9/10/2010
Continued on I-12 East into Idaho. Followed a beautiful and scenic river down in a valley through the Clearwater National Forest which turned into the Lolo National Forest once I hit the Montana boarder. Spent a lot of time on this highway b/c of the slightly wet road conditions and all the twisties. So early in the day I saw my final destination of Yellowstone slowly diminishing.
Have I mentioned yet how cold it was? I have on both sets of long underwear I brought (been wearing since Yachats), broken out my rain gear (helps cut the wind), put in my fleece glove linings, wearing my balaclava to keep my head and neck warm "supposedly" and have had my heated grips on full blast. But even w/ all these measures, nothing seems to stop those bone chilling Northern arctic winds from getting into places you don't want to know about. Okay, maybe not arctic winds, but definitely freekin' cold ones. I was even contemplating duct taping my clothes together to try and block some of the wind. It's that miserable at times I tell you. I crank up the iPod and try and drowned my worries away w/ great tunes though. That seems to take my mind off the cold somewhat.
Had to hop back on the expressway, I-90, to try and make up some time. No luck though, Montana is a very large state, and things just seem to take longer even traveling at greater speeds.
With only about an hour of sunlight left (lost an hour today), I irrationally decided to exit onto I-287 South towards Yellowstone instead of playing it safe and heading to a larger town w/ ample restaurants and hotel accommodations. Not quite sure why I chose this direction; 120 miles from Yellowstone, nothing but mountains lie ahead, I'm cold, hungry and it's almost dark. "Adventure is out there!" I told myself w/ a grin. I know what's waiting for me in that other town, but I don't know what lies ahead of me on this road. Just one of those choices I guess, I felt like taking a chance.
Nothing "Amazing" happened when I took that exit. Came close to hitting a deer actually and almost turned around. But I kept on and saw some antelope grazing in a field, I saw some beautiful landscape of hills and mountains in the distance, I saw some heartwarming colors in the clouds and sky from the sunset and then just as I rolled into the small valley town of Ennis, a breathtaking sight of the Big Sky mountain range came into view to the East. Just that, that little moment, that one special moment made the irrational decision of this road very, very rewarding.
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