Sunday, July 5th -
Fort Peck Reservoir
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| Camping spot at Fort Peck Lake |
Today was a rest day from riding.
We drove to Fort Peck Reservoir.
The lake was formed by the largest hydraulic earth filled dam in the
world. The dam was built in the 1930’s
under the supervision of the Army Corps of Engineers as part of work projects
developed to help provide jobs during the depression. The area is still managed by the Army Corps
of Engineers. The lake shore, at 1520
miles, are longer than the California coast and are a great place to fish and
boat. Campgrounds, most without water or
electricity, are found around the lake.
Most are accessible only through unmaintained roads and we were warned
“If you see a single raindrop on the back roads near Fort Peck, head back
immediately. These roads tend to wash
out easily and getting stuck is a real possibility”. With that in mind, we found a camping spot
just off the main road but still next to the lake. The high temps of the last two days were gone
and with the breeze, it was actually a little chilly in the RV.
At the bottom of the dam overlooking the Missouri River, is the Fort
Peck Interpretive Center and Museum. The
center features exhibits on Fort Peck Dam construction and homesteading,
wildlife of the CM Russell National Wildlife Refuge (which surrounds the lake)
and paleontology including a cast of Tyrannosaurus rex. This is a free museum with excellent
exhibits. Tours of the power plant are
also available, although we skipped that.
Monday- June 6th – Beaver Creek Park – Havre, Mt
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| Lots of hay in this area along with a lot of wheat |
A 42 mile loop ride started our day.
Because of the drop in temps, we actually started out in jackets. Riding was quite pleasant for the first 15
miles. We had to ride the next 15 miles
on US highway 2 from Nashua to Glasgow. Hwy 2 is the main east-west highway in
Northern Montana and in a lot of areas there is no other paved road. So, while not super busy, it does have a fair
amount of semi’s and RVs pulling cars or boats or both… and the speed limit is
70mph on a 2 lane road with no shoulder.
Montana drivers are not nearly as courteous as North Dakota
drivers. We had several cars within 3’
of us going 70+, including an 18 wheeler and a truck pulling a boat. If you haven’t experienced it, getting hit by
the air pressure front from a semi going 70 mph is pretty scary. You nearly get blown off the road and then
immediately get sucked back in toward the trailer. Hwy 2 is designated by Adventure Cyclists of
America as the “Northern Tier Cross-America Route” and is the suggested travel
route across most of Montana. Sure glad
we did not take that route 2 years ago.
Regardless we made it back to the RV safely.
After the ride, we packed up and headed out. Again we saw a change in geographic make-up
as we moved further west. Havre is
surrounded by plains but just south are the Bear Paw Mountains. Approximately 20 miles south of Havre is the
biggest county park in the US, Beaver Creek Park at 10,000 acres. How could we not travel into it to spend the
night? We camped by Bear Paw Lake in a
campground run by Mt. Fish, Wildlife and Parks.
Again we have the campground almost to ourselves, with only one other
camper across the lake.
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| Riding in Beaver Creek Park |
Weds., July 7th – Havre to Great Falls, Mt
Just a short 17 mile ride through the park and then into the RV to head
to Great Falls. We had planned to ride
to a ski area south of the park, but just south of the park was a pretty good
size herd of free range cattle. This was
a pretty narrow canyon and the cattle were pretty skittish of the bike. It wasn’t long before we looked like a one
bike cattle drive. Plus there were a
couple of bulls butting heads alongside the road. Progress was slow, and visions of a cattle
stampede from the cowboy movies started to become a very real possibility, so
we just headed back to the RV.
It quickly clouded up and rained off-and-on for most of the day but
this didn’t prevent us from stopping in Loma for lunch at “Ma’s Café”. Loma is a census-designated place – had to
google that. It simply means there is a
concentrated number of people in the area, but it’s not even an unincorporated
town. Ma’s gets points for billboard
advertising which drew us and obviously others in. The food was typical café style and sold a potpourri
of other items, plus it’s a casino… but just about every gas station in Montana
is a casino.
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| 2K's Kafe - #2 rated place to eat in Great Falls |
From Ma’s we continued south the Great Falls. After all this time in the RV, we decided it
would be nice to spend the night at a hotel.
Dinner was at Ernie and Bert’s, not of Sesame Street Fame, but a very
nice brewpub - # 1 of places to eat according to Trip Advisor.
Thursday, July 8th – Valier, Mt
We enjoyed a rambling, easy 27 mile ride through Great Falls down the
River’s Edge Trail. The trail runs along
the Missouri River and provides easy access to spectacular views of the river,
dams, waterfalls and Giant Springs State Park (yes, it has a giant spring
flowing directly into the MO river).
Along the way we stopped at 2K’s Kafe for breakfast - #2 place to eat in
Great Falls according to Trip Advisor.
It seems a little like we are visiting “Diners, Drive-ins and Dives”
with an emphasis on “Dives”. We’re pretty sure the Fire Marshall would not
approve of the 6 or 8 things plugged into one outlet with a 3-way plug and an
extension cord. Breakfast was quite
good and the service was quick and friendly.
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| Falls and damn on the MO river at Great Falls |
After a stop at a bike shop and Walmart to stock up on groceries and
essentials, we drove north to
Valier, MT to a town run RV park. We talked to the camp manager and he said
that he had 55 RV’s in 51 units in the park over the 4th
of July weekend…Hard to believe since there are 6 campers here now and Valier
is literally in the middle of nowhere.
The campground is not even on Google maps. Our campsite is right next to Lake
Frances. Temperatures are rising, again,
so it’s nice to be able to hook up to electricity for air conditioning. |
| Finally found Lewis and Clark. "Damn, where did that dam come from!" |
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