We love it when a plan comes together. After our brief stop to contemplate crossing the Continental Divide, we rolled downhill almost all the way to Whitehall where we stopped at a park and prepared lunch. In a break with tradition, it was turkey, salami, Romano cheese and mustard on rolls; quite delicious.
After that it was pretty much plain sailing all the way into the state park. The last 7 miles were through a canyon of the Jefferson River, where Lewis and Clark had set up a camp. The Milwaukee Road, on the opposite side of the river, was in use by a herd of loud cows (it would make a really nice bike trail). An active rail line remains on the side with the road. We watch a bald eagle flying above the river and a red tail hawk soaring in the updrafts along the canyon walls. Spicing things up further, two sandhill cranes flew by landed and started making lots of noise.
On arrival at Lewis and Clark State Park, we found excellent hiker biker facilities.
The canyons are well worth the visit (I know this from a previous trip) but we elected not to ride 3 mi up the hill to see them. Instead, we will attend the ranger program at 8:00 p.m. (hopefully after someone makes me dinner, all this writing is hard work).
One final note, Bob and I remain very impressed with Steve’s commitment to personal hygiene.
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