April 2, 2007 FROM FROZEN LYMAN LAKE

It's been raining for four days and tomorrow there's a chance of 4 to 7 inches of snow! Just a little bored so I figured it's a good time to write a journal entry while I look out over frozen Lyman Lake wishing for spring. We've had little snow all winter and it's the first time that I can remember I've not been able to cross country ski. Strange winter as I guess it's been all over. (As a full blooded Norwegian I blame it on the Swedes!)

Sad News/Good News
First the sad news. On March 2nd my mother, Ellen Mary Nordby Hoff, passed away peacefully at the age of 94. She was a very caring, warm-hearted, loving person. One could not ask for a better mother. Always more concerned for others than herself. Even when such things are expected it leaves a deep void in one's life. She follows my father, Clarence; brother, Donald; and her grandson Ryan home.

Now for the good news. The void left by the passing of my mother has partly been filled with the news that LuAnn and I will be grandparents again in November! Our oldest son, Dean and wife Erin phoned this weekend to let us know. This will be their third child and our 7th grandchild. (Dean is already getting heat about how he's going to handle November deer hunting season.)
I will continue my journey as soon as I can after Memorial Day. Everything will depend on river conditions at that time. I'm really looking forward to getting back. As much as I enjoyed last year, I'm anticipating this part will be even better, for now I will be in more wilderness and as I approach the Rockies, the scenery will be more picturesque.

Plans as of now are to continue up the Missouri to Great Falls, Montana and somewhere southwest of Great Falls I will need to bike portage across the Rockies to the North Fork of the Clearwater River. From what I have read this is a beautiful river which works it way to the Snake River around Lewiston, Idaho. There I will continue on the Snake to the Columbia and if all goes well get to the Pacific Ocean sometime in mid July. My biggest goal for this year is to slow down and enjoy the trip. This has always been hard for me to do, so we'll see how it works. Part of the plan is to take some side hiking trips when I hit the Rockies and the Cascades.

Enough for one journal entry. Besides, I need to get outside and continue to try and see if I can get one of our two septic systems working. Because of the lack of snow the septic to the main bathroom has been frozen up since early February. (Probably more info than one needs to hear)  Fortunately we have two systems and the other two bathrooms work. Hazards of living in northern Wisconsin!
More in a week or so.

May 31, 2007 Starting Off for Bismarck

It’s 5:30 in the morning on the day I’m leaving. My cousin, Gary Hoff, is picking me up at 7:00 AM to drive me to Bismarck. Plans were to write this journal entry yesterday, but I had not packed yet so the day was spent rounding my gear up and running to town to get various items I needed. Then our daughter’s twin boys, Devin and Drake, had their very first baseball game and there was no way I was going to miss that. They both got hits and they won! Also, our friends Charlie and JoAnn Wright, Jim and Sandy Waletzko and Dean and Teri Neumann came over to wish me good luck. Very nice of them. Then I still needed to finish packing so this entry had to wait until now.

Over Memorial Day Weekend my sons Dean and Eric took our annual trip to the Boundary Waters along with nine others, including my good friend Charlie Wright and his son Scott. Others included David Edquist, Don Polkinghorne, Pat Boyle, Pete Willcoxon, Jason Waletzko and Nick Milroy. They were all friends of our son, Ryan. Charlie Wright and I have been doing this trip since Dean (soon to be 39) was 7 years old. Ryan was only 5 on his first trip.

The area we usually go to had a forest fire, so we had to camp one lake short of our normal camping spot. We did portage into the burnt area to visit the area Ryan loved so much. I was concerned his favorite little island and the tree we made a cross on in his memory had burnt, but fortunately it was okay. I spent a couple of hours on the island while the others fished. Only thing I was disappointed in was the two loons that always were at the island every year were not around. When we had our little ceremony on the island 5 years ago, these two loons showed up when we finished. They have always been there every time I have gone back, but this time they were nowhere in sight. Then when it was time to leave and we were paddling back to the portage, out of nowhere off to my right this loon showed up and followed us all the way to the portage.

All in all it was a great trip. Fishing was tough but lots of good times were had by all. Although, I did lose my glasses, headlamp and hat. Some things never seem to change!

