CHARLES
Over 550 miles so far, day 19.
We are staying at the Fort Peck Marina currently. A big storm is coming in tonight so we might stay here another night to wait it out before getting back on the river. I spent 4 hours mowing the marina’s lawn yesterday to pay for the camp fee and knock off a few dollars from the tab we started up at the restaurant.
A few random stories….
Remember how in the last note I told you about the flyfisherman who came and sat 2 stools away and told the bartender about seeing us on the river? We’ll he said he hould be on Fort Peck lake the following weekend and if he saw us he would give us a beer (after the fact that I had complained to a group of flyfishermen that they seem to be holding back at passing out beer to paddlers haha). Well I’ll be damned if Tom and I hadn’t just got back on the lake after making some lunch and this boat starts flying towards us….we raised our paddles to make sure they saw us and sure enough, the same fly fisherman pulls next to us with ice cold beers….i can’t even imagine the odds of him finding us in the middle of the Fort Peck (4th largest resevoir in the world, over 34 miles wide at some points, it has more coastline than California, needless to say, it’s huge).
One morning we wanted to get up early and paddle. Tom yelled over to my tent at 330am and we both establlished we did not want to get out of our comfy sleeping bags and breakdown camp in the cold and dark and paddle. We flipped a coin to make the decision and it was in our favotr to sleep. Unfortunately guilt overrided the coins decision and we packed up and were on he water before sunrise. Less than 30 mintues later we were paddling on a sheet of glass while watching the sun come up over the hilline and listening to the coyotes howl around us to welcome it. “Could you imagine, we almost sacrificed this moment,” I told Tom while we gazed in silent admiration.
Some days are tough, we paddled 43 miles on Peck one day and it took us over 15 hours. We’ve set up a tent several times in mid afternoon, sunny weather just to wait out the wind. We read, threw the frisbee around the best we could, ate and slept.
I go on a lot of hikes during the day or before bed. Most of the time I am following the tracks of the antelope we have seen during the day. I climbed a hill that was covered in sheets of quartz, each step contatining a crunching noise and a spectacle of glistening light around my boot.
I told Tom it is hard to get mad on a trip like this. Everytime I get angry, I look at is as a way to practice patience and build tolerance. It is just to beautiful of a feeling to be here, in the moment, for months at a time. No responsibility except for my kayak and I. All of your worries are simplified into the most basic of things – food, shelter, weather, etc. No drama, gossip, deadlines, yada yada….just here, in the moment.
Of course you miss things, but standing on the highest hill you have the energy to climb and looking out over the river as the suns rays peirce through the clouds making a luminescent desgign across the water only Mother Nature could create while you sychronize your breathe to the rythem of the crashing waves below and inhale all the beauty you can, only to release it and continue being lost in thought, completely and utterly…there. It is such a writable moment, such an unwritable feeling.
Right now, though less than 20% of the trip is done, I already don’t want to go back to SW Florida. I have found my home, or prefer the “lack of” really. Every morning you wake up and unzip the tent to a completely new adventure, every night you zip closed the tent and think “how did that all just happen in one day.”
TOM
We are spending a day or two in Ft. Peck living the good life in a nightly rented in a camper trailer. We sped through the Ft. Peck Reservoir in only 3 days. Very happy to have had good weather. Definitely been a good time. We have just recently broke the 550 mile marker. Only 2 more huge lakes left though there are a couple smaller ones as well. My last message was rather jumbled due to the fact I was typing frantically as the librarian was trying to kick us out. Charles was asking her questions of every nature in order to give me more time but my typing suffered. Generally all is well. It was good to stop here and resupply. I am taking the time to let the body rest and knit back up together so it will be stronger in the coming days. Our host at the campground has very kindly driven us into Glasgow (where I am typing this) since Ft. Peck does not have a library. We met a local paddler by the name of Zane who has done the Missouri multiple times as well as the Mississippi. Last night we were privileged to get a night tour of the damn by a local. As he remarked they built it in the 30′s. Well someone is waiting on the computer so I need to get off.
Tom Bailey
Nice post
Really nice post,thank you