07.12.2023 - three forks

that was the worse  night of sleep i've had and it was in the nicest place i've stayed.  can't explain it, it was filled with anxiety.  don't know why.

because it's another day in paradise.  slow start.  didn't leave till 8:30, but then smoothly down the road, over the interstate and into the hills.  then the days climb, 1,000 feet +/-.  3-4 miles with horseshoe turns up to pipeline pass, 6,455'.  and a looong downhill.  a person i met at lunch told me it was up 3 on the west side, down 6 on the east.  at the bottom, it burst open into a huge valley.  typical montana range land.

in whitehall, railroad on one side of main street, several blocks of old - uh, historic buildings on the other, i found a nice little coffee shop/deli.  got there at 11:01, actually a few minutes earlier but it took a minute or two before going up to the counter.  when i did, i asked if they were still surving breakfast and the manager/owner looked at the clock and said, "no, we stopped a minute ago."   really, one minute?  "Yep."  okay, whatever, but you might want to try being a little more flexible.  but it was a good deli sandwhich just the same.

then one of the customers, a 67 year old retiree, started to talk to me about trips.  he was a motorcyclist, three wheeler, and he'd just got back from riding the dragon.  he thought those motorcyclists there were crazy.

earlier, a couple miles back, i had passed two hikers on the road.  we exchanged hellos as i passed, but nothing more.   but just as i was getting ready to leave the cafe, they walked in.  two dutch, man and woman, hikers. 20 somethings?  they are doing the continental divide from glacier national down to mexico.  20-30 miles a day, they're a little ahead of schedule, but hope to finish around november.  that's a long time and an even longer time together.  all kinds of adventurers out here.

so off again downstream along the jefferson river, one of the 'three forks' that form the headwaters of the missouri.  lewis and clark chose this river to follow, this being the northern fork, when they reached the headwaters of the missouri.  it cuts through a canyon about 10 miles from the confluence.

three forks.  i'm not sure why they call it that.  there are three rivers, but only two forks.  i love trying to imagine what early explorers and settlers thought.  lewis and clark came up the missouri, partly to find this spot.  they hauled the boats up the river, only going a few miles day.  then the river curled to the south and finally split into two.  the jefferson and madison rivers, fairly equal in size.  a mile downstream, the gardiner comes in.  but it's when the river splits between the presidents, that it becomes the missouri.  so when do they decide the two rivers are separate and what is the requirement that would allow one to keep the primary name?  obviously size.  but who decides they're close enough to the same size to each have it's own name? 

missouri river headwaters state park
aargh, i hate mosquitos!  as i've said before, proof that God does not exist.  why create such a creature? but i think i'm safely in the tent now.  there's a slew of 'em outside, waiting for me to get up and pee later tonight.

but i'm fortunate to even have a camp spot, so there's that.  there were only 2 spots left when i showed up.  none by the time i finished filling out the paperwork.

this is the remains of a one-room inn from the mid-1800's.  one room.  the guests apparently often complained that it was to noisy.  the town never succeeded, two versions of it. they both blew away in the dust.

tomorrow will be a light day riding into bozeman, only 30 miles.  i plan on a brewery stop and a good meal.  preparation for heading into yellowstone.