Day 12 - Climbing of the Lost Trail and Chief Joseph passes

The day began chilly in the 30s, as we are about a mile high in Montana, but it warmed up to the low 70s. This weather was perfect for our first 10 miles, which involved a steep but manageable 2,500 ft climb over the Lost Trail and Chief Joseph passes. We put in a lot of effort getting up and over the passes and then enjoyed some downhills and flat terrain - albeit with steady headwinds - from the mountain to about the 32-mile mark in Wisdom, Montana. We treated ourselves to some well-deserved pizza for lunch and then cycled another 18 miles south to Jackson, Montana, where we are staying tonight. The prairies and distant snowcapped mountains made the ride exceptionally beautiful! The day by the numbers was one of our shorter rides at 54 miles, but with an impressive ascent of 3,500 feet. With today's climbing we are now one-third of the way through all the climbing on our coast-to-coast trip!