Friday June 26, 2020, 16 miles (26 km) - Total so far: 1,602 miles (2,578 km)
I realize yesterday I forgot to describe going over the Judith Range (later I'll fill in elevation etc). As I ascended it was almost cold at the top, a piney smell, and the air had that rarified feel, almost crisp, clean and clear, and the wind rushed through, the only sound. At the top I felt as if I'd cracked the divide.
So the Kiwanis campground was not open. The bathrooms were bolted. But, of course I stayed. Hung out there and at the grocery store across the street, charging my phone, making phone calls. My host agreed to come get me at Eddie's Corner, a crossroads with--tada--a truck stop. It was limited because of Covid but you could buy an egg breakfast and get a shower. I did neither while waiting for Ross. He drove me to Ft. Benton while along the way describing the geography that formed the area as well as Square Butte a landmark I'd noticed on the horizon cycling to Eddie's Corner this a.m.
That's Butte not butt, the thing I've got to lay off of these next couple of days.
The house Laurie and Ross live in is over 130 years old, has some exposed interior log walls, was their bed and breakfast, then Air bnb until the virus. I'm their only guest. A huge oak frame bed, my own bathroom which is luxury after using it like a squirrel the last couple of days. I'm doing laundry next. The grandchildren already performed a dance entitled the Rites of Spring--before going outside with squirt guns.
I might be here until Sunday. Send good wishes that my backside heals quickly; I want to get to Oregon.
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| following pics are of Ft. Benton, an early steamboat town |
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| until the railroad came in |
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Ft. Benton stands at the headwaters of the Missouri
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| down river are a series of falls that discouraged river traffic |
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| loved these silver clouds that cast a weird light upon the white bluffs |
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