Yesterday (Sat., 6-8), I rode about 64 miles from Stanford to Great Falls, MT. It was a long day–I started around 8:30 a.m. and didn’t arrive until 6:30 p.m. I am glad to be taking today off. It has given me time to attend to things like installing the two birdsong apps that a couple of you have recommended–ChirpOMatic and Merlin Bird. Thank you so much! I will let you know how they work out. I am also looking forward to having a chance to check out the Missouri River, which is very close to my motel here in Great Falls.

The next few photos show the scenery as I headed west from Stanford. To my left were the Little Belt Mountains.

And to my right were some hills that include Antelope Butte.

The terrain got hillier and craggier as the day went on. Here are a few views of the Little Belt Mountains and some of what I saw closer to the roadside near Raynesford (pop. 51).

As I approached Belt (pop. 597), things got considerably hillier. My Adventure Cycling maps took me off Hwy 200 at this point. It was nice to be away from the heavier traffic on Hwy 200, but there was a steep climb in Belt on a road with little to no shoulder. It was on this road that I had my first experience with “Rolling Coal.” Have you heard of this? It refers to a modification made to diesel engines so that they emit a large cloud of sooty black exhaust. According to Wikipedia, it is a form of anti-environmentalism that can be used as a form of protest or entertainment, where drivers trigger the emissions at foreign vehicles, pedestrians, or…bicyclists. I had two trucks pass me in quick succession, each spewing these black clouds. Fortunately, this was an instance where the Montana winds rapidly blew the smoke away.

Here are a couple of views heading into Belt.

As I approached the town of Geyser (pop. 87) around 11 a.m., I noticed a number of wind turbines on the hills around the town. I understand some of the local folks do not like the turbines because they believe they are unsightly and think their flashing lights create light pollution that negatively impacts dark sky star-viewing. I’ve also heard that locals are disgruntled that power from wind turbines is sent to regions outside Montana, such as the State of Washington.

Here is an enlargement of the turbines off in the distance as I approached Geyser.

And here is how the turbines appear from the road in a non-enlarged photo.

According to this historical marker just before I got to Geyser, agriculture began to outdistance mining in importance in Montana beginning in about 1910, due in large part to the influence of the Great Northern Railway. The marker indicates that a number of Finns settled in the area.

Geyser is a very small town and there is not much commercial activity there other than the Cabin Creek Bar, but they do have a lively sign for the Geyser Wranglers. I understand Geyser was named after nearby bubbling mud springs, but I didn’t try to see them.

Here is the Cabin Creek Bar, where I had lunch just as it opened at 11 a.m.

There is an undated old photograph on one of the barroom walls that includes some of its original “regulars.”

Since I was the first and only customer in the bar for about 45 minutes, I had a nice chance to get acquainted with the bar manager, Riley. Riley has been doing a number of double shifts at the bar lately and worked there the previous night until 2 a.m. She is saving money to buy a better car and to pay off student loans. Riley makes an effort to give each customer at least five minutes of focused attention. She told me she is a self-taught oil painter and would like to do a painting of the bar showing a number of its regular customers.

Riley told me that the bar for the facility was shipped from overseas and is one of the oldest in Montana.

Looking for a good use for all those bottlecaps you’ve been saving? Perhaps this table outside the bar will give you an idea.

Anyone out there with a porcupine you no longer need? There is a notice on the bulletin board of the bar indicating that there is a buyer who wants to hear from you. Riley told me that porcupine quills are used in making jewelry and fishing floats.

I wