Lincoln to Marysville 7/10 43.6 miles

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We left Lincoln bright and early, 6:30 am, to get a jump on the distance and the heat.  Previously our climbs were about five and half to six miles.  Today we had two climbs of 15 miles!  We were talking about the "una??bomber", and after missing a turn, I smelled pipe tobacco and heard a loud CRACK, as a tree snapped up the hill from us.  We made a quick decision to get the hell out of there and not go back to the missed turn, rather ride a little further on an alternate road.  Super creepy!  We made our way to our first Continental Divide crossing at Stemple Pass at 6349 ft!  We wound our way around the pass to a beautiful tree and bear grass lined slope.  Here we saw the remnants of old miner's shacks.  We descended a to a beautiful valley.

 We had to wait out a thunderstorm before beginning our next long 10 mile climb.  As we ascended we found a carved wooden bear adorned with a t-shirt with Daren's alma mater, Montana State.  There, we pumped water.  And shortly after we saw the source of the water went through a large cow pasture.  I immediately felt my stomach cramp(psych job!).  We passed a very old mining structure, and then began a wicked steep climb cresting above Marysville. 

 We had to walk quite a bit, for the loose rock and steepness of the climb were too taxing.  At this point I think the temp was approaching 95.  We passed a working mine, the Little Shannon Mine, before we dropped down to the ghost town of Marysville.  There are several newish inhabitants to this "ghost town".  There we came up on Silas and Sarah checking out the historic town.  We left there and headed to Lincoln, Mt.