Leaving the Missouri Behind

The Gallatin River helping to form the Missouri

On July 25, 1805, The Corps of Discover, led by Captains Lewis and Clark, came across the headwaters of the Missouri River, where three other rivers, which they named the Jefferson, the Madison and the Gallatin come together to set the Missouri out on its 2,540 mile journey to the Mississippi River. 204 years later, to the day, I stood at the headwaters of the Missouri River. Cool, no?

It was a two day ride from Great Falls down to Three Forks. Between Great Falls and Helena was some amazing scenery along the river. It was a hot couple of days of riding there, and I got trapped in a couple small storms. I also popped my first flat tire of the trip. Just before Three Forks, though, I did get to stop in at this cool place called Wheat Montana Farms Bakery & Deli. These guys have a great story.

The Folkvord Family started farming wheat out here, but after a while of it, they were troubled by the vagaries of selling their wheat on the whole market, so they decided to go one step further and bake their wheat into finished product. They now have a very awesome deli and bakery right off of I-90 near Three Forks. I stopped in for a sandwich and to hide from the rain for a little while.

After exploring the headwaters near Three Forks, I took a detour off route from Lewis & Clark Trail to make my way down to Yellowstone. For the most part, I was following along the Madison River into the town of West Yellowstone, where I am today, before I set off into the park for a few days. I’m probably going to take a bit of a break from cycling and do some backpacking around Yellowstone. I’ll have to start keeping two mileage counts this trip: cycled miles and hiked miles.

There’s been some tough riding around western Montana, and I know it’s only going to get harder as I go over the mountains, but the beauty continues to amaze and makes the experience what it is. I’ve adapted more, I think, to the inherent solitude of bicycle touring — perhaps the amazing things I’m getting to see have helped. I’m looking forward to the change of pace backpacking will bring for a few days. I’ve made friends with a tour guide from Yellowstone here who is going to tell me which spots are awesome to go to and which spots to avoid. Already, he’s shown me hidden, tucked away, secret hot springs to soak in. But I’ll tell you more about it on the flip side of Yellowstone.

More Montana pictures…

Between Great Falls and Helena