Day 10 (Sunday, 10-30-2011): Route 12 to Florence, MT

The start of day 10 had me going over Lolo Pass over the Bitterroot Range. The steep part wasn't too bad and didn't require getting out of the saddle if you choose not to.  It was still a few miles long at a good 5% or more and took well over half an hour to get over the top. The elevation topped out at 5233' (the highest point I'd been so far) and there was snow along the sides of the road near the top – the first snow of the season that I have witnessed up close and personal.

The descent was pretty gradual and when I reached the end of Route 12 at Lolo, MT about thirty miles later I stopped in a McDonalds to determine if I wanted to head south instead of north along Bitterroot Valley to get around the Saphire Mountain range to the east.  The wi-fi didn't really work so I figured the further south I went, the warmer the climate (or at least I hoped) and hopefully it would be a bit more direct. This southern route (along with my two days on Route 12), followed roughly along the path that Lewis and Clark took and there were many roadside history pulloffs with signs discussing their journey and local points of interest during their lengthy journey.

My plan was now to head into southern Wyoming and Nebraska (roughly the same parallel as Philadelphia) instead of following the Montana/Wyoming border and entering North Dakota.  Instead of going through Missoula and Butte I would eventually head back into Idaho before crossing over into Wyoming. I continued on for another fifteen miles or so until I came across the town of Florence where I discovered some wi-fi at a local bank.

After spending a few hours online mapping out routes and checking email and uploading photos, the day was getting late so I ended up spending the night behind the bank under an awning that miraculously happened to have the only exterior electrical outlet around the entire building perimiter. They also had a working water spigot! I noticed that the drive through teller window opened at 7AM on Monday so my plan was to leave before that as I didn't want to be around when whoever manned it showed up. Unfortunately, I hadn't quite gotten everything quite packed up when the lady showed up and her office with windows was right where I stayed! She either didn't acknowledge me or see me and I left a few minutes later without any troubles.