Day 18 - June 23, Missoula to Hamilton, 45 miles

Today’s route followed the Bitterroot Trail bike path directly from our Missoula “day off” hotel all the way to our destination in Hamilton.   The Bitterroot Trail is 51 miles long, following US Hwy 93 and the Bitterroot River south out of Missoula.  Unfortunately we ran out of time to stop by the Adventure Cycling offices in Missoula - maybe another time. Everyone is heading out following COVID isolation & getting reservations is very difficult.  Our off day involved planning and booking at least a week out.  Stealth camping is not an option.

It was a pleasure to be on a bike trail all day thru another beautiful river valley!   Today we saw three pairs of cyclists fully loaded and heading south just like us.  Missoula is the crossroads for a number of major bike touring routes, so maybe we will have some fellow travelers for a couple of days. 

The Bitterroot River from the bike path as we leave Missoula

A shot of the bike trail

To our right and west of us as we ride are the Bitterroot mountains which we crossed via Lolo Pass a couple of days back.  Reminds us of riding in the Arkansas River valley 

In the distance on our left and east are the Sapphire mountains

Many of our friends and family are entrepreneurs in their own right and very interested in business ideas.  We see these wood bundles for sale everywhere we stop