June 6, 2007: Rest Day in Williston
Well, not quite a rest day. I did get up early and bike 35 miles. I needed to redo the miles that I did not do when Lance picked me up yesterday.
It rained last night, but we did not get the severe weather that was forecast. Instead it is supposed to hit this area tonight and probably rain through Thursday morning. Anyway right now I feel good. My bike ride was a good workout with a bike climb out of Williston and the scenery was spectacular.
As I rode, my mind wandered from the low I experienced coming in to New Town to how great yesterday was, and that I need to make some decisions on how to tackle what lies ahead of me to Great Falls, MT.
This river has changed. It is not like what the guide books I'm following described when they did their trips. Since 2004 the river has dropped so far that the most of the resort bays have dried up, leaving no resort. David Miller who wrote the Complete Paddler Guide Book I'm following described Tobacco Bay Resort as one of the best places he visited. In fact he stayed two days. Now there's nothing.
Cecil, at Waterford Drilling, who's done alot of guiding on the river, says he's taken many canoers around this area.
Now it seems that the winter melt off (they got lots of snow this year in the Rockies) has caused some flooding ahead of me and raised the current to the point that it will be very difficult to paddle.
So I will ponder what to do. Most likely I will attempt to continue, but if it gets too tough and I have to start bike portaging, I will look for a way to get upriver and work backwards. I prefer the river to biking.
Well, my trailer is fixed. Tim and Jeremiah made me a whole new bracket for my wheels out of steel. What a job they did. (Need to see pictures when I get them posted) From a mess yesterday, I now know have a trailer I have complete confidence in and of course they would not take a nickel for their work. Thanks Tim, Lance, Cecil, Jeremiah and everyone else at Waterford.
I also got a new pedal at the local bike shop. The left pedal bearings were going on the one I had so I thought I better get that taken care of while I had the chance. Also, this is the same bike shop I stopped at in 2004 when I had some gear problems and I thought I'd say hi. Turns out the guy that worked on my bike no longers works there, but I did get a new pedal.
Well, it's time for dinner, Then maybe another good bike ride (it doesn't get dark here until amost 10:00). I'd like to get 75 miles in today. Need to get rid of this 20 extra pounds I seem to gain over the winter. Just can't stay away from the darn chocolate chip cookies LuAnn's mother, Glenys, makes!
Oh, also need to thank Jordan, Emily and Michelle for the Kool-Aid. I stopped at their stand as I was riding my bike to the Williston Library to update my journal.
It rained last night, but we did not get the severe weather that was forecast. Instead it is supposed to hit this area tonight and probably rain through Thursday morning. Anyway right now I feel good. My bike ride was a good workout with a bike climb out of Williston and the scenery was spectacular.
As I rode, my mind wandered from the low I experienced coming in to New Town to how great yesterday was, and that I need to make some decisions on how to tackle what lies ahead of me to Great Falls, MT.
This river has changed. It is not like what the guide books I'm following described when they did their trips. Since 2004 the river has dropped so far that the most of the resort bays have dried up, leaving no resort. David Miller who wrote the Complete Paddler Guide Book I'm following described Tobacco Bay Resort as one of the best places he visited. In fact he stayed two days. Now there's nothing.
Cecil, at Waterford Drilling, who's done alot of guiding on the river, says he's taken many canoers around this area.
Now it seems that the winter melt off (they got lots of snow this year in the Rockies) has caused some flooding ahead of me and raised the current to the point that it will be very difficult to paddle.
So I will ponder what to do. Most likely I will attempt to continue, but if it gets too tough and I have to start bike portaging, I will look for a way to get upriver and work backwards. I prefer the river to biking.
Well, my trailer is fixed. Tim and Jeremiah made me a whole new bracket for my wheels out of steel. What a job they did. (Need to see pictures when I get them posted) From a mess yesterday, I now know have a trailer I have complete confidence in and of course they would not take a nickel for their work. Thanks Tim, Lance, Cecil, Jeremiah and everyone else at Waterford.
I also got a new pedal at the local bike shop. The left pedal bearings were going on the one I had so I thought I better get that taken care of while I had the chance. Also, this is the same bike shop I stopped at in 2004 when I had some gear problems and I thought I'd say hi. Turns out the guy that worked on my bike no longers works there, but I did get a new pedal.
Well, it's time for dinner, Then maybe another good bike ride (it doesn't get dark here until amost 10:00). I'd like to get 75 miles in today. Need to get rid of this 20 extra pounds I seem to gain over the winter. Just can't stay away from the darn chocolate chip cookies LuAnn's mother, Glenys, makes!
Oh, also need to thank Jordan, Emily and Michelle for the Kool-Aid. I stopped at their stand as I was riding my bike to the Williston Library to update my journal.
posted by Coach at 2:10 PM
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