If you have been reading my blog throughout this entire journey you have
probably taken notice to my very consistently energetic and optimistic attitude and
while I would like to say that my experiences biking through Montana
over the past week have been nothing nothing but positive I simply cannot.

When I left Forsyth, MT my plan was to ride to Ingomar, MT where I was told by locals to expect an interesting stop. I was warned that Ingomar
was a ghost town and that only a handful of people still called the old
rail road stop home... but it did have a great cafe that is famous here in Montana. So with my eyes set on an "easy" day of 43 miles biking I
ignored the temperature which was well into the high 90's, drank plenty of water and
pedaled hard. There were heavy winds and trust me when I tell you that when sun hits the blacktop and
intensifies the heat to the point where you feel as though your skin is
on fire you start to do unusual things such as spitting on yourself
just to feel that cooling sensation even if it only last for just a
split second.

As I came around the bend and approached Ingomar
from a distance I was truly taken back. You could see what was once a
town that thrived on the railroad and it's route to Milwaukee had now
simply been left to decay all by its lonesome. But hey...what did I care?
there is a cafe there and where you have a cafe you have at least one
person who is working and could give me cold water and possibly a place
to stay and I was in need of both. So I pedaled the 1/4 mile down the
old gravel road praying not to get a flat tire I started to notice
that this cafe... my oasis in the desert looked very dark inside. And
as I got to the door I noticed the sign on the door had working hours
posted from Thursday - Monday and today was WEDNESDAY!

As I looked
around at the abandoned buildings it hit me hard that Melstone
was 28 miles down the road and I started to get a bit concerned. Here I was
in a ghost town enduring nearly a 100 degrees of heat with no water and
28 miles til the next town. Beyond that I had no clue what exactly was in Melstone. For all I knew Melstone was a ghost town just like Ingomar.
Out here in Montana you truly have no idea what to expect. About 2
minutes before my potential panic attack kicked in a woman came driving
down a dusty road and stopped to ask me if I needed help (I assume
she must have thought I was crazy biking in the heat) When I explained
my situation to her in detail she offered to drive me down the road where she lived and
provide me with water. This was like heaven... This was ice water. It
was better than ice cream I kid you not.

Feeling much better about my water situation yet emotionally drained by this close encounter I made my way towards Melstone and the lady back in Ingomar promised me a cafe and atleast
a few people living in "town" I wish this would be where the story
turns happy go lucky and more than anything I wish the Montana winds
would simply take it easy on me. Roughly 14 miles from Melstone
the evening winds picked up and I was down to a very slow pace. My
guess is that I was riding at less than 3.5 mph for the majority of this leg and at this point the
sun was hitting me head on and it was just absolutely relentless.

I got to Melstone
late in the afternoon and went directly into Mel's Cafe in need of
water and relief from the sun. As I sat down at the bar I obviously
stuck out like a sore thumb and a few cattle ranchers couldn't help but
ask what in god's green earth I was doing on a bicycle on a day like
today. After I explained my situation they took a shine to my journey and story
and I spent the next hour or so talking with them about the life of a
cattle rancher and living in Eastern Montana. I was now feeling better.
I mentioned to the owner Rich that I wasn't sure where I was going to
be sleeping that night and he and his wife immediately offered to take me in. I can
promise you that there is no Holiday Inn anywhere near Melstone. 

The next morning I had a hearty breakfast and started out for Roundup which was just a 33 mile trip from Melstone.
This was a very pleasant ride as I was able to beat the heat. When I
arrived in Roundup the sign at the bank read 97 degrees and it sure started to feel
like it. Roundup is a fairly interesting place to be honest. It is a
bit rough around the edges and it certainly takes great pride in their
passion for hunting and the right to bare arms. I also overheard some very opinionated and vocal locals not
afraid to share their views on politics in general. I
personally don't feel comfortable sharing the exact details of one
particular encounter I had however I can tell you that when I stop in for a
beer and a man comes up to me and says " you riding your bike across
America!?... you got some damn cause your are worried about? I hope you
are not one of those Obama loving
tree hugger types?" I get a little concerned. On this trip I learned
that in some situations the places you are least wanted are also the
places you are most needed. In this case I was not willing to take my chances
stirring up conversation to share some wisdom. I have quite a few more details to
discuss with this visit to Roundup however I am going to save those for the book I
plan to write when the trip is over. Stay tuned.

