I had a 32-mile ride to Lewistown, MT (pop. 5,901) from my remote cabin near Grass Range. The promised improvement in the headwinds I would face wasn’t quite as favorable as predicted yesterday–winds were around 11 mph, gusting to about double that–but the change from the previous day was still pretty dramatic, and I was glad not to have such a heavy wind in contending with my first climb over a mountain pass since last year. If you’ve read my earlier blog posts, you know that I faced formidable passes in the eastern states, in the White Mountains and Green Mountains of New Hampshire and Vermont, and the Adirondack Mountains in New York. Today’s mountain pass, through the Judith Mountain divide, was not nearly so long or steep as any of those, but it was a respectable workout, and it offered some stellar views which I’ll share in a moment.

But first, allow me to bid farewell to my remote cabin this morning. I opened the back door around 6 a.m. to check out the pond and noticed a large turtle swimming in it.

I’m often asked about wildlife I’m seeing on this trip and so am trying to share more of that experience whenever I can. The songbirds are a constant presence along many of the country roads I’ve been on. I’m often surprised by how loud their singing is, and I wish I were able to identify more of them. I’ve been asked a couple times whether I’ve seen any rattlesnakes, and until yesterday, my response has always been that I’ve only seen dead ones that have been run over by a car. Shortly after leaving Winnett yesterday, however, as I was fighting the heavy wind, a large snake slithered onto the road right in front of me. Fortunately, there was no traffic, and I was able to avoid a collision in the nick of time.

I also want to share a sign that I’ve seen dozens of times over the past few days affixed to fences around homes and on businesses. It reads “Save the Cowboy, Stop American Prairie Reserve.” I Googled this and learned it is a reference to a grassroots campaign opposing a plan by a group called the American Prairie Reserve to set aside up to 3.5 million acres of land and limit agricultural uses on the property, as well as use by the general public for hunting and other recreational purposes.

The pass I crossed today was through the Judith Mountains, which were the site of a gold rush in the 1880s. The highest point, Judith Peak, rises to 6,428 feet.

Here are the mountains, and the front tire of my bike, ready to take them on.

You know you’re going to have a serious climb ahead when you see a sign advertising a “chain up” area.

It only took me about 45 minutes to get to the high point of the pass, at which point I enjoyed some really beautiful views of the Snowy Mountains (aptly named, as you can see) to the south.

When I arrived in Lewistown, I learned that it is considered to be the geographical center of the state. Montana is a big state, and it is gratifying to know that I’ve now made it to the mid-point. There is a reference on this historical marker to the Croatian craftsmen who constructed many of the buildings in town from sandstone, including the Carnegie Library downtown, constructed in 1905.

Andrew Carnegie donated money to construct 1,600 libraries nationwide, and 17 of them were in Montana. He provided a grant of $10,000 to build the library in Lewistown, shown in the photo below. It was Carnegie’s preference that towns house their libraries in modest buildings, but Lewistown sought to make its library a more imposing edifice.

My first stop in Lewistown was the High Plains Bike Shop, where Dylan sold me some more inner tubes for my bike, got my tires back up to 90 lbs. psi, diagnosed how to use the odometer I bought in Dickinson, N.D., and made a few other adjustments. He was very helpful. Dylan also works as an 8th grade science teacher, and I bet he is a really good one. Here he is in his shop, located in his garage.

Here is a view looking east onto Main Street in Lewistown, which strikes me as a very pleasant place to live. I am staying at the Yogo Inn on Main Street.

Shortly after checking in, while wheeling my bike to my room, I met two members of a group of women who are biking from west to east, also using the Adventure Cycling Northern Tier route that I am on. Since they are going west to east (a/k/a, the “right way”), they have had our recent heavy winds at their back. Once again, I am reminded that I am crossing the country the “wrong way” (i.e., against the prevailing winds across the U.S.). Here I am in a selfie with one of these riders, Kathy, from Texas.

Tomorrow I am due to ride 46 miles from Lewistown to Stanford, MT (pop. 401). I checked the weather report a few minutes ago and see that winds are expected to be fairly light–great! And… what’s this? The winds are supposed to be coming from the east! I may actually have the wind at my back! We’ll find out tomorrow whether this prediction comes true.