To make matters worse, an early winter storm passed through, dropping a lot of snow and chasing any available game to the lower elevations. With the men in the expedition suffering from malnutrition, fatique and deflated spirits, Lewis and Clark had to rely on the kindness of the Nez Perce Indians to provide them with salmon and other food to sustain their energy and bring back there enthusiasm. Unfortunately, 50 years later, the same Nez Perce Indians, still thinking the Americans remembered their kindness, were driven from their land in the bloody Nez Perce War and forced to sign treaty after treaty ultimately leaving them with only a small plot of land in northern Idaho.

After crossing the summit of the Bitterroot Mountains, Lewis and Clark then proceeded to follow the Lochsa River along much of the same route in which I had just biked. While the road I followed was paved and well marked, the wilderness is still much the same as it was in 1803. When I reached the summit of Lolo Pass, I stood and looked west, then imagined myself as a member of the Corps of Discovery and seeing nothing but mountains between me and the Pacific Ocean. Then I looked east and thought about the 4,100 miles I still had to go.

Thirty miles east of Lolo Pass is the town of Lolo, Montana. I had just crossed into my third state and decided to call it a day and treat myself to a hotel. There is one hotel in Lolo, so my choices were limited. When I walked into the lobby, there were two bikers standing there that asked "are you Dave from California?" It was Miriam's two kids, her daughter Natalie who just graduated from Princeton and her 15-year old brother, Carl. Coincidentally, they were staying at the same hotel and in the room across the hall from me.