June 8, 2007: Drive From Williston to Great Falls, MT
Decision has been made. I've decided to go up to Great Falls, MT and work my way back to Williston.
Yesterday, after my workout I went down to the Highway 85 bridge to check out the river flow. To me it is doable, but definitely it will be a challenge. All evening I pondered what I should do. If I continue upstream it's for sure going take longer and I know each day I will be beating myself up to fight to get mileage. Just the way I am.
I know the canoe purist and probably my Pacific Crest Trail friends will be thinking I'm getting soft. Maybe so, but I was thinking about a couple emails I got which basically said, "Hey Coach do what is going to be most enjoyable." Well, the toughest part of these kind of adventures is staying in the right frame of mind and since I hit the water my mind has been tetering.
So I'm off to Great Falls. My ride cannot leave from here until around noon so I've decided to get in a half day's work by pedaling my canoe and gear as far as I can.
I said good by to Bob, the morning maintance engineer at the Airport International Inn and headed down the road. It felt good to be back and the canoe trailer was working very well.
All the way to the border of MT it seemed I was basically heading uphill. That was bad enough but I was also bucking a good wind (which later I found out was 17 miles an hour). Also kept noticing a noise coming from my wheels. I pulled over and took one off to see what was wrong. Looked okay although I wondered if I put a little chain oil on the bearing if that would help. Sure enough that is all they needed. I was rolling a lot smoother. (Probably should have done that back in Washington, D.C.!)
Well I made it to Culbertson, MT before my ride picked me. 40 miles,,,not bad for a good half day's work. (Actually 7 hours since I started at 6:30 and was picked up at 1:30)
It was a long boring ride, especially as I continued to think about my decision. Around 8:00 we arrived in Fort Benton, MT. Fort Benton is right on the Missouri just east of Great Falls. What a beautiful area. One of the neatest places I've ever been. This section of the river, Great Falls to Lake Fort Peck is the most scenic and well traveled part of the Missouri and I can see why.
My first thought was this section I should be doing with my friends Charlie Wright and Jim Waletzko. Basically it's float for much the way and right now it would be a very quick float for the river is as high as anyone can ever remember because of the heavy rains in the mountains.
In fact people are waiting in the local canoe campgrounds for the water to go down so they can start their trip. The river is fast, but it looks safe enough to me. Not sure why they're waiting.
But I do have another concern. With the current whipping as fast as it is I know I'm going to be piling up big miles and a trip that should take a week or more to enjoy will be done in a whole lot less time. This is too nice of a section to do that. So more decisions. Do I just rush through this or do I keep moving and save this for when I start my return trip home? Next would be the bike ride over the mountains. If I did that I'd follow the Lewis Clark Bike route and camp along the way, which should be fun. I believe it's 300+ mile trip to where I need to go.
I told Dan (my ride) that I would stay here for the night in the canoe campground and work on my next move. I figured I'd visit the visitors center in the morning and chat with the canoe camper.
This is beautiful. If you have never been here I suggest you put it on your list of places to visit. Especially if you're into scenic river canoe trips. You could go by yourself or hook up with an outfitter.
Maybe if my PCT friend , Keith Drury is following my journey he could add a comment about what he thinks about this section of the river. Keith paddled the Missouri a few years back.
Time for a walk before sunset. More questions to ponder.
Yesterday, after my workout I went down to the Highway 85 bridge to check out the river flow. To me it is doable, but definitely it will be a challenge. All evening I pondered what I should do. If I continue upstream it's for sure going take longer and I know each day I will be beating myself up to fight to get mileage. Just the way I am.
I know the canoe purist and probably my Pacific Crest Trail friends will be thinking I'm getting soft. Maybe so, but I was thinking about a couple emails I got which basically said, "Hey Coach do what is going to be most enjoyable." Well, the toughest part of these kind of adventures is staying in the right frame of mind and since I hit the water my mind has been tetering.
So I'm off to Great Falls. My ride cannot leave from here until around noon so I've decided to get in a half day's work by pedaling my canoe and gear as far as I can.
I said good by to Bob, the morning maintance engineer at the Airport International Inn and headed down the road. It felt good to be back and the canoe trailer was working very well.
All the way to the border of MT it seemed I was basically heading uphill. That was bad enough but I was also bucking a good wind (which later I found out was 17 miles an hour). Also kept noticing a noise coming from my wheels. I pulled over and took one off to see what was wrong. Looked okay although I wondered if I put a little chain oil on the bearing if that would help. Sure enough that is all they needed. I was rolling a lot smoother. (Probably should have done that back in Washington, D.C.!)
Well I made it to Culbertson, MT before my ride picked me. 40 miles,,,not bad for a good half day's work. (Actually 7 hours since I started at 6:30 and was picked up at 1:30)
It was a long boring ride, especially as I continued to think about my decision. Around 8:00 we arrived in Fort Benton, MT. Fort Benton is right on the Missouri just east of Great Falls. What a beautiful area. One of the neatest places I've ever been. This section of the river, Great Falls to Lake Fort Peck is the most scenic and well traveled part of the Missouri and I can see why.
My first thought was this section I should be doing with my friends Charlie Wright and Jim Waletzko. Basically it's float for much the way and right now it would be a very quick float for the river is as high as anyone can ever remember because of the heavy rains in the mountains.
In fact people are waiting in the local canoe campgrounds for the water to go down so they can start their trip. The river is fast, but it looks safe enough to me. Not sure why they're waiting.
But I do have another concern. With the current whipping as fast as it is I know I'm going to be piling up big miles and a trip that should take a week or more to enjoy will be done in a whole lot less time. This is too nice of a section to do that. So more decisions. Do I just rush through this or do I keep moving and save this for when I start my return trip home? Next would be the bike ride over the mountains. If I did that I'd follow the Lewis Clark Bike route and camp along the way, which should be fun. I believe it's 300+ mile trip to where I need to go.
I told Dan (my ride) that I would stay here for the night in the canoe campground and work on my next move. I figured I'd visit the visitors center in the morning and chat with the canoe camper.
This is beautiful. If you have never been here I suggest you put it on your list of places to visit. Especially if you're into scenic river canoe trips. You could go by yourself or hook up with an outfitter.
Maybe if my PCT friend , Keith Drury is following my journey he could add a comment about what he thinks about this section of the river. Keith paddled the Missouri a few years back.
Time for a walk before sunset. More questions to ponder.
posted by Coach at 6:36 AM
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