Trip plans:  Gary will be here in an hour and the two of us along with my gear will take off for Bismarck. Gary is a year younger than I. Along with his brothers Randy and Dan and my brother Don, we spent most of our summers in our pre-school and grade school years together. Actually my brother and Gary were very close until Don was killed in a car accident at age 16 in 1963.
I hope to start paddling tomorrow and will need to make a decision as to whether I start in Bismarck and paddle up to the Garrison Dam or go in reverse, starting at the Garrison Dam and paddle to Bismarck and then bike back to the dam. The reason for this is the possible heavy current in this section because of water being released by the dam.

Then of concern will be paddling across the last two dammed up lakes of the Missouri, Lake Sakakawea and Fort Peck. I think Sakakawea is close to two hundred miles long and up to four or five miles wide in places. Fort Peck is about 80.

The guide I’m following, The Complete Paddler, written by David Miller, describes this area as almost impossible to get through. ( I’ve noticed before that David seems to err on the side of caution, which is almost 180 degrees, maybe 160 degrees from my thinking.) Lake Sakakawea is supposed to have the possibility of strong winds coming up at a moment’s notice, causing sea-like waves. He suggests staying on one side of the lake and not crossing over because of this. Then in the Fort Peck Lake Indian Reservation area he talks about having bullets flying by him from a few youths fooling around with a pistol on shore. I remember this area when I did my bike ride back in 2004. Three days before I got to Poplar, Montana, a paddler (actually in the same model of canoe I’m using) was retracing the Lewis and Clark route and was attacked in this area. They took everything he had and left him severely injured. My experience at the time was very pleasant. I had bike problems and needed to get to Williston, ND to get it fixed and an elderly couple from the area was nice enough to give me a lift into Williston, ND some 40 miles away. They even bought me lunch. Very nice people and it’s my hope the same will be true this time.

Well, my cousin will be here soon and I need to say goodbye to the best person in the world, my wife LuAnn.

June 1, 2007: Garrison Dam to just south of Washburn, ND

Yesterday it took about 8 hours for us to get to Sheyenne, ND which is just south of Devils Lake, ND. My cousin, Gary Hoff, bought a small house in Sheyenne a few years back because he and his brother love fishing Devils Lake summer and winter. Gary brought along his neighbor boy, Chaz Dayton who just graduated from high school and his dog, Rambo. Just a little crowded in his pickup, but we managed!

We were up at 6:00 AM and on the road by 7:00 with a good 3 hour drive to Garrison Dam. I decided to go from Garrison to Bismarck because of my concern for the current and it was easier for Gary to get me to Garrison.

At about 10:30 AM and after saying my goodbyes to Gary and Chaz, I was on my way. It felt good to be back. The day's paddle was fairly easy for the first day. There was a good current, but I believe I could have made it going upstream, but that's hindsight and now it's time to focus on the present.

By 2:00 PM I stopped for lunch and figured I'd gone about 15 miles. My goal was to get as close to Washburn, ND as possible, but at this point I wasn't sure, for the sky was darkening and it looked like thunderstorms were approaching. So, I figured I'd go as at least as far as I could and pull out if I saw any lightning. As it turned out it only rained and I was at Washburn around 5:30 PM soaked and wet and was not looking forward to setting up camp in the rain.

Well, as luck has it, the sky started to lighten and within a half hour the sun was out. By 7:00 PM I was dry and decided to set up camp before another storm came. Setting up camp at 7:00 PM, with over 2 hours of daylight! I must be getting old! All in all, a very good day.

Note: Just want to thank my cousin Gary for all that he did in getting me out here and seeing that I got off to a good start. I hope you caught lots of fish and I will see you at Ryan's golf tournament. A very special man.

June 2, 2007: Washburn, ND to Bismarck, ND

I had a very pleasant and relaxing evening last night without the rain. Just me and my thoughts.
I have about 40 miles to get to Bismarck. I took my time packing up, figuring if I left by 7:00 I'd easily be in Bismarck by late afternoon. It was a very nice morning, cool with a slight breeze behind my back. I took my time as I weaved my way though one sandbar after another. I had the same thing yesterday. Twice I was not paying attention and came to a sudden halt paddling up on a sandbar about an inch out of the water. The water is up right now and I bet in mid and late summer one would be zigzagging back and forth through a maze of sandbars and mud flats. Fortunately now the water is high enough I can skim over most of them.

