Quick breakfast and last minute packing of our day bags, our night dry bags, and packing the car with all the stuff we aren't taking.
Went in a van to our put-in place at Vergelles Ferry Landing.
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Vergelles, MT, Ferry: Whitney Norville and our van
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Vergelles Ferry Landing, MT: Whitney Norville, Arthur Luehrmann, and Jim Cummings
Dear Journal,
Today we woke up, packed our “dry bags”, and drove to Jim's house, where we loaded our bags into a van, and watched them hook up our pirogue. We, in turn, got in another van and started off for Virgelles Landing. When we got there, we took a cable-ferry to the other side of the Missouri, where the Motor Propelled gearboats were preparing to leave for our first (of 2) campsites. (See drawing of our mini-fleet on page 42) Meanwhile, our pirogue (see drawing of fleet on page 42) had been launched, so we clambered in and began to paddle with the current toward our gearboat, whose gas motor had died and whose electric motor wasn't getting enough current, so we easily caught up and fixed the problem. We kept paddling, but I only paddled part of the time. We got to our lunch place, and ate luxuriously. We also hiked a bit. Then it was back to the boats. We continuously saw both bald-and-golden-eagles, beaver lodges, and seagulls. After a long rowing spree, we arrived at our first (of 2) campsites, and found it (the tents) set up already, so we unpacked and talked and in my case built a water resort on the banks of the Missouri (see bellow) 'till a dinner of chicken, rice, and hot cocoa. For dessert, we had s'mores, which I carefully made toasting 6 “mellows” at a time. We then sat around the fire and listened to some stories. After that, we went into our tents. I slept in a standard army 2-man pup-tent with the main guide's dog, Saddie. I heard later that she had left, but kept checking on me while I slept.
Aron
Paddled in this big canoe - all 12 of us - to our lunch spot at Little Sandy. I was in great danger of heatstroke by then since I (and Aron) didn't have hats. I couldn't see well, had a bad headache, was drinking water but somehow it didn't get absorbed, and my mouth was dry as a a bone, and I was getting dizzy. Arthur said I was bright red. When we stopped for lunch I took advantage of the outhouse to change into my bathing suit so I could use my T-shirt to soak in the Missouri and wear on my head to cool it off. By our dinner stop I was feeling much better with repeat dippings of my T-shirt head covering.
During the paddling we saw golden eagles, bald eagles, lots of different birds, evidence of beaver (beaver-killed trees, some beaver huts and holes), cows, rabbits, and a deer.
When we got to our campsite for the night, Aron spent about 2 hours constructing a resort at the river's edge with rocks, water, and mud. It came complete with three resort islands, an ocean route, a scenic outlook, and a land road.
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on the Missouri, MT: limestone cliffs
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on the Missouri, MT: Arthur Luehrmann, Sadie, Aron Cowen, and Jim Cummings have yet to get on board
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on the Missouri, MT: on the Missouri, MT: cattle
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on the Missouri, MT, walk up the bluffs: Aron Cowen in an old tipi ring
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on the Missouri, MT: limestone bluffs
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on the Missouri, MT: cattle
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on the Missouri, MT: limestone bluffs
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on the Missouri, MT: Sadie and Aron Cowen play at our campsite
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on the Missouri, MT: Sadie and Aron Cowen play at our campsite
Tuesday, August 17, 2004 (continued)
Before dinner we went on a short hike. We then feasted on chicken in a lemony-peppery sauce, gravy, rice pilaf, and Caesar salad. Aron was the cook who made us S'mores for dessert: hot toasted marshmallows on top of graham crackers and chocolate bars!
After dinner we sat around the campfire, told stories, and saw the mighty Milky Way above the mighty Missouri River. That night we heard Beaver slapping their tails in the river. No mosquitoes, but there were a few biting black flies that came when the sun was going down and it got a bit cooler.
Aron said he'd like his own tent that night, instead of sharing our tent, so Aron and Sadie, a lovely 1.5-year-old Black Lab-Blue Healer mix, shared a little pup tent. He said it was a little scary at first, but he ended up sleeping like a log.
Arthur and I shared a tent. We had a flashlight, but I had to make a trip to the bathroom and without my contacts, I could not see the path back. Fortunately, I had counted steps to the bathroom when it was daylight and I had my lenses in, because I thought I'd have that problem, but even so, I got completely lost. I called out for Arthur, but he and the rest of the camp had already gone to sleep. I was beginning to wonder if I'd be stuck out there the whole night, when I suddenly stumbled on our tent. I didn't really sleep well after that, but Arthur slept like a log.
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on the Missouri, MT: the group relaxes in camp chairs at our campsite
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on the Missouri, MT: Aron Cowen builds an ocean resort at our campsite