Crossing the Bittertroots

Today's Mileage:  345
Loop Mileage:  5434
Quest Total:  10929
State Total:  26
Current Location:  Salmon, Idaho

I started off east across Idaho today on Hwy 12.  The great thing about this hwy, is that you ride right next to rivers all across the state.  Starting off, you are right next to the Clearwater River.  Judging by the number of fishing boats on the water, this must be a great fishing river.  I asked a guy along the shore what they were fishing for and he replied King Salmon.  As you climb up into the mountains, the river loses it's gentle nature and becomes a white water river.  I pretty much knew my ride today would be wet, by looking at the clouds hanging over, the mountain tops, and I wasn't wrong.it was pretty much a constant drizzle, and you could see that it had snowed earlier at the summit altitude.  Today was definitely the coldest day so far.  I was wearing every piece of cold weather gear I had brought.  Because of the gear, the riding was tolerable, but I'm pretty sure that it I had anything less, I would have had to stop much earlier because of the cold.  Once over the mountains, hwy 12 leads into Missoula Montana.  Just short of Misoula, I turned south and headed back into Idaho.  I did this because I want to cross into Wyoming at the Tetons.  Unfortunately, this meant crossing back over another range of the Bitterroots.  It was the same story as before, with drizzle and increasing cold, only this time it had not only snowed earlier, it started snowing again as I was ascending.  Luckily it was not sticking to the road, but if i had tried to cross much later, I think I probably would have had to turn around.  I'm hoping for a better day tomorrow, not only for riding, but also because I'm hoping for a clear view of the Tetons.  So today wasn't a great day, but there were still parts of it that made it well worth the ride.  Hope every one has a good Memorial Day.