At 12:00 I pulled into a boat landing for lunch and got real lucky. A couple of fishermen were just putting their boat in the water and after learning what I was doing offered to give me a ride back to Garrison Dam. There were going up there tomorrow to fish and said they'd pick me up in the morning in Bismarck at Keelboat Park where I was headed. Man, things are working out well so far, I was dreading the thought of biking back. Hopefully they show up.

As was the morning's paddle the afternoon's was just as pleasant, only seeing the occasional fisherman as I continued to Bismarck.

This is a very nice section of the Missouri all the way from Garrison. The river has numerous sandbars as I mentioned and is dotted with a number of islands. The shoreline offers lots of great campsites. Wildlife is mainly ducks and geese. There are a few cabins and numerous nice homes near Washburn and especially Bismarck.

I arrived at Keelboat Park at around 4:00 PM back to the spot where I left off last year. Lots of memories flashed though my head of last year's trip as I paddled into the landing. Especially the memories of all the great people I met. Can I be so lucky this year? So far so good.

Time to get something to eat, find a place to camp and pray for calm weather the next few days as begin my journey across Lake Sakakawea.

Oh, do I hope my ride shows tomorrow!

I also need to say that it might be awhile before I get to a computer again. I am thinking I will probably need to get to Williston before I will have access, so it might be a few days before I have the chance to update this journal.

June 3, 2007: Dakota Waters Boat Ramp to somewhere on Lake Sakakawea

My ride showed up! Al, Jim and I, plus my gear, were on our way to Lake Sakakawea at 6:00 AM. On the ride up I thought (anxiously) about what was in store for me going across this huge lake. I remember the lakes coming into Bismarck and how lucky I was with having light winds and waves to deal with. Would I be so lucky crossing this one and the last big one, Fort Peck? I will find out soon.

We arrived at the boat ramp around 8:00. Dakota Bay is about 10 to 15 miles further upstream from where I originally planned to enter, but this was where Jim and Al were going, plus they said they'd keep an eye on me as I paddled west.

I was on the water by 8:30, paddled the mile or so out of the bay and I was on the massive lake. The lake is about 5 miles wide. I turned to the west and started to follow the left shoreline. Again, luck was on my side. Little wind and what there was, was at my back and the seas were calm. As I proceeded I found that the shoreline on the left was about the same distance as the shoreline on the right. In other words, I was in the middle of the lake once again taking the shortest route! Well, as luck would have it, the entire day was gorgeous, seas were calm and I was making great time. With these conditions I figured I'd paddle as long as could and get as many miles as possible, not knowing what tomorrow will bring.

I made camp somewhere along the left side of the lake at 9:30. I believe I'm not that far from Independence Point which is where the lake makes a left turn (now going NW) and then swings back north to New Town, ND. With the conditions being so good I am sure it was 40+ mile day.
The hope is to make New Town tomorrow. Great Day!

June 4, 2007: South of Independence Pt. to New Town

Up and at 'em early. Everything was going well for the first hour and then all heck broke loose. The wind started to pick up, coming from the NE which is hitting me on the right side of my canoe. Waves keep getting bigger and bigger and then while I'm looking for my map, my canoe is washed into a log that strikes the left side and rolls it up at a 45 degree angle. Now I'm in the water grabbing for the canoe to keep it from flipping which somehow I was able to do. Good news is I was only in knee deep water for I was hugging the shore. Bad news is that I wrenched my knee (yes, the one with the partial replacement) and also my back.

Well, I was able to get things under control although I now have a few inches of water in the canoe. Very lucky.

As I continued, my back was giving me a lot of trouble and conditions were only getting worse. I probably should have stopped, but didn't, figuring I was not that far from Independence Point. My thinking was that once I made the turn, the wind would be more at my back and if I could get to the right shore, I should be more protected.

Let's say I did make it to New Town, but as high as I've felt the first few days of this trip I'm really down now. My back was hurting, I knew I was lucky that things were not worse when I tipped, and all the emotions from the past were coming back.

It was late when I got to New Town. I feel terrible. Not sure what I want to do. Right now I want to quit. Not sure I can handle this. Not sure why I feel like this.

June 5, 2007: New Town to Williston, ND

Williston ND! I will explain how I got that far in one day.

Last night I called home and told LuAnn what had happened and that I was not sure I could continue and would decide today if I could or not. Well, with her encouragement and a great email from my daughter Heidi, I'm going. At least to try and get to Williston and then see how it goes.

