Tues., May 24 - We talked briefly this morning around 8:45 and Jim had just left the state park heading to Washburn, ND. He slept well last night although it was very cold. He kept fairly warm in his winter sleeping bag. This morning is very cloudy and he is all bundled up - numerous layers (3 shirts, fleece vest, rain jacket & pants). He should stay warm enough as long as he keeps moving. We talked again around 5pm and he was standing on a grassy flat area, which is quite rare for this area - he will set up his tent here since he is tired of walking for the day (little toe a little problematic). The weather was heavily overcast all day but no rain - really blustery and cold until mid-day when he was finally able to take off his jacket. His "uninvited unwanted constant companion is the wind." He did have nice views today - from time to time he was able to see the Missouri River. He mentioned that somewhere in the first 5 miles he went by a 5500 acre parcel owned by the Nature Conservancy - apparently numerous historical and archaeological sites from early inhabitants. He saw 4 animals in the fields - looked like just blobs sleeping so he yelled at them to get up and sure enough they did - they were buffalo!!! Today was a very frustrating day. He had planned his route for a 3.5 mile (translates to 7 miles round trip) off track detour to go into Washburn to visit the "Lewis & Clark Interpretive Center". When he went in to pay his $7 fee, the lady said "before I take your money, the Lewis & Clark exhibition is closed for renovation". He quickly changed his mind - all that way for nothing! The good news is that he had a great lunch at the L&C Cafe in Washburn - so not a total loss. The second frustration (more serious) is that he wasn't able to get any water since the cafe. So he is in camp with only about 26 ounces of water. He has decided not to cook anything so he can conserve his water for the warmer day expected tomorrow. He will eat spam and snack items - UGH!! The grass here is full of ticks - apparently not the Lyme disease type - not sure how you tell the difference, but I guess that is geographic. Today he crossed a half-mile bridge over the Missouri River coming into Washburn. He is noticing lots of soil erosion on the riverbanks.
We talked again around 9:30pm and he was watching the sun go down. He is settled between the train tracks and the road and saw a few trains go by. It is quite chilly but not as cold as last night. At one point the wind was actually rattling his tent but it had died down when we talked.
Miles Today - 20..... Total Cumulative Miles - 65
Wed., May 25 - We talked about 9am and Jim got on the road about 7:30 and it was terribly cold. His fingers were really cold folding up the tent, since it was soaking wet from the heavy dew. He opened the conversation with "I have a really sad story to tell you" - I really need to tell him not to do that - my imagination runs wild! About 3/4 of a mile into today's walk, he comes across a beautiful pond at a small state recreation area - it would have been a perfect place to camp last night with plenty of water - oh well.... It is a beautiful sunny day today, but still really cold - all of his clothes are on his back, so his pack is a bit lighter! Last night around 9 he saw a deer approaching and the deer yelled at Jim - so Jim yelled back and this went back and forth for a while. I guess Mr. Deer did not want Jim in his territory. He said he was awakened this morning by a coyote howling - such charming places he stays! As we talked, it was warming up slowly - hopefully he will soon shed some layers.
We talked again around 2pm and Jim said "THIS IS MY LUCKY DAY". He walked into the smallest town you can imagine - Stanton, ND. Low and behold there was the bustling Cafe DuMonde, which was not found in his pre-hike research. He got there just before the crowd and soon enough the place was jammed. He had a great big lunch, charged his phone and filled his water bottles. He really enjoyed the hour's rest. Plus he really needed the calories, since he had dry cereal this morning in order to conserve water. He said the temps were a little warmer - about 60 - he had finally shed his fleece vest.
We talked at 9:45pm and Jim had just crawled into his sleeping bag to try and get warm - REALLY COLD! After lunch Jim walked as planned to the nearby Knife River National Historic Site. This is a site that the National Park Service runs for free. He started with a short movie that explained that the Hidatsa Indian tribe lived here on the banks of the Knife River. This was the tribe that kidnapped the Indian woman, Sakajawea from the Shoshone Indians. She later married a French trapper who talked his way onto the Lewis & Clark expedition, along with Sakajawea. This was the way that she eventually got back to her tribe in the Rocky Mountains. These Indians lived in round framed huts - 15-30 in a hut, depending on the size. Jim found it fascinating to learn all about this culture - very few of them remain, due to smallpox epidemics. After the movie, he went into the museum which had loads of artifacts (like birch & buffalo hides, tools, etc.) and many pictures depicting that time. After an hour plus visit, he started back on his way. He crossed a bridge over the Knife River onto a gravel road. His plan was to walk 3 miles and find someplace to camp. Well, after 5.5 miles, he had found absolutely nothing suitable, since much of the area is flooded - much too wet. He was beginning to get concerned, when a man in a pickup stopped and asked Jim if he wanted a ride. Of course, he said no, but as is his way, he said "what I really need is a place to pitch my tent for the night". The man (Chad) said he was headed to his brother's house, which was 3 miles up the road. He said his brother was visiting in New Mexico and he was going to his place to do chores. He said Jim was welcome to pitch his tent in the back yard. He gave Jim directions and then went on his way - just before Jim got to the house, Chad came back just to make sure Jim didn't get lost! Meanwhile, Chad had mowed a good-sized patch of the lawn for his tent site - UNBELIEVABLE! Before Chad left, he showed Jim how to work the well pump - plenty of good water! He even left Jim his cell # in case he had any problems. This was the longest hiking day so far, so Jim was so relieved to have such a perfect place to spend the night. Chad said there was a resident barn cat who was friendly, but Jim had not seen him yet. With today's long mileage, it is good that tomorrow is a planned short day, heading into a motel in Hazen, ND.
