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| Jen riding toward Sheep Mountain (top) and on Sheep Mountain (bottom). The top shot was taken from the ridge on the upper-right in the second picture. |
Since the Missoula XC mountain bike race, both Jen and I have been away from serious riding. I literally set my bike aside for the remainder of June and all of July, focusing my recreation on peakbagging and backpacking, while Jen coached multiple mountain biking camps and evening rides with kids. This is not typical, since for the past couple of years, training for the Butte 50 has consumed (for at least one of us) the month of July. The downside is that while many Missoula riders are currently at top fitness, we are not, and we've hardly ridden together so far this year. The upside is that we're not burned out and are both hungry to ride together. My goal for August is to do a few of the epic rides that Montana has to offer with Jen. One of those is Sheep Mountain here in Missoula. In my opinion Sheep Mountain is the best ride in Missoula and one of the best rides in the state. Why is this? For one, though you start from town, you really get into the wilderness, making it feel like an adventure. We took the standard route: climb to Blue Point (took us 2.5 hours), continue on to Sheep Mountain (another hour) and then, after relaxing on the summit for a little while, continue on, descending down the East Fork of Rattlesnake Creek. On the descent there is a spot or two where you could take a wrong turn, but it's basically a pretty straightforward route. As for physical challenge, it abounds: the downhill is challenging and physical, there's 5500 feet of climbing, and the ride is 30 miles and took us 6 hours at a leisurely pace. Taken all together, it makes for one of the best and most challenging rides around. Oh, and we saw two bears, each in a different place, for some of the best wildlife viewing of the year.
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| Summit of Sheep Mountain. |
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| Old Friends. |
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| Sheep Summit shot. |
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