find.

If you're ever in Wisdom, MT, we would highly recommend eating there! We had four courses: buttermilk pie, veggie hash browns, veggie omelette, rhubarb pie. The omelette was especially impressive, though everything was really good. (Pies were a bit too sweet, but what else is new...)

Apparently we decided that pie was the most photogenic of all our food

After our extended breakfast, we climbed up The Last Hill (well, last big hill of our trip together anyway). The climb was awesome--fairly gradual, full of diverse trees, sprinkled with some historical signs, and, satisfyingly, another continental divide! 

We went downhill for the rest of the day, though of course there was a pesky headwind.

Ground squirrel attack!

We stopped to swim right before arriving at our host's home. Given how hot and sweaty we felt pre-river and how invigorated and refreshed we felt post-river, the dip was absolutely a good decision. (Then again, swimming outside almost always is.)

We did a few bonus miles on the highway outside our host's house, looking for their road next to the wrong mile marker (oops), but made it there not too late. Plus, once there, we were treated to another river swim, this one involving some pretty sweet log-jumping as well.

We really enjoyed the swim and also the frog catching in the steam on the way there with our new two and a half-year-old friend. (She's fabulous, is a fantastic frog-catcher, and regularly refers to any cyclists with panniers as her "friends.") We had a lot of fun talking with our hosts (Pat and Haley) that evening and eating the multi-course, delicious dinner they created for us. Along with our meal, we got to sample several kinds of mead from the family's meadery! And we enjoyed visiting their garden and watching their chickens and droopy-eared rabbits run around the yard. It was amazing to see how they were creating a home out of the property they had recently moved to. It seems like a fantastic place for their little girl to grow up.