Montana – Page 4 – Outdoor Adventures

June 18, Day 87, Mile 1668

I am halfway to the Pacific Ocean, having passed 1,661 miles today. It is a big landmark on this journey. I’ve now paddled up the Missouri River farther than I’ve backpacked.

I got a bit of a late start yesterday, (meaning I left about 7:15 AM) and I needed the extra rest. Doing 20 miles upstream is just about the max given the recovery time I need to do it again the next day.

It was a sunny morning and the rooster pheasants were growing continuously, about once every three seconds by my count.

There was enough wind to be a significant issue today. With all the bends in the river, sometimes the wind was a big hindrance and sometimes it was actually a help. Overall it made the paddling much tougher however.

There were many fuzzy baby wood ducks paddling along the riverbank with their mothers. The most amusing encounter is when a large group of them went scrambling up a steep sandy riverbank, when I passed them they went running back down to jump in the water and most of them lost their footing and went rolling down the bluff into the water, alternating gray and yellow fluff as they tumbled.

At about 6 PM I was tuckered out and looked for a camp spot but couldn’t find anything serviceable until 7 PM. As I begin unloading the boat I noticed a storm approaching. I picked a spot partially protected by tall grass and sparse willows.

About 10 PM the rumble of thunder started and as it began to get dark there was a steady flicker of lightning. Rain began pattering and the wind began to blow. It started to rain and blow harder and harder. When it became violent I knew that something was going to give. I sat up and held the tent pole to ease the strain on the stakes. A piece of hail bounced off the fly, followed by another and another with increasing frequency, marble sized hail. The hail grew in size until it seems as if it would start pounding through my tent fly. I had thought about what I would do if I got in really big hail and I put that plan into action by getting underneath my sleeping pad. When I peaked out and looked in the flashes of lightning I didn’t see any holes in my shelter. I wondered how the fuzzy wood duck chicks had fared. Hopefully they were under some cover.

Hail Stone

The wind started to let up and the hail stopped. The rain slowed down to a breeze. I went outside in my underwear to assess damages. The tent was fine with one loose stake. My kayak was also OK. It was one of the most violent storms I have been in in a tent, luckily it only lasted a few minutes and I was none the worse for wear. In this mild weather the worst that would’ve happened is I would’ve been miserably wet. Colter

Lewis: May 1st 1805. Set out this morning at an early, the wind being favourable we used our sales which carried us on at a good pace untill about 12 OCk. when the wind became so high that the small canoes were unable to proceed one of them which seperated from us just befor the wind became so violent, is now lying on the opposite side of the river, being unable to rejoin us in consequence of the waves, which during those gusts run several feet high. we came too on the Lard. shore in a handsome bottom well stocked with cottonwood timber; here the wind compelled us to spend the ballance of the day. we sent out some hunters who killed a buffaloe, an Elk, a goat and two beaver. game is now abundant. the country appears much more pleasant and fertile…

Trip overview and route map with position updates:

https://bucktrack.com/Lewis_and_Clark_Trail.html

June 15, Day 84

Mosquitoes were plentiful as I begin to pack up. These are mosquitoes that take pride in their job. There’s no messing around, wishy-washiness about them, they go right for the blood. I wore my raincoat which is completely bite proof.

There has been more irrigation pipes coming out of the river in Montana so far. I noticed the same thing on the lower Yellowstone when I paddled it four years ago.

I passed a hen wood duck with some fuzzy little ones trailing behind. I get a kick out of how when they get to a beach the little guys start sprinting up the beaches as fast they can go. It’s humorous for me, but I suppose they think they’re running for their lives.

I was noticing also how when I passed a hen mallard and some little ones she would get lower and lower on the water and put her head flat down, so her beak is right along the surface. When I overtook some geese and fuzzy goslings, the goslings would often suddenly dive, and stay under for remarkably long time.

The river was often lined with beautiful high banded badlands-style bluffs sometimes, with visible cold seams.

I saw a canoe coming down the river and I thought I was going to see my first fellow long distance paddler, but it turned out to be two canoes and a keelboat(?) style craft headed down for the rendezvous at Fort Union. The big boat had paddlers and a sail.

Another mark of westward progress is that I’m now in the Mountain Time zone. Of course I’m still operating by the solar day on the river. I paddled a little later than I might have looking for a nice campsite. I finally found one on the same bend as the Lewis and Clark campsite of April 28, 1805.

Usually I find a more protected spot but this was a beauty, right along the river and no unusually strong winds were predicted. The sun came out late, bathing the Bluffs in the river with that beautiful low evening light. Colter

First Montana Camp

Clark: 28th of April Sunday 1805… wind favourable from the S. E. and moderate, I walked on Shore to view the Countrey, from the top of the high hills, I beheld a broken & open Countrey on both Sides, near the river Some verry handsom low plains… great numbers of Elk antelopes & 2 Gangues of Buffalow, the hills & Bluffs Shew the Straturs of Coal…

Trip overview and route map with position updates:

https://bucktrack.com/Lewis_and_Clark_Trail.html