Salish Sea to the Potomac : Day 19: Wolf Point to Circle, Mont.

If it seemed as though our western mountain passes had given way to the tedious monotony of straight, flat, prairie roads through endless fields, today provided a different kind of monotony. From Wolf Point, we headed south on highway 13, crossed over the Missouri River, and started climbing. Then descending. Then climbing again. For about 50 miles, we sank into an unending rhythm: about a half mile of climbing, followed by a half mile descent, then climbing back up again. It was a nice change of pace and, somewhat, of scenery from our last few days riding along highway 2. Conditions were much more favorable, with winds coming from the west, but being mostly light. The forecast called for 0% chance of rain, though we did receive at least a few sprinkles while riding, and then a brief downpour after we’d arrived and settled in to our motel in Circle.

We thought the day would be without services. The only services icon on my map today was one which we seem to see only in the most remote places: a little black box with a frothy white beer. This icon means “bar with food,” and it only shows up when there are absolutely no other services in a town. So as we passed the town of Vida today, we slowed slightly to be sure there was nothing there. There was a fresh sign out reading “Oh yah! Pop! Fudgecicles! Ice!” With an arrow pointing into the town. We found a tiny red house with an open sign and as we approached the door, a man who had been mowing the lawn walked over and took us inside. We were able to get some cold drinks, ice cream, and refill our water: a pleasant surprise of an oasis in the bustling metropolis of Vida. We suspect the man may have been a pastor at the church, as he let us know that the church door was unlocked to use the facilities there.

Circle is a great town if you are in the market for: gasoline, John Deere machinery, pizza, or steak fingers. For dinner, we opted for the last option and had steak fingers and gems. Now we’ve settled in to watch some Tour, and get up early tomorrow as we turn east again. Tomorrow, we’ll finally say goodbye to Montana and enter North Dakota. We’ll take a much more direct route across North Dakota and plan to be at the state line in Fargo by next Wednesday, just a few days out of Minneapolis, where we’ll have our first true rest days of the trip.

By the numbers:
Miles traveled: 53
Feet climbed: 2185
Total “peaks”: 16
Average pace: 12.1 mph
Average temperature: 81F
Percentage chance of rain: 0
Actual rain experienced: >0
Unidentified biting flies attacking: 10
Slices of toast per person: 6

View of Circle. We are officially out of Canine country, as Circle’s mascot is the Wildcat. More ominously, Circle is the home of the annual “shooting dog” competition at the end of August. So, apparently they really hate dogs.