Fort Peck Lake (Mile 1770) to Williston (Mile 1552)

I was introduced to Daryl at the Fort Peck Marina and he offered to give me a tour of the small town there and portage me around the dam. Daryl is a retired auto mechanic that has made a home for himself and visiting children and grandkids in a house he bought from the government when they were selling them cheap about 20 years ago.

Daryl portaged me around Fort Peck Dam

We stopped in at a bar near the river to get an early morning coffee and I thought I'd found "Thelma and Louise" (aka Brenda and Faith), two gun carrying ladies that have leased a bar for the season hoping to make some money.

'Thelma and Louise' aka Brenda and Faith

They've named the bar 'One Shot" and I wasn't game to ask if that is all they've got to make some money or if that is what it would take to put you in your place if you stepped out of line. Brenda offered to cook me breakfast as Faith proceeded to educate me on the status of America and the world and who is responsible for the mess we're all in.

Brenda is originally from Sturgis South Dakota (annual Harley rally town) and Faith is from West Yellowstone Montana and has an interest in the local newspaper there. I detected that Brenda still holds a flame for an Aussie biker that rode in and out of town (and her life) about 25 years ago, she lost contact with him when her boss at the time questioned a $30 call to Australia on his phone bill.

These ladies are real characters and I'm sure they have enough personality, humour and BS to draw in the customers. They gave me some food (Boil-in-a-Bag chilli) and some insect spray to take with me and I left them worried that I wasn't carrying a six shot 'deterrent' to protect myself from the crazies down river.

I earned every mile I made over the next four days battling a headwind that never let up night and day.

Camped up for the day due to headwinds

Sheltering from the headwinds

I caught up with TnT on the second day, they were camped on a windswept sandbar unable to make any headway. I decided to stay there overnight and and get an early start in the morning regardless of the weather. The boys were still in their tent when I left.

Last view of TnT

This is a rarely travelled remote stretch of river, about 224 miles where I saw no fishermen or boats or any body using the river at all other than three people from a religious community that farm 10,000 acres along the south bank. 

At first I thought they were Amish due to the similar type of dress code and beard but the elder, Paul, told me that they were of German decent and were members of a Hutterite Community. Unlike the Amish they don't shun technology, in fact they were on the river bank to repair an irrigation pump and fix some erosion damage using a bobcat and backhoe.

Paul, wouldn't have his photo taken but he said the boys - Jayden and Josiah - could. The boys told me all about there life on the commune, what they study (they speak English, Higher German and Lower German ???), the chores that they're given and how, when the commune gets to a certain size, more land is purchased and a new commune is started. They were very interested in me and my journey and asked lots of questions but I'm convinced that they had absolutely no idea of where Australia was.

Jayden liked the name of the kayak as his mum's name is Barbara and coincidentally his dad is called Bob.

Jayden and Josiah

Early morning Coyote - looking for fish in the shallows

Wild horses

Big bend near Poplar Montana

Hoping for a rain free night - mosquito net camping only

Good flow, solitude, scenic and a tail wind - the planets lined up for me.

Late afternoon, tired and hungry I was hailed ashore by this couple having a barbecue near the Highway 16 Bridge. A couple of beers, a burger and some 'blues' on the stereo I enjoyed an hour with Manny and Nicole, their daughter Kate and Nicole's two young sons.

Nicole teaches Spanish usually to high school kids but is about to start a new job at an elementary school in Sydney MT. Manny has done may things and the sort of guy that could turn his hand to anything that interested him. 

Manny, Nicole and baby Kate - Highway 16 Bridge

Fat beaver

They look like boats but these are floating irrigation pumps of which there are hundreds along the river.

Floating irrigation pumps

This lift bridge dates back to a time when the railroad was being built and they still believed that river boats would continue to navigate this far.

Railroad Lift Bridge (Mile 1589)

I last saw the Yellowstone River about 5 weeks and 700 miles back where it runs through Livinstone about 50 miles from where I started at Three Forks. The Yellowstone is the longest un-dammed river in the US.

Looking directly at the confluence of the Yellowstone and Missouri Rivers

This section of river has been hard work not just because of the headwinds but also because of the shallow water creating numerous sand and gravel banks making it easy to run aground, submerged dead trees that have the potential to damage the boat and the lack of places to get fresh water to drink (river water is suspect because of chemical run-off from farming) - I was pleased to cross the border into North Dakota and reach Williston. 

Williston - Highway 85 Bridge

The town of Williston is about six miles from the river so not an easy place re-supply. An oil boom has enticed people from all over the country to come here looking for work, and as is typical of boom times prices have risen dramatically forcing many to live rough until they can find a job. Rightly or wrongly I was advised not to leave my kayak unattended so I paddled on into Lake Sakakawea.