Here is how the day goes. ONE of the best I've had on this adventure. Because my back and knee were hurting and there was a threat of severe weather, after studying my maps I decided to hook everything up to my bike and portage over to Tobacco Bay Resort. This was about 40+ miles by road or maybe 30+ by river. The angle I sit while biking does not hurt my back that much. My reasoning for this is if a storm does hit I will be in a better situation than on the river. Plus I figured I could make it in half a day and then I would paddle back towards New Town, and back to the resort to make up some of the river miles. Then the next day I will paddle across to the other side where I can get on to Highway 1804 and pedal into Williston. From this point on I will be hitting big mud flats which are all but impossible to get though because the river is so low. Big thing is I need to work on my emotions and I was hoping the change might help. Instead the whole experience did!

This is what happened!

1st: I got to Tobacco Bay and the resort was a ghost town. The bay was dry! Now what, do I have to pedal all the way back? Well, I found a sandy trail that seemed to lead to the lake, which it eventually did after carrying everything on my back for a mile! Managed to get everything to the lake and felt good. At least now I can paddle, plus there's another resort (Lunds) on the other side of the lake that looks active. So I started to pull my canoe into the water and preceeded to go up to my knees in mud. Took awhile to pull loose, but I did and found a different spot that I was able to push off from. I had a good four hours now to waste before I headed over to the other resort so I paddled back towards New Town for a couple of hours and then swung back towards Lunds.

As I approached Lunds I saw 4 girls swimming in the river so I paddled over to see what info they could give me about the resort. They said I couldn't get to it. There's no water in the bay.

Now what. I know I cannot go much further and if the severe weather comes, I figured I needed to be somewhat protected, so I decided to proceed to the resort and figure a way to get up to the buildings I saw.

As I paddled I could see what appeared to be a boat landing. It was out of the water, but it looked like I could get to it and then carry everything up. For the last mile I was paddling in about 6 inches of water. My thoughts were that I was going to get within 100 yds of the landing, get stuck and be sitting there with no way to get out for fear of sinking in the mud I experienced on the other side. Did make it and was able to get everything hooked up to my bike. I started up the dirt road to Highway 1804 and then to Lunds. I was feeling good that everything was turning out well when all of a sudden there was a crash and my canoe is sitting on the road with the wheels above it!

I noticed when I got to Tobacco Bay that my wheels were a little at a slant but did not think much of it for it was like that last year. Besides, a good friend, Gene Cooper, who played football for me a few years had welded the problem before I left. Gene, "It did not work!"

Now what am I going to do? I'm in the middle of nowhere with a fold-up bike pulling a canoe that is laying on the road! Again, as luck has it, I see a red pickup sitting at the intersection of Lunds Landing looking at all this. I wave and he comes right down.

Lance works for the Weatherford Oil drilling company. Now this story is long, so you will need to look at my pictures when I'm able to post them. Anyway we get everything in the back of Lance's pickup and we head into Williston and to the Weatherford shop where he figures I can get my trailer repaired. On my way in Lance tells me every resort is closed because of the low water and that I was probably correct to get out where I did because of mud flats around Williston. That made me feel good, except for my trailer.

Once back at the shop, Lance introduces me to the guys and to Tim, who figures he can weld everything back together. After some time visiting with the crew at the shop (I know they thought I was crazy) Tim says he's finished and it should hold up now. Well I get everything back in the canoe, hook the trailer up to my bike, say goodbye and jump on my bike to head over to the motel across the street, when there's a thud and I look back and my canoe is sitting on the ground! Turns out the aluminum welding weakened everything and now the wheel portion of the trailer is completely broke in half.

To be continued tomorrow! Great day! Good hard bike ride plus 15 to 20 miles of paddling and everything ends in a mess! I feel a lot better, I'm back in my element I like best. Hopefully it continues.

Thanks LuAnn and Heidi and to everyone back in New Town for the encouragement.

June 6, 2007: Rest Day in Williston

Well, not quite a rest day. I did get up early and bike 35 miles. I needed to redo the miles that I did not do when Lance picked me up yesterday.

It rained last night, but we did not get the severe weather that was forecast. Instead it is supposed to hit this area tonight and probably rain through Thursday morning. Anyway right now I feel good. My bike ride was a good workout with a bike climb out of Williston and the scenery was spectacular.

