August 26th CONNECTING THE DOTS

It’s been driving me nuts since I got home from Astoria, Oregon.

What has? The 300 miles I still needed to do in Montana from Fort Benton to the Fort Peck Lake Dam.

If you remember, because of high water in the Fort Benton area and then high winds on Fort Peck Lake I decided to skip this section with the idea of possibly doing it with friends this fall or next spring. Well, I could not get anyone to bite on the idea and I knew sitting around until next spring just was not in the cards.

I even took a side trip on the St. Croix River which starts only a few miles from our house and connects into the Mississippi river just south of Minneapolis/St. Paul. I paddled as far Stillwater, Minnesota which is only a few miles from our son Dean’s home in Somerset, WI. It was a great trip and as pretty a paddle as I’ve done. However, it did little to ease my mind about not finishing my Atlantic to Pacific adventure.

So, last Sunday, August 26th I drove back to Fort Peck Lake, got a shuttle ride to Fort Benton and connected the last dots of my paddle and bike portage trip across the USA! I am now officially done!

The following is a summary of the five and half day adventure.

Yes, I know one of the reasons to skip this section last June and come back later to finish it was because I wanted to enjoy the 150 miles of the Upper Missouri National Wild and Scenic River from Fort Benton to the Kipp Recreation area. I had plans of only doing 30 or so miles a day, stopping early and fishing along the way. Ended up doing it in 2 and a half days and my nice compact fishing gear, specially bought for this trip, still has not been used. I figured there’s no sense changing my tactics now so I just took off paddling from sun-up to sundown and beyond because of the beautiful full moon.

This area of Montana is called the Upper Missouri River Breaks National Monument and covers 375,000 acres of public land. The Missouri River which flows through it is called the Missouri National Wild and Scenic River in this area. It’s a very popular paddle in the summer. I was told there could be over 1,000 canoeists every year. On my trip I met only two paddlers and that was at my first day’s campsite. Other than that I saw only one other group stopped at the Judith Landing Recreation Area which is at the half way point.

My first day I got a little late start, but still ended up doing 55.7 miles to Eagle Creek Recreation Area. Nice campsite with two very clean enclosed bathrooms and a number of fire rings spread out for over 300 yards along the north side of the river. It was easy to tell this is a very popular site where many canoeists could camp.

Today there was just one other canoe and I did not see it until I took a walk. Ron Berndt and Lance Sateren from Bismarck, ND had set up camp at the far east end of the Eagle Creek Recreation Area. Nice guys. Ron is an engineer for the B&N railroad (I believe that is correct) and Lance is a pharmacist. They plan to paddle to the halfway point, Judith Landing, over a three day period, which means they are doing it the right way: taking their time and smelling the roses along their way.

I really had an enjoyable evening. Both Ron and Lance have done a lot of the same things I have. Ron has biked across the USA and both have been up in the Boundary Water Canoe Wilderness which is one of my favorite areas.

The next morning I pushed off at around 6:30. Ron and Lance were down by the shore so I paddled over. We said our goodbyes with the hope that maybe someday we’d meet again. I didn’t realize it at the time, but as it turned out Lance and Ron would be the only people I’d meet on this trip.

The next four and a half days were spent paddling from sun-up to well into the evening. I was on a mission to get this done and get across Fort Peck Lake while the weather was good.
This 150 miles of the Missouri Wild Scenic River is very nice, especially the first half from Fort Benton to Judith Landing. Lots of great camping in this area for both group and solo campers. From Judith Landing to Kipp Recreation area the camping sites left a lot to be desired although the scenery all along this stretch of the Missouri is beautiful. Hopefully my pictures do it some justice. I will say, if you are into this type of adventure it’s worth doing.

Well, in short I made it to Fort Peck Marina in a total of five and half days, getting almost across Fort Peck Lake without any trouble. Fort Peck Lake has been the demise of many a paddler over the years for the winds can come up at a moment’s notice and blow for days, leaving one stranded for days.

Fortunately for me I hit it right. When I got to the big part of the lake there was no absolutely no wind. The lake was like glass and I was able to get all the way to The Pines Recreational Area under perfect conditions. Although, on my radio every hour the weather guy would say, “The temperature is stuck at 98 degrees!” Anyway, I only had 14 to 15 miles to go on my last day and I was finished.

Problem was on my last day the winds came up and I needed to paddle across the widest part of the lake and the forecast called for wind advisories all day on Fort Peck Lake. So I had a choice to try and make it or hook up my canoe to my bike and pedal 30 miles around the lake on a very difficult gravel road. Although I did not like it, I decided to pedal. If it had not been for the incident on Lake Sakakawea I probably would have tried to paddle, but that incident was enough to convince me maybe I’m not as invincible as I once was. (Is there a country western song that goes something like that?)

So, I hooked up my canoe and started off and wouldn’t you know it, the wind stopped. I almost decided to put back into the water, which would have been a mistake, for it wasn’t long and the wind was howling again. As I pedaled thoughts came back of when I started this trip on the Potomac River. There I spent much of the time pedaling alongside the Potomac on the C & O Canal pathway. I thought, as much as I would have liked paddling to the marina, it seems fitting to end the way I started.

I arrived at the Marina just after noon. When I started last Sunday, Tara Waterson at the marina said I could park my car for a dollar a day. At the time she mentioned it probably would take two or more weeks. I told her I planned to be back in no more than seven days. She said, “Oh, you don’t plan on stopping to smell the roses!” Seems like I’ve heard that more than once before.

I told Tara that I was a little disappointed that I had to bike portage in rather than paddle. She said it was the right decision. She told me that normally there would be over 100 boats on the water and that she knew of only three and they are up against the earth dam protected from the wind. Plus, in all the years she’s been working at the marina she had never seen anyone pedal a canoe in. She took a picture of me and my rig and said it will be a topic of conversation for years to come.

With that I packed up my gear, put the canoe on top of the car and headed home. Just as I got into my car I noticed this note in a plastic bag under my windshield wiper blades. I got out, opened it up and it said, “Congratulations, Coach. Ryan would have been proud!” Signed Ron and Lance. Neat, for they had to drive some 100 miles out of their way to do that, plus do some research about Ryan. Thanks, Ron and Lance. It meant a lot. See you down the road someday.
As I’ve said many times, the people I’ve met really made this trip. Ron and Lance are quality as are so many others I’ve met since I’ve started these adventures. It’s hard to explain how much good I’ve received from so many. I just hope I have given a little back along the way.