Connecticut to California – Day 7 – August 18, 2000

Montana, the seduction is complete!

I submit to your charms.

Tonight is the last night we will be sleeping together, but I will never forget our intimacy.

You are like the maiden with seven veils – but you have so many more…...  You look at me with those smoky eyes and give me that “come hither” look.  You show me the grasslands and the pastures – the mountains – valleys – rivers – your vast fields of grain – your boundless wildlife – and tomorrow, before we part company – for now – you will show me your glacier.  You confused me at first – but now you have won me – I will never be the same.  You revealed yourself to me, I think, because I approached you on two wheels – being chilled by your cold mornings – roasted in your afternoon sun – and stifled by the smoke of your fires of renewal.  Not unlike your forests, I am burned and renewed by you.

I think Charlie Russell Country was the final seduction.  Rolling north out of Gardiner your morning cold chilled me – yet you played with me – fifty-five degrees at first – then sixty-seven degrees after only twenty miles – you played with me all morning – cool then warm – then cool then warm.

Through Paradise Valley you showed me miles of grazing lands – punctuated by prairie dogs – and wondrous birds of prey.  You sent the hawks again today – soaring ever so high – with assurances of a spiritual presence.

You showed me the yesterday and the today.  We talked about the times before – when people worked the land – not machines.  There were more folks - then there was more community - then there was more activity.  But standing in silent reminder of those other times are the monuments to those who passed through here – the hardy souls with grit who battled the land - to harvest the land.

We had a couple of laughs today – too – didn’t we?  Lunch at the general store just north of Great Falls – I asked the clerk if they had any hot dogs – and he replied, “Right over there under the Live Bait sign.”  Could have fooled us!

As we were passing through Fairfield – I explained that the county I where I live in Connecticut has the same name – as well as a very wealthy town – just a few miles from my home.  You pointed out the sign that said, “Fairfield, Montana - Malting Barley Capital of the USA.  You laughed out loud when I said, “This Bud’s for you, Fairfield” (not Connecticut.)

Nothing could have prepared me for the Benton Lake Wildlife Refuge.  Cruising along miles and miles of cultivated fields – then immediately, without warning, a marsh.  A marsh?  Who said there is no humor in creation?  A marsh in the middle of Montana?  Some months from now – it will be filled with migratory birds – my oh my – what treasures you reveal.

As we travel the final miles toward Glacier National Park – we are silent – both overcome by the thickening smoke.  The Rockies are barely visible – there is a thick haze obscuring them and breathing is difficult.

It is too late in the day to begin our final journey together across the Going to the Sun Highway in Glacier National Park.  It is just as well – we’ll sleep together in a KOA Kamping Kabin at the foot of the mountains tonight.

You giggle at me trying to type on the laptop while I swing on the swing on the front porch.  You smile quietly as I gaze into the mountains as the sun sets.  We are both grateful that the wind has changed and the air is clearer now.  You look at me knowingly as I see the redness of the setting sun painting the grain fields at the base of the mountain.

I have visited Montana before – and found it unremarkable.  That knowing look in your eyes tells me you knew - if I came on two wheels instead of four – if I came to wander instead of just visit – I would be yours – and so I am.

The bike trip meter says 375.8 the Garmin III+ trip meter says 386.9 and I say Goodnight (to the readers) from St Mary’s, Montana.

Connecticut Yankee in Yosemite Valley- the Trek
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