 In Chapter XVI Giles rides across the Continental Divide, contemplates its significance, and reminisces about past travels as he cruises gently along MT Hwy. 83 before winding up in and out in Missoula.
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 July 21. St. Mary, MT to somewhere near Lolo, MT. It rained for the first time since Rapid City that night. I woke up to the first drops. It wasn't much of a storm, more like passing clouds, but it was strange way to wake up. The raindrops entered my dreams. I was with Kate in a living room full of people and all of the sudden my ex-student from the Rez, a tattoo artist named Ed Two Eagles, was testing his gun on my face. It was just an instant and then I opened my eyes, tasted a drop of rain on my lips and slid back under the tarp.Â
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 It was forty minutes before we made the bottom of the hill and the road opened up. I hammered on the first straightaway and passed up about ten cars skirting the yellow line. I shot into a deep forest and the trees were wet and green. The smell hit me, like moss and Chinese tea. It was a whole different ecosystem. The trees were huge and straight, like giant pipecleaners. It was like the world had been re-ordered. I had the urge to get the hell out of the park. All the campgrounds were full. I ignored the 30 mph speed limit. I ignored the 50 mph speed limit too.Â
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 I needed to piss. I hadn't seen but one little town so far on the ride so I figured I'd just pull over on one of roads that ran down toward the lakes and take a little break. The sun was up but it wasn't as warm a day. The weather had changed some. I turned off the highway and ran over a wooden bridge to a landing down by the water. It was a kind of wetland with a dirt bank and there was high grass all around. I took a piss there. The grass was full of birds, boiling with them, and they weren't bothered by me. They kept up their chatter, their coming and going and when I was done draining I sat right down on the bank in the middle of them.Â
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 It felt good to be out of Missoula. I decided maybe I should just go ahead and ride up into the mountains and camp. Maybe I really didn't want to be around other people at all. Maybe I just missed Kate and the only solution to that was to get up into the mountains and be so close to God that I didn't feel lonely. The new plan: stop at a gas station, get sandwich food and some beer, and ride up into the mountains. How's the sound? Pretty good, ennit?Â
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