After two days rest my engines (legs) were ready to go. Luckily it was an easy short ride to Bannack. It was very cold starting out and I had my cold gear on including leggings. That’s unusual for me since I run hot. Wearing my warm gear didn’t last long when the sun broke through the clouds and the clouds finally drifted away southward. I went through three ward robe changes from coldest to cold to warm.
The ride to Bannack was mostly on the pavement except for the last 4 miles. We passed a cemetery a mile from camp and stopped to look at the head stones. The oldest headstone was from 1850. Many of the headstones included children and it seemed many others died at an age of less than 40. Life in the 19th century in Montana was a difficult life. We read in Polaris that pioneers were a weeks ride away from a doctor or from help in general. They often had to make do and that also meant tending to a dying person alone.
Bannack is a ghost town or may be better described as an abandoned town. Its now a State Park and has a very nice campground. Bannack like many other towns in Montana centered around mining. When the mining dried up and the railroad by passed Bannack there was no reason for the town to exist. The residents of the town moved to Dillon or beyond. The buildings in town have been preserved and rehabilitated and the Main Street is almost fully intact. Visitors may enter most buildings.
One interesting tidbit about Bannack was it was a law and order town. The vigilantes as they were known were town folks and lawmen who actively went after the road agents or bad guys who robbed stage coaches and gold miners. The vigilantes would track down road agents and hung at the gallows in Bannack by means of a speedy trial. It is known that in their haste, the vigilantes hung innocent people. A make shift gallows, a hangman, was recreated in the original spot. I saw it at a distance from the hill.
Mountains R Calling 
I’ve ridden those paved roads around and through Bannack several times. You’re in Sue’s parents backyard now (Dillon). It’s great you’re still riding with your new friends! I worry about you all still being so far north and September is here already. I wouldn’t be surprised if you don’t run into snow in Colorado. The adventure continues!
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Yes, love the big Sky in MT. Guess it is expected that the weather is getting cold now that it is Sept. The ranchers told us of
the difficult winter last yr. I never saw hay bales stacked like in your pic!
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