Miles Today - 23.5..... Total Cumulative Miles - 88.5
Thurs., May 26 - We talked briefly at 10am (while I was on a very cloudy and chilly NJ beach - it was supposed to be sunny!). He said he sat on the back steps of Chad's brother's house to eat his breakfast and the cat finally came to socialize - he had just the coloring of our older cat. When Jim got onto the road, he had an encounter with a bull in the middle of the road. He didn't seem to want to move, so Jim just walked around him. Jim did leave a message on Chad's phone, telling him about the bull, in case it was his brother's and needed to be brought back to the barn. We talked again at 11:30 and Jim was already settled in the Roughrider Motor Inn. His room wasn't ready, but there was a very nice lounge - comfy couch and table and chairs and even a washer & dryer. He was relaxing - reading and doing sudoku puzzles. The temps were warmer today, but it is still very breezy. He has passed many farms that are not planted yet - it is just too wet - sometimes even pools of water in the field. He feels really bad for the area farmers.
We talked again at 5:45 and he had a productive afternoon. After taking a shower he walked a mile to a cafe to get lunch (he will also get breakfast there tomorrow). Then he did his laundry and made a cup of tea and relaxed again in the lounge. Tomorrow is another fairly short day, heading to his first post office drop in Beulah. We talked again at 8:45 after Jim had a very good supper of a made-to-order hot sandwich from a local convenience store - even a table to eat at! It started to rain while he was there so he made a run back to the motel.
Miles Today - 8.5.....Total Cumulative Miles - 97
Fri., May 27 - We talked briefly at 8:45am and Jim said it really felt good to sleep in a real bed last night. It was currently sunny but the advance forecast is pretty ominous - potentially 3 days of rain, on and off - we shall see. We talked again at 2:15 and Jim said that today's wind was HORRIBLE - the 11 miles walked felt more like 20, since he was battling the wind the entire time - really brutal. He left the motel at 8:30 and had breakfast on the way out of town.
When he called, he was at the Beulah post office picking up his re-supply package. He also had three letters (one from me) - thank you Carol G & Christy W!! Jim was really appreciative of these notes. Before going to the P.O. he stopped at the Parks Dept. (as previously arranged) to get his $10 permit to camp in the town park. He met a lovely woman name Bridgette (she wants her name in the blog). He mentioned to her that other town parks that he has stayed in didn't charge a fee. Well, Bridgette's husband & son were there and they apparently shamed her into giving him back his money! The weather was not as forecasted - it was nice and sunny and about 64. We talked again around 6pm (still sunny) and Jim was all set up in the park - a really nice one - restroom facilities, including a shower - and a covered pavilion with numerous picnic tables. The only bad part is there is no water turned on in the restroom. He went back to tell his friend Bridgette and she told him she would check it out and get back to him on his cell. She later called back and explained they were working on the sprinkler system and forgot to turn the water back on. She said someone would take care of it in the next couple of hours. Jim said he spent a couple of hours this afternoon at the Nite Owl Bar, where he had some wonderful conversations. Ron the bartender and several of the customers were fascinated by Jim's story - very friendly people. Several of them wanted to know why Jim was doing this. He said "because I can walk into a town like Beulah, ND and meet up with really nice people like you". Jim has been craving good conversation so this was a perfect afternoon for him. One of the customers said he was the cook at a steak house a couple of miles away. He asked Jim to come on over, but he said he didn't want to walk that far. The man said that maybe his brother might pick him up, so we shall see. If that doesn't work out, then there is a restaurant about a mile away that he will walk to. The people at the bar told him that his route for the next few days - Rte. 200 - is full of oil truck and fast traffic - he is not looking forward to that. When he leaves tomorrow he will be on a gravel road that goes through Zap, ND. Apparently there is almost nothing there now, but back in the 60's there was a rowdy festival there , much like Woodstock - police had to be called, etc. He called again at 7 to tell me one more story. He was sitting at a picnic table under the cover of the pavilion and there was brief shower - didn't affect him since he was under cover. All of a sudden, a car pulls up and it is Jeff, Bridgette's teenage son (who Jim had met earlier). He said "I think the weather might be getting you down, so here's a coke to cheer you up" and then he drove off - people are so kind...
We talked again briefly at 9:15pm. Jim never did get picked up for the trip to the steak restaurant. Instead he walked about a mile into town and had a great fish dinner. No one ever came to turn on the water, so I guess no shower tomorrow. He had a few sprinkles of rain tonight, but just on and off. If it is raining in the morning, at least he has the pavilion to pack everything up.
Miles Today - 13..... Total Cumulative Miles - 110
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