i never thought i would make it this far, but earlier this week i finished the entire state of montana (over 800 miles in total). i rode through the Red Rocks Wildlife Refuge and saw some Trumpeter swans which was pretty neato. i crossed into idaho in the afternoon, rode the next day down an old railroad bed that was incredibly bumpy and tiresome, and by the next afternoon i was done with idaho as well. i rode along the southern border of yellowstone park and narrowly missed getting dumped on by a big thunderstorm. then i rode south through the Teton national park - very pretty scenery but very narrow roads and lots of people in motorhomes whizzing by only inches from my handlebars. a couple of days ago i had to ride over Togwotee Pass and Union Pass in the same day (both over 9200 feet) so that was a long hard day. today i am in pinedale, wyoming and about half done with wyoming. when i leave tomorrow, i have a 4 day stretch that has no stores and very little water, so i am not particularly looking forward to that. from there, it is about three more days until i get to steamboat springs, which is the unofficial halfway point of my trip. tomorrow i will go over the 1000 mile mark since starting out, so i guess i am making progress. no more close encounters with the native wildlife, and hopefully today is my last day in grizzly bear country.

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