As I rode, my mind wandered from the low I experienced coming in to New Town to how great yesterday was, and that I need to make some decisions on how to tackle what lies ahead of me to Great Falls, MT.

This river has changed. It is not like what the guide books I'm following described when they did their trips. Since 2004 the river has dropped so far that the most of the resort bays have dried up, leaving no resort. David Miller who wrote the Complete Paddler Guide Book I'm following described Tobacco Bay Resort as one of the best places he visited. In fact he stayed two days. Now there's nothing.

Cecil, at Waterford Drilling, who's done alot of guiding on the river, says he's taken many canoers around this area.

Now it seems that the winter melt off (they got lots of snow this year in the Rockies) has caused some flooding ahead of me and raised the current to the point that it will be very difficult to paddle.

So I will ponder what to do. Most likely I will attempt to continue, but if it gets too tough and I have to start bike portaging, I will look for a way to get upriver and work backwards. I prefer the river to biking.

Well, my trailer is fixed. Tim and Jeremiah made me a whole new bracket for my wheels out of steel. What a job they did. (Need to see pictures when I get them posted) From a mess yesterday, I now have a trailer I have complete confidence in and of course they would not take a nickel for their work. Thanks Tim, Lance, Cecil, Jeremiah and everyone else at Waterford.

I also got a new pedal at the local bike shop. The left pedal bearings were going on the one I had so I thought I better get that taken care of while I had the chance. Also, this is the same bike shop I stopped at in 2004 when I had some gear problems and I thought I'd say hi. Turns out the guy that worked on my bike no longers works there, but I did get a new pedal.

Well, it's time for dinner, Then maybe another good bike ride (it doesn't get dark here until amost 10:00). I'd like to get 75 miles in today. Need to get rid of this 20 extra pounds I seem to gain over the winter. Just can't stay away from the darn chocolate chip cookies LuAnn's mother, Glenys, makes!

Oh, also need to thank Jordan, Emily and Michelle for the Kool-Aid. I stopped at their stand as I was riding my bike to the Williston Library to update my journal.

June 7, 2007: STILL IN WILLISTON

Well, Williston did not get the severe thunderstorms everyone else in ND got last night. Just a little rain, but it was very windy. Nor did I get my 75 miles of biking in, probably 50, which made for a decent workout.

Today it is very windy. It must be at least 30+ miles an hour, which made for a no paddle day. I thought hard about biking portaging today, but then that too could be dangerous, which was confirmed when I rode my bike over to the library and fitness center. I think I'd have been blown all over the place if I'd ventured out. So instead I'm still here and very antsy.

So for today's workout I pedaled over to Anytime Fitness Center for a workout. I had a good one, spent an hour and 15 minutes on an elliptical machine, 45 minutes on a treadmill, plus doing my weight lifting and sit-up routine. Good 3+ hours well spent in a very nice fitness center. (see picture)

I'm also working on what I will be doing next, whether to continue west from here or move west and work back. I hope to ride down to the Highway 85 bridge later to check out the water current for myself. I think it's 10 miles over to the bridge so it will make for another decent workout day, especially with the wind. Just wish it was on the river.

The key for me right now is to make this enjoyable.

June 8, 2007: Drive From Williston to Great Falls, MT

Decision has been made. I've decided to go up to Great Falls, MT and work my way back to Williston.

Yesterday, after my workout I went down to the Highway 85 bridge to check out the river flow. To me it is doable, but definitely it will be a challenge. All evening I pondered what I should do. If I continue upstream it's for sure going take longer and I know each day I will be beating myself up to fight to get mileage. Just the way I am.

I know the canoe purist and probably my Pacific Crest Trail friends will be thinking I'm getting soft. Maybe so, but I was thinking about a couple emails I got which basically said, "Hey Coach do what is going to be most enjoyable." Well, the toughest part of these kind of adventures is staying in the right frame of mind and since I hit the water my mind has been teetering.

So I'm off to Great Falls. My ride cannot leave from here until around noon so I've decided to get in a half day's work by pedaling my canoe and gear as far as I can.

I said good by to Bob, the morning maintenance engineer at the Airport International Inn and headed down the road. It felt good to be back and the canoe trailer was working very well.

All the way to the border of MT it seemed I was basically heading uphill. That was bad enough but I was also bucking a good wind (which later I found out was 17 miles an hour). Also kept noticing a noise coming from my wheels. I pulled over and took one off to see what was wrong. Looked okay although I wondered if I put a little chain oil on the bearing if that would help. Sure enough that is all they needed. I was rolling a lot smoother. (Probably should have done that back in Washington, D.C.!)

