After leaving Choteau, MT Thursday I drove south, and Becca ended up having a big breakfast at the local cafe, with a trucker whose rig was a little bigger than hers.
The biking was only around 35 miles and no wind today! Yay! The great plains are not as flat as drivers may think. Rolling hills are still a challenge for cyclists. Some of the roads are narrow and heavily used by large trucks that come barreling down on the lone cyclist.
I made my way to the First Peoples Buffalo Jump State Park, where I hiked for about 3.5 miles down and around a butte. This is a spot where great plains tribes would hunt buffalo by chasing them on horseback (or even running in front of the herd) to the edge of a cliff and then jumping out of the way just in time. Hunters would wait at the bottom of the cliff to kill any buffalo who were still alive. There are a lot of critters out there in the prairie: all kinds of birds (saw a pheasant and 3 of her chicks), antelope, rabbits and marmots/prairie dogs.
We met at a campground in Great Falls, went to an outdoors store for Becca to buy a "critter-proof" bag for food storage. We serendipitously found a Brazilian street food restaurant for a delicious dinner. Great Falls is all right!
But today was a killer day for Becca, with around 70 miles to undertake on a fairly busy highway. I met up with her about 30 miles from our final destination, and she was exhausted. We are coming down the home stretch for my leg of this relay, as I will be turning around tomorrow. I passed the baton to Becca's friends, Gloria and David, who have been driving from Portland for the past 2 days to catch up with us. They will be following along for a week, much as I have been, except minus the van, so it will be hotels for at least a week for Becca. Ahh, a real bed, no porta-potty or sleeping in the sardine can upper bunk anymore. A well deserved rest for her.
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