Polebridge, MT to Billings, MT

Day 37: Wed 27 Aug: Montana goes on, and on.

I woke up, broke camp, and then spent some time just sitting at the edge of Bowman Lake, in the quiet. Mist was rolling in from part of the shore, and then a small breeze would blow it back to shore. Back and forth.

A family of loons was in the lake (I assume -- two large birds and one small one who spent a lot of time between the two) and made those eerie sounds loons make.

It was enchanting. I had debated taking a hike -- there were several starting from the lake, ranging from easy to difficult -- but it was so clouded in, and sprinkling, that I decided I'd be better off going to going to Polebridge Mercantile (the only thing in Polebridge -- it's at a bend in the road, and there are no houses anywhere). On the way in yesterday evening, I saw a sign saying (miraculously) that they had wifi. I say miraculously because this is as remote as I've ever seen a store be.

They did, and the place was hopping. It's the dropping off point for all sorts of expeditions and locals, in addition to being a bakery with delicious breakfast sandwiches and sweet rolls. I hung out there for two hours writing blog entries and talking to people.

Two guys came through, visiting from Spokane, who were looking to go to Bowman Lake and were waiting for the weather to get nicer. We talked about routes across Montana. One of them is from the bay area, the other used to live on Plattsburgh Air Force Base! We reminisced for a while and generally had a good time gabbing over coffee. They said that the weather was so bad at Logan Pass that they closed the road! Snow and low visibility. Wow. The weather (here) got (slightly) better, and they headed off. My battery wore down; I didn't want to plug in the spares I had; and the store doesn't have power outlets available. So I called it quits, and decided to head on.

Here's a great picture of the burnt out forest and some of the miles of almost mud season road I had to drive on to get into and out of Polebridge.

I drove back to the Apgar Visitors Center to confirm that, and talk to more people about routes across Montana. I wanted to cross at Sault Ste. Marie, which would have made US 2 the easy way across, but it's two lanes all the way across Montana, and only becomes four, or divided, in North Dakota. After the Alberta experience I wasn't so sure I wanted to be on a two lane highway for that long. I ended up heading south, on the east shore of Flathead Lake (beautiful) to get to I-90.

While driving, I placed some calls to folks who might have suggestions (including a former Montanan), but came up for nought. I ended up side-tripping to Helena to see said former Montanans former hometown and workplace. What a beautiful place Helena is in, and such a pretty town. I hung out there for a while, actually, chatting with folks at the Myrna Loy Center and having dinner at a place the box office guy recommended. I should have taken into account that he was only just going to college, and would send me to cheap chain restaurants. Oh well. The food at Perkins was good and the staff friendly, and it was right at the exit I needed to get on to.

I drove and drove and drove. Eventually I got to a rest area outside of Billings, MT, where I decided to call it a night.