The 2024 PNW Ride - Day 10

September 20, 2024

I did a short hike after I got up to loosen things up but really laid around and read, taking my time as I was in no hurry to get along today.

I hit the road about 9:45am and continued east on Hwy 200 for a few miles before turning off on Hwy 279, the Flesher Pass Road.  What a treat: Twisties for Breakfast.  The road climbed to pass.

Lots of fun.

From there it was just racking up the miles.  I passed through Canyon Creek, went by Silver City, and eventually dropping into East Helena from the north, avoiding the main city itself.  Now I was back on Hwy 12 which took me to Townsend where I stopped for gas.

After a break, I continued on Hwy 12, riding east and across the mountains on a very curvy and fun ride.  When I got down to the other side it was really windy which always takes some of the fun out of riding.  I got off Hwy 12 and turned south on Hwy 89, a diversion which is shorter and would hook back up to Hwy 12 in time.

I turned on Hwy 294 and rode that east to Martinsdale and the intersection back on Hwy 12.  I stopped there for a break and a snack.  I was 2 hours from home.

Now it was just a matter of rolling off the miles.  However, I’d forgotten that Hwy 12 was under construction.  I arrived just as the pilot car was leading a group through 6-8 miles of hard pack dirt, gravel, and loose gravel.  Yuck.

In Harlowton I did a short detour to look at the campground I would have stayed at last night and saw that all the RV sites were taken.  Based on the big circle of chairs in the center, I assume they were together and arriving for a weekend get-together of some kind.

Now it was a quick ride to Lavina and Broadview before arriving in Billings at 3:30pm.

It was a 273 miles day.