Day 39 - Circle, MT to Jordan, MT

I got on the road about 6:00 AM this morning to try to beat the heat as much as possible. About 10 miles into my ride I was treated to the side of antelope grazing on my right side and a mule deer on my left. When he spotted me the mule deer ran in a bouncing fashion with all four hooves off the ground for about a mile.

This was far more enjoyable than my last encounter with nature a couple of days ago when a hawk apparently decided that I was encroaching on his space.. He dive bombed me about six times, each time coming within two or 3 feet of my head. I was very happy to have my bicycle helmet on as protection against birds of prey!

Today’s ride was about 70 miles of constant ascentsand decents into and out of dried up river beds. That got old after about 50 miles. These were not rollers of the type you have in places like Missouri. They were deep Vs that descended about 200 feet into dry creek beds. (It turns out that most of the rivers that run through this part of Montana are dried up, at least this time of year.) The elevation profile on my bicycling map looks like a saw!

A prominent Feature of this beautiful area are the buttes, which come in a variety of shapes, sizes and colors.

I am now traveling a long way from the interstate on a Very lightly traveled 2 Lane Highway that for some odd reason is not designated as a scenic byway. There is absolutely nothing in the 67 miles between the tiny villages of Circle and Jordan.

All this made for a bicycling paradise save for the fact that the temperature today topped out at 100°. As I approached the village of Jordan, with a population of 340, a cowboy jumped out of his pick up truck in front of me and held up a bottle of cold water in each hand.  This was a welcome sight for two reasons. First, all of the many bottles of water and Gatorade that I was carrying were almost boiling by that point of the ride. Second, the cowboy was wearing a belt with an unconcealed pistol in s holster!

When I arrived in Jordan I went over to the Local bar to have a steak. The bartender told me that the town was busy because a lot of bone diggers (archaeologist )were there. All I saw were real cowboys wearing hats and light cotton checkered shirts. They, of course, all drove pick up trucks.

Day 38 - Glendive, MT to Circle, MT

Broke  camp and got on the road early this morning and brought Gatorade. It made all the difference. I rode well and arrived at my overnight designation in time to spend much of the afternoon at the local public swimming pool.  Will need to get up early again tomorrow as temperatures are forecast to be at or above 100°!

I suspect this warning has something to do with road construction, but I am sure that every touring cyclist That passes by has a far different interpretation of it!

I am passing through dinosaur country right now. A lot of dinosaur fossils and skeletons have been discovered by archaeologists in this region. There was an excellent dinosaur museum in Glendive but it did not open until 10:00 this morning. I would love to have seen the museum but that would’ve required me to stay another night. Another time. I did, however, manage to capture these shots of  modern day specimens.

Day 37-Wibaux, MT to Glendive, MT

It is easy to see why Montana has the moniker “big sky country.”

Thinking today was going to be an easy day, I did some reading this morning and didn’t end up leaving until close to 11 o’clock. I also neglected to bring any Gatorade. Big mistakes.

With steady headwinds and temperatures in the mid 90s I bonked at about 30 miles. “Bonking” is a technical term for hitting the wall. I knew I was bonking because I was lying down on my back looking at the big sky and thinking that I’d rather be playing tennis or golf or weeding the garden or doing almost anything else besides bicycling in those conditions. I ate a couple of tins of sardines and limped into the town of Glendive where I stopped at the first gas station and gulped down two bottles of Gatorade.

Rehydrated and feeling better, I was riding through the town of Glendive when a sweet young lady pulled over in front of me, got out of her car and approached me. I must have looked pretty beleaguered! She explained that she was a member of the warm showers network, an international network of people who open up their yards or homes to touring bicyclists. It was the first human contact I had had all day And it came at a good time. As I write this journal entry I am in my tent in her backyard having enjoyed a warm shower in her house And the company of two delightful people over the course of the evening.

It is supposed to get gradually hotter all week culminating in highs of over 100° on Friday and Saturday. This is perhaps the most desolate stretch of the entire Lewisand Clark trail, so this weather could not be hitting at a worse time as far as I’m concerned! 

My warm showers Host took me to the local grocery store so that I could stock up on electrolytes, energy bars, and sardines.I’m Less worried about the heat and the climbs in the days ahead than the constant headwinds, but the combination of all three together is not going to be fun.

My wife urged me to ride this route from west to east, but I stubbornly refused. A couple of times over the past few days I turned around and rode a short distance just so I could get a sense of what it would be like to have a tailwind. As usual, my wife was right. A couple of days ago a trucker told me that he often gets six miles per gallon more in his rig driving east than He does driving west. 

I’m feeling very disconnected at the moment From Lewis, Clark and the crew of the discovery expedition. The Trail is tracking well south of the Missouri River and I don’t expect to see the river for about a week. That said, this part of the country, minus the River, is similar to what Lewis and Clark saw as they went through it. There are no longer huge herds of Buffalo roaming the plains And providing an important source of food for L&C, but nor are there many people in these parts. 

Day 36 - Medora, ND to Wibaux, Montana

I liked the town of Medora so much that I stayed a spell to enjoy the attractions. Outside of the Medora musical, the biggest attraction is probably the Château de Mores.

Medora was founded in 1883 by a 20-something year old French aristocrat, The Marquis de Mores, and his wife Medora,Who was from a very wealthy East Coast family. Bankrolled almost entirely by his wealthy father-in-law, the marquis day Mores  essentially built a fully functioning town in 1883, The centerpiece of which was his slaughterhouse and meat processing business that was intended to take advantage of the new railroad to transport processed meat to Eastern markets. Unfortunately, a drought ensued and the competition from Chicago meatpackers became intense. By 1886 he was out of business.

