8May2010 near Ft Kipp, MT - Today I awakened to a gift from God - a calm, clear glorious day. No rain last night ... just the way it is supposed to be. Yes, yes, yes! Pushing off as the sun rose I heard Pheasants and Turkeys - interesting that I never see either. During the 17 miles to the Highway 16 bridge I saw Pelicans, Ducks, Geese, Beaver, a Coyote and Whitetail Deer. As a Whitetail bounded away it appeared to head toward three Elk. Surely they were more Whitetails but they stood still like Elk rather than join the first Deer in the flight. Every Coyote seems to be different. This one stared at me, looked off over it's right shoulder, stared back at me, looked back over it's shoulder again, then wheeled about and trotted over the embankment and on to it's day.
About two miles into the day I heard the drums beating again. Amazing how far those drum beats carry on a calm, quiet day.
The river flow is increasing. Once I passed a full Cottonwood log; many shorter wood pieces and lots of bark are seen at every view. I am unconcerned about this debris because I will be onto Lake Sakakawea before the flow reaches flood stage or even high enough to break loose and carry dangerous debris. The benefit of this extra flow is that the sand bars are submerged enough that searching for the best channel is becoming less and less of a concern. Today I did not drag on even one sand bar.
I pulled in at the Highway 16 bridge and hitched a ride 2.5 miles into Culbertson. Expecting to get a meal and possibly some internet time then get back on the river, I was informed that hotel rooms in Williston - as in Culbertson here - are totally taken on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday each week. This is reportedly due to the oil and gas exploration crews that descend on the area each week. So keeping that in mind I opted to spend Saturday night in Culbertson and eschew the possibility of doing the same in Williston. My canoe is in a "No Tresspassing" area on private land and supposedly as safe as can be expected. I bumped into the landowner at the local cafe and he approved my leaving the canoe there. I love small towns!
It is 68 river miles to Williston. With the extra streamflow and decent weather I expect to make that in two days.