Well I made it to Culbertson, MT before my ride picked me up. 40 miles,,,not bad for a good half day's work. (Actually 7 hours since I started at 6:30 and was picked up at 1:30)

It was a long boring ride, especially as I continued to think about my decision. Around 8:00 we arrived in Fort Benton, MT. Fort Benton is right on the Missouri just east of Great Falls. What a beautiful area. One of the neatest places I've ever been. This section of the river, Great Falls to Lake Fort Peck is the most scenic and well traveled part of the Missouri and I can see why.

My first thought was this section I should be doing with my friends Charlie Wright and Jim Waletzko. Basically it's float for much of the way and right now it would be a very quick float for the river is as high as anyone can ever remember because of the heavy rains in the mountains.

In fact people are waiting in the local canoe campgrounds for the water to go down so they can start their trip. The river is fast, but it looks safe enough to me. Not sure why they're waiting.

But I do have another concern. With the current whipping as fast as it is I know I'm going to be piling up big miles and a trip that should take a week or more to enjoy will be done in a whole lot less time. This is too nice of a section to do that. So more decisions. Do I just rush through this or do I keep moving and save this for when I start my return trip home? Next would be the bike ride over the mountains. If I did that I'd follow the Lewis & Clark Bike route and camp along the way, which should be fun. I believe it's 300+ mile trip to where I need to go.

I told Dan (my ride) that I would stay here for the night in the canoe campground and work on my next move. I figured I'd visit the visitors center in the morning and chat with the canoe camper.

This is beautiful. If you have never been here I suggest you put it on your list of places to visit. Especially if you're into scenic river canoe trips. You could go by yourself or hook up with an outfitter.

Maybe if my PCT friend , Keith Drury is following my journey he could add a comment about what he thinks about this section of the river. Keith paddled the Missouri a few years back.

Time for a walk before sunset. More questions to ponder.

June 9, 2007 Great Falls, MT

I've gone over and over as to what is the best next move. Either could work. Twice I was ready to put my canoe in the water and head out, but in the end, I went to Great Falls to rent a car and get my gear over the mountains to Orofino, ID where I can safely enter the Clearwater River.
Something inside me just kept telling me this was the way to go, plus I wasn't sure how I was going to get everything back to Great Falls for I did not have a ride set up.
With my friend Jim picking me up for the ride back home I figured the simplest solution is to complete this section on the way back. Plans to begin with were to take some time to do some sightseeing anyway on the ride home so I figure we can work this in.
So I'm off. Soon I will have my act together.
Oh, I forgot to mention before I left Great Falls I still had to solve the problem of carrying my tent, sleeping bag and the other gear I would need for biking across the mountains. I had visions of using a backpack, but in Missoula I stopped at the Bicycle Works bike shop and they fixed me up with a bike rack and panniers and did a maintenance check on my bike so I should be set. I left the bike off on my way over and picked it up on my way back. I will stop and say hi on my ride over for they are right on the road I will be traveling.

June 10th Return to Great Falls

Got my gear over to Orofino. As I drove into town I thought to myself, someone doesn't know it yet, but they are about to have a change in their evening plans and hopefully a new friend. I drove around town for a little while until I noticed a group of people having a barbeque. Perfect! I drove up and introduced myself. For some reason they looked a little puzzled and bewildered! In the end, Tracy Dean, Lina Barraza, Lino Barraza, Tracy Barraza, April Barraza, Kris Dean and Matt Fleming were excited to help. (You will need to check my pictures, should be posted by mid week.)

Back in Great Falls and I will be heading out tomorrow morning bright and early. I'm thinking it will take about 4 days. It should be a fun ride. The road has a decent shoulder and the grade over the two passes I must go does not look too bad. View is going to be spectacular. I noticed a fair number of touring bicyclists on that route as I drove over. It will be interesting to chat with them if I run into them on my way back.

I will update when I get back to Orofino.

In August I went back to Montana to finish the section I skipped earlier this summer.  The Wild and Scenic sections of the Missouri River and Fort Peck Lake were all I had left to do to complete this journey and I could not wait around until next year to do it.  So here is my final journal entry for this section:

August 26th CONNECTING THE DOTS