It was a very eventful three years. He became friends with Teddy Roosevelt, who also arrived in the Badlands in 1883 to hunt buffalo and later started two cattle ranches And fell in love with the country in a way that shaped his views as the greatest environmentalist ever to occupy the White House.

The marquis was a bit of a rabble-rouser. He and his entourage managed to get themselves into a gun fight with some of the locals who were offended by the Marquis placement of fences around his enormous property. One of the locals was killed and the marquis was ultimately tried and acquitted of murder. After leaving Madora he continued to live a colorful life that ended when he was shot by someone in his own entourage in north Africa in or about 1896. There’s a great story around that that was told to me by Quinn, an outstanding docent of the Château de mores. It is full of mystery and intrigue, but I have no time to go into that now.

Medora remained a sleepy little town with an amphitheater Until an enterprising man by the name of Harold Schafer (He of Mr. Bubbles fame) Came along and bought the local hotel and did a $7 million upgrade to the theater. He is credited with turning Medora into the wonderful little tourist community that it is today.

Meet Cindy. I met Cindy today and I like her a lot. I met her at an old gas station in a community of fewer than 100 people on the high plains of western North Dakota

For the past 17 years Cindy has been doing God’s work in a nonprofit organization that runs a home for wayward teens that includes an education program.

Like almost everyone else I have met in North Dakota, Cindy is a supporter of our president. She is particularly supportive of his efforts in the areas of deregulation and immigration reform. She discounts a lot of character issues and Russia issues based largely on the fact that she is distrustful of media coverage and is particularly offended by the activities of protesters. Her views are consistent with almost everyone I have met here and initially I just attributed  that to the fact that South Dakota is a red state.

But North Dakota senator Heidi Heitkamp, a moderate Democrat, is also very popular here. As I leave the state, I come away with the impression that the good people of North Dakota are willing to listen and elect officials who will work through the complicated issues that face our nation today.

Toward the end of the day, I crossed the into the continent of Montana. Some of my riding out here will be on interstate 94, Where the speed limit is 80 mph!

I have made many new North Dakota friends over the past week and I’m looking forward to meeting many Montanans as my journey continues.

Day 35 (Dickinson, ND to Medora, ND)

Today I entered the Badlands, which are actually very, very good!

 

Late this afternoon I pulled over for a rest at a scenic turn out in the Theodore Roosevelt national Park. There I found two amazing cowgirls I had run into the day before on a group trail ride they did from Dickinson to Taylor, North Dakota. Today they were out riding trails in the Badlands, which for these experienced equestrians meant making trails where none previously existed. We had a wonderful time getting to know each other better and I look forward to seeing them again next time I pass through this way!

With the possible exception of pheasant hunting (and UND hockey :-)),  the badlands are the biggest tourist attraction in the state of North Dakota. On the edge of the Badlands flies a charming little tourist town named Medora. The biggest of many attractions in Madora is the Medora musical, which is a summer start production that runs every night from approximately Memorial Day through just after Labor Day. The production itself is a variety show that could be described as a fun slice of americana performed by talented young entertainers From all over the United States. 

Upon arrival I quickly set up my tent and met made my way over to the amazing natural theater carved into the Badlands in which the show is performed.

Day 34-Glen Ullin, ND to Dickinson, ND (50/1,534 miles)

I have had to depart from the Missouri River to avoid extreme truck traffic and other congestion around the Bakken Oil Field in northwestern ND.  For that reason I will not be encountering anything related to the Lewis and Clark expedition for a few days.

The route I am now following is known as the old red trail highway 10). It is the old 2 Lane Highway that was The main thorough fare across western North Dakota until the interstate highways came about in the 1950s under the Eisenhower administration. 

The Old Red Trail tracks closely the route that George Custer led the seventh cavalry In May and June 1876 on their ill-fated mission from Fort Abraham Lincoln in Mandan to Little Big Horn to quell skirmishes with the Sioux. It was a journey beset with problems from the start, including having to hunker down for three days in a severe snowstorm at the end of May(!!!) And losing at least one Of their wagons in the process of fording a creek. Little did they know things were about to get much worse!

Today the old red trail is part of the official route mapped out by Adventure Cycling for both the Lewis and Clark Trail and for the Northern Tier route across the United States. I stopped at a small grocery store for supplies and to Drop off a dog that had been running alongside me at 10 mph for 4 miles. I am surprised by how accustomed the people here are to seeing cross country touring cyclists.

Oh, and the dog. A woman in the store took his photo and did a Facebook Posting. She apparently knew just about everyone in the town of a few hundred, because by the time I finished eating the dog’s owner had been notified and was on her way to to pick him up.

The old red trail is a bicycling dream full of countless vistas of amber waves of grain and endless  fields of sunflowers. And there are almost no cars!

Day 33-Bismarck,ND to Glen Ullin,ND (61/1,484 miles)

Western North Dakota welcomed me back to my Lewis and Clark journey today with 97° of heat this afternoon! Fortunately, it was a dry heat and I was able to enjoy the tranquil beauty of this region. 

At 7:30 this evening the temperature was still 96°, so I decided to spend the night in a beautiful little b&b that has air-conditioning! The inn is owned and operated by a charming couple who graduated from Glen Ullin high school in 1947 and 1955, at which time they said it was 3 to 4 times as big as it is today. They told me that the 2018 graduating class had only nine students! Things have become so bad that Glen Ullin high school had to merge football programs with long time arch rival Hebron high school! I am told that the reasons for the hard times here in Glen Ullin can be traced to a number of things including the decline of small family farms.

I am riding a new touring bike, a Sasa Marrakesh, Which I have affectionately named Black Beauty. Unlike my long time touring bike, a Surly Long Haul Trucker named Big Blue, Black Beauty has disc brakes. Big Blue’s  rim brakes would have been in adequate for the mountains I will encounter this leg of my tour.