From Roundup I headed to Harlowton
where I battled more of this enormous heatwave and stiff headwinds. It
was a long hard day on the bike and I set up my camp in a near by park
ASAP. After I got all set up I walked over to the school where there
was a high school football game taking place. This was a great way to
spend a Friday nite
in small town America and in fact this town was so small that they only
field 8 players . They also play
on an 80 yard field in comparison to 11 players and 100 yards you would
normally find.The enrollment at Harlowton High is less than 100 students in total.

That night the winds picked up and the temperature dropped quickly. I
spent most of the night waking up every 30 minutes and trying desperately to breath as much hot
air into my sleeping bag as possible and with a big day of riding ahead of me I was up
early and ready to go. Not very well rested... but none the less I was
ready.

I left Harlowton
en route to White Sulfur Springs with roughly 59 miles ahead of me.
This ride was one of the most emotionally and physically draining
experiences I have ever encountered. The winds were stiff, the sun was
again hot and the hills were popping up everywhere. After about 25
miles on the road I noticed that due to the heat and the extra effort I
had expended fighting the wind I was nearly out of water because I was drinking so much without noticing and the only
spot on the map I saw before White Sulfur was Checkerboard and I had no
idea if that was going to be a ghost town or not. As I continued to
spit on myself, count the crickets I would run over I began to scream at the
top of my lungs cursing the winds and it was at that time the words why and quit actually
crossed my mind. It was very brief ... but they were there in my head bouncing
around.

When you are exposed to the sun and heavy winds and become
completely focused on climbing hills your mind will take you places you
never thought you could go. I don't need drugs or alcohol to find
myself traveling into a whole new level of thinking and emotions on
this journey.

When I realized just how very limited my water supply was and
with no end in sight and nobody around to help I had started to
understand in a very meaningful way just how much of a mismatch we are
for mother nature and planet Earth. Out here I was meaningless. Out
here I was not in control. These ranges of emotions carried on for
quite some time and at certain points I started to feel sick in the
stomache and was concerned with the chance of suffering from heat stroke and
just when things couldn't get any worse than that... the battery in my iPod had exhausted. There would be no more Paul Simon and Bill Bryson
to keep my sane. I was now alone. Completely alone. Refusing to make
critical mistakes and risk injury I decided to trust my gut and search
for water. It is an interesting feeling in life when your absolute top
priority is finding water.Perhaps one day this will be a relaity for our entire country? This is when I asked myself if this is
really where I wanted to be. My answer still remains "Absolutely"

The
next house I saw was roughly 1/4 miles down a dirt road and I made my
way. I knocked on the door and with a concerned look a man immediately
offered me water and ice. It was a great feeling to be helped and not
turned down.

My water supply was now back in tact and so was my brain and the
thoughts of possibly giving up and quiting now seemed ludicrous and I
was even a bit upset at myself for allowing my emtions to get the best of me and break me down. All I can say is that I don't have a support team carrying
my gear in a van and providing me with cold water and converstaion and the shear
vastness of this land can do more than just intimidate you... It can
chew you up and spit you out and blow wind in your face just because it can. A day later I
can tell you that I learned a great deal about myself from that situation. Most importantly I
learned to carry 5 extra pounds of water even if I don't want to :) 

White Sulfur Springs was a great little town with the rodeo in full
swing and I enjoyed my time there. This morning I woke up and rode to
Townsend and after 2 enormous climbs and 1 hardcore thunderstorm and
this very long blog entry  I am ready to get some rest. Tomorrow I ride
to Helena and from there I climb MacDonald Pass and over the great
divide. I have been waiting for the Montana wilderness and it has now
arrived.

Until next time take care and take action!
Please support me in cause to protect land and nature and donate to my fundraiser!
http://firstgiving.com/follownathan