Day 22 / 23 The 22nd - Havre to a Stealth Camp on the Fort Belknap Indian Reservation / The 23rd Stealth Camp to Saco MT

The winds in Montana may normally blow out of the West, but not always! It was another strong day of headwinds leaving Havre. When I talked to Dad he said they were about 15 mph. I had planned on making it to Malta yesterday but did not. I stopped in Harlem about 5:00 pm. I got something to eat from the grocery store and went to the city park to take a nap. At 6:00 the wind seemed to have died down a little and it just seemed like I was getting to much attention in the park. I decided to try and make Dodson which was about 30 miles down the road instead of camp in Harlem.

The winds picked up shortly after  getting back on the road and I knew Dodson wasn't going to be possible.  Trouble was that I was on the Fort Belknap Indian Reservation by that time. I started looking for a possible camp for the night anyway. Most of the land in that area is rolling Prairie and hard to hide in.  I fortunately found a small lake area with some tall brush and and grass. It worked perfectly. I was hidden from the road and the lake if someone came down.  The night was great except for the swarming mosquitoes.

I was on the road by 6:00 AM today.  The wind was calm till about 9 and then picked up again.  I stopped in Malta to do laundry, get a shower and eat some food.
The Conaco Gas Station had it all. It was awesome.  I may stick with this pattern if the wind keeps coming out of the east. Get up early, rest in the afternoon and ride till 6 or 7P.

Soon after leaving Malta, I ran into a strong thunderstorm. The lightning was intense. There was a small farm about a half mile away and I headed for that. I ran up and knocked on the door but no one came. I didn't have much option at that point, so I headed to their barn. I waited about 45 minutes for the storm to pass.
The Olson's never returned.  That really was the name on the door. Right out of Little House on the Prarie.

I'm camping in Saco tonight. Right behind an old abandoned Gas station. It's about 50 ft to the train tracks and about 100 ft to the crossing. I have never laid next to a train track before. The ground actually moves up and down like an earthquake. Should be an interesting night.  If you go to street view of Saco on Google you can see my home. Just across from the old hotel.

If you want to see where i was last night you can plug in these coordinates into Google also. N48°24.549' W108°29.009'

Pics from the last two days:

Leaving Havre. ..dirt for 3 miles. Had to walk part of it.

Chuck: touring for over 4 years. 129 countries, 86 thousand miles on this bike. No phone or electronics at all. Stealth camps most of the time. 

Larry: Going up to the Yukon territory.
I was sitting in a field eating some soup and Larry asked if he could stop and eat with me. 

Scenery

Next three:Stealth Camp with mandatory stealth head net. Really a mosquito net.

Olson's barn

Hwy view on Sunday morning. ..no traffic

Saco Montana during peak of tourist season

My backyard for the night