High line trail to Elkhorn Hot Springs I enjoyed my camp at the High line trail. Turns out I was the only person there, and it was small and peaceful. There was a small thunderstorm that passed over during the night, bringing that sound of rain on the tent. I slept very well. The morning was pretty chilly and I lingered in my sleeping bag, dreading the shock that comes with emerging from a warm cocoon. I finally forced myself to get up, and had my first cup of coffee looking west to my destination for the day. I was getting colder by the minute, then noticed the sun creeping down the hill toward me. I gathered my chair, coffee and very wet tent fly and walked up to meet the sun. What bliss! I spread the tent fly on a large sagebrush, and then sat in the sun, slowly warming up. I did some of my “homework” and finished my coffee. So began some impressive dawdling, even by my lofty standards. I moved at a glacial pace packing up, all the while rationalizing my dawdling and over-estimating my speed for the day. Just as I was finishing up and searching for anything else I could do to delay my departure, Richard from the UK came rolling up!?! He had gotten a ride from Basin to Butte, and gotten his bike fixed. He spent the night in Butte, got on the road early this morning and rode 30 miles while I…did whatever I was doing. My dawdling rewarded, we chatted for a while, and agreed to ride together to Richard’s destination for the day; a very small town called Wise River. I would then push ahead to my planned destination, another 35 miles up the road. The miles rolled along smoothly with good roads and company. We rolled along forested ridges and high sagebrush plains, then down a very fast descent to the freeway and open grassland. What a contrast to see a freeway an hours’ bicycle ride from solitude and peace. From the freeway, we know we had a steady climb finishing with a very steep ramp to the top of the infamous Fleecer ridge. Again, the miles rolled along quickly with company and after a very robust steep climb, we were looking down Fleecer ridge. I initially, it didn’t look too bad: “I can ride this” I think to myself. I clatter on down the slope, feeling confident and stable. Pretty quickly, the slope increased, the road got rockier, and my stable confident feeling faded quickly to the consequences of breaking myself or my bicycle. I walked a good part of it and was happy to see the bottom of the steepest part. I waited for Richard, and we laughed at the steepness of it, and were grateful we didn’t break anything human or otherwise. The rest of the descent was uneventful—easy, rolling miles down a creek draining into the Big Hole River valley. A short 2 miles of highway brought us to the small community of Wise river, and the place Richard and I were to part ways. We went to the hotel/bar/cafe (these seem ubiquitous in small towns) and ordered a coke and a burger. Richard ate his—I ate my fries and had the burger wrapped up for my dinner later. We exchanged contact information and heartfelt goodbyes and I rolled out toward the Pioneer mountains, which I have fond memories of. The road was paved, with a slight uphill pitch and the miles passed quickly. Eventually the slope increased, but I felt fine and was greeted with increasing Mountain View’s as I went. Still, I was happy to see the top of the climb, and knew the campground would be just a few fast minutes ahead. My cold cheeseburger was sounding better by the minute! Less than a mile from my planned destination, I saw a sign for “Elkhorn Hot Springs”. I had heard of it but had never been there, so I rolled in to check it out. The hot springs were still open so I wandered in to maybe buy a cold coke. I started chatting with the employee there and decided to ask if they allowed camping there? He said “yes! It’s $25 and includes entry to the Hot Springs and breakfast included. I couldnt believe my luck and signed up immediately. I went and set up my camp while enjoying a very good cold cheeseburger, then headed to the hot springs. I had a very long hot shower followed by a very long hot soak. I was clean, happy and tired. It was a good day.