The Montana Bike Odyssey covers some of the most epic, awe-inspiring, and underrated terrain in Western and Central Montana. One of those regions is the southwest portion of the loop, including the Madison River Valley, Gravelly Range, along the Ruby River corridor, and through Sweetwater Basin to Dillon, MT.
Like many adventures, this bikepacking expedition started with enthusiastic inspiration and an idea -- circumnavigate the great Eastern Idaho Sagebrush Steppe and Lava Flows, connecting mountain ranges to sand dunes -- dubbed Dirt to Dunes.
Dirt roads. Lots of laughs. Towering glacial mountains. Alpenglow treelines. Golden leaf-paved gravel. Sunkissed orange and red foliage. Clear blue rivers. Starlit night skies. Frosty mornings. Good company. And of course, bikes. Steel bikes. Ready for anything, like a hundred miles of gravel backroads near Glacier National Park.
What do you do when you realize you bit off way more than you can chew? Imagine you're in the depths of the wilderness, high up on a mountain peak, about to drop into a canyon. Once you do, there's no turning back. You must go forward.
I'm not a quitter. It never occurred to me to quit. It's not an option. I'm grateful to have perseverance on my side because, without that, I would have been defeated.
Everything in the desert wants to harm you. It’s a true statement. The animals, the plants, the… wildfires? Yeah… That’s one you wouldn’t expect to deal with in April, even in the Sonoran Desert. April 19, Day 1 Ken, the…
"Of all the mountains I've seen, the Tetons are the ones that look like they want to rip your head off, but then cuddle with you afterward because they feel bad."
-- Eric (Epic Tour) Morton
