Montana Fireworks!

Day 49 -
4th of July
Start - Price Creek Campground
End - Near Wise River, MT
Mileage - ? -we got lost!
The day started off rather nice with a gradual descent on the byway in the Beaver Lodge National Forest. We rolled about 30 miles by 10am to eat a second breakfast at the cafe in Wise River. We turned into little hobbits with elevenses and the what not. But my veggie omelet was the bomb! And off we went to with a plastic bottle of whiskey to celebrate 4th of July that night with a few shots. Or so we thought that was the plan.Everything was going fine and then we started to climb, and climb some more, and then a little more. The road dead ended a little mining area, but there was a mother-of-god hill directly in front of us. Our directions talked about a super steep section requiring a little hike-a-bike, so we started hiking the bikes. Well this friggin' never really ended. We fought with those damn bikes for hours. And of course it starts to rain/hail as we approach the top of god knows what mountain. By the time we relinquished the fact that we were hopelessly loss, we just wanted to get the F off the mountain and find a real road. So we found one eventually, a horse/hiking trail only- and it was steep as piss. We took that down to reach the valley and we popped out ..... right where we had come by 6 hours early. Great.There was a family there having a 4th of July celebration, and a bud light immediately found its way down my throat. Oh, the hospitality. Then the guys drove us to where we went wrong, and it was a ridiculous turn. The maps are certainly designed for southbounders, which makes the northbound riders rather SOL. But regardless, the adventure continued. We got a shower and a camper to sleep in. The family was amazing. Matt, a retired army general, had us sample some scotch and bourbon. The night proved to be interesting. Back at the main house, the boys were preparing a bomb to blow up a tractor tire. That's what I call true Montana fireworks. We tried to blow it up, but I think the rain interfered with the process. So everyone was waiting in the rain to see what happens and who lost limbs or received shrapnel entering the body. But no boom boom. So back to the house for more festivities and playing around with fireworks. Interesting to say the least. So life delivered us into a few unforeseen situations, and has tried our best to handle them with grace. The adventure will always continue, at least I hope that it does. Tomorrow we will find a better route to reach Butte and then head to Bozeman for a day off with my buddy Tommy Bass. Oh jeez, I hope it works out. Life is but a dream.