Dave rides his bike to school

 

Above: Thirsty?  This is my water bottle the morning that I left Sand Springs.

 

Above: It’s 50 miles in either direction to ANYTHING.

 

Above: The dirt road to my “lakeside” campsite.

 

Above: On the shores of Ft. Peck Lake, only 40 miles from water…

 

Above: The moon over the Charles Russel National Wildlife Refuge

Saturday, 7/8 8am
Location: Charles Russel National Wildlife Refuge, MT
Coordinates:
47.5684 N
106.2334 W

Today’s mileage: about 90
Tomorrow’s destination: Ft. Peck

The day started off with a first for me: I got onto the road at 8am, and I didn’t get passed by a car until almost 9am (8:56am, to be exact).  After that, I saw a car every 5 minutes or so, but I don’t think I’d ever gone an HOUR on a state highway without seeing another vehicle.

I also learned a valuable lesson today: there’s a lot (of unusual things) going on in the middle of nowhere.  Case in point: I was standing outside a gas station/mini-mart in Jordan, and a group of oddly dressed people walked by me.  They had pulled up in a fullsize school bus filled with household items, like a mattress, clothes and assorted stuff.  The men were all wearing dark slacks, button-down collared shirts with vertical stripes , suspenders, and work boots.  The women were all wearing old-fashioned dresses, like you might imagine seeing in The Little House on the Prarie, and sun hats.  To top it off, they were speaking to each other in another language, and then speaking to other people, like me, in English (albeit with an accent I couldn’t place). 

As curious as I was about who these people were, they were just as curious about who I was.  One of the gentlemen began asking me questions about my trip, and before long, I began asking him questions too.  As it turns out, he and his companions are part of a group of people called Hutterites.  I didn’t press him on the details, but they live in colonies out in the middle of nowhere, keep to themselves, and practice their beliefs.  I don’t know what those beliefs are, but now I’m super curious.  He mentioned to me that the June 2006 edition of National Geographic has a profile on them (in fact, he said they were personally interviewed).  So, if any of you out there reading this get National Geographic, I’d love to know what the article says.

Oh, and the language they were speaking was German.  Normally I’d be able to identify German pretty easily, but I guess I had something more unusual in mind.

From Jordan to Ft. Peck (100 miles along Highways 200 and 24), there are exactly zero stores, gas stations, or post offices.  Luckily for me, there IS one rest stop with running water.  However, that rest stop is still 67 miles to Ft. Peck.  So, it took quite some planning and effort to survive the span. 

In planning my stopping point for the day, I was excited to find a National Wildlife Refuge along the route.  The map showed a campground on the shores of Ft. Peck Lake, which is a huge reservoir created by Ft. Peck Dam.  Even more enticing, the map points out that the campground is 5 miles along dirt roads away from the main road.  I envisioned camping along the shores of the lake, with elk, big horn sheep and exotic birds swarming all around. 

When I turned onto the dirt path, things appeared to be unfolding just as I had expected.  I found myself in the middle of nature, with no signs of humans in any direction.  As my odometer neared 5 miles along the dirt road, I became anxious to see the massive lake, at least along the horizon.  I neared a campsite, but still no water.  To my amazement, I approached a boat ramp, which led down about 50 yards to…  a tiny creek.  Where’s my freakin’ lake?! 

I looked around at the campsite, and it was masterfully appointed, with picnic tables, covered areas, fire rings, and several outhouses.  Indeed, it looked like the perfect lakeside campground.  Unfortunately, there’s no lake near the lakeside campground.

A bit disappointed, and I must admit, a bit freaked out, I shrugged and began setting up my tent.  Several minutes later, an SUV came rolling down the dirt road towards me.  It was the County Sheriff!  I wasn’t sure if I had done something wrong, so I kinda didn’t move, thinking that maybe he wouldn’t see me and simply drive by.  Well, he drove right up to me and began asking me questions.  After a few minutes, it became apparent that he wasn’t interested in carting me away in shackles.  Instead, he told me two interesting facts: 1) there hasn’t been water at this campground for years 2) I was the second person he’s seen stay here this year.  As surprised as I was to be only the SECOND person this entire year to sleep there, under the circumstances, I could see why.  As it were, the campground is now just randomly located next to nothing. Well, I didn’t see any elk or big horn sheep, but I also didn’t see any humans, so it was still pretty neat. 

Musings:
The towns out here are even to small to support fast-food chains.  I don’t remember how many days it’s been since I saw a national fast-food chain.  I know I haven’t seen any since Lewiston, and I don’t think there were any there either.  That would mean that I haven’t seen one since Great Falls, which is 360 miles away.  Oh, and can you believe it?  No Walmarts either!  This truly is the hinterland.  Uh, I mean, Big Sky Country.

Tags: Travel

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