I phoned the Park Rangers Office from the Garrison Dam marina and Ranger Darren turned up within ten minutes in a pick-up truck to portage me a couple of miles to the downstream campground.
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| Ranger Darren |
Great to back on the river with good flow that carried me 10 miles with little effort to a very comfortable campsite.
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| Swallow nests in mud cliffs along the river. |
I met Mary-Beth and her husband Howard at the Washburn Bridge just before they floated down the river in their catamaran kayaks that they had just finished lashing together. I caught up with them, their kids and friends an hour later playing baseball on a sand island.
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| Mary-Beth and Howard |
Michael and Deanne looked after my kayak while I went into Washburn for a cheeseburger and a pint of Ben & Jerry's ice-cream. Michael is ham radio enthusiast in contact with people around the world including Australia.
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Michael and Deanne and their boys fishing near Washburn Bridge.
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Fortunes can change very quickly on this river. One minute, tired and hungry, I'm looking for a place to set up camp and an hour later I'm sitting in a riverside home, all showered with a meal and a glass of red wine in front of me.
I met Mark and Margaret just on dark while they were out enjoying an evening float on their pontoon boat. A brief conversation as I was paddling by led to an invite to stay at their home for the night. I stayed for two, and enjoyed a day with them at their home overlooking the river and a relaxing morning and evening cruise up and down stream.
Mark is the founder of Sources of Strength a company providing training to community leaders working with individuals at risk of self harm. Margaret works closely with families of children with special needs. I had a great weekend with these two people that made me feel really welcome and at home. They will be a definite stop over on our next US trip and I'll be disappointed if we don't see them in Perth one day soon.
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The 2011 flood caused extensive damage to many river homes. The house above slipped into the river when its garden embankments scoured out.
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| Trophy home near Bismark, North Dakota |
This last section of river has been challenging in places due to shallow water and countless sandbars making it difficult to follow any definite channel. However, I made it to Bismark the capital of North Dakota, enjoyed a couple of beers in the Broken Oar Bar with a local patron Randy Higgins and rested and re-supplied before tackling the biggest dam on the river, Lake Oahe some 230 miles long.
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| Randy Higgins |
