I'm originally from Montana and have relatives scattered throughout the state. My grandma turned 90 this summer so we planned a birthday party / family reunion in Simms Montana - try to find it on a map, I dare you.
My wife's cousin was getting married the following weekend in Chico Hot Springs (also in Montana). So we scheduled a nice 9 day vacation up north (I now live in Denver, CO).
Since I didn't have another family obligation until Friday evening, I had a couple of days to ride a portion of the Great Divide Route or so I thought....
It turns out that one of the many fires in Montana (38 million dollars has been spent fighting fires there this summer) was very near part of the trail I was going to start at in Ovando, Montana. Air quality was poor to say the least so I ended up trimming down my original plan to a one day ride from Helena to Butte.
I had my wife drop me off in Helena and I rode the section into Butte.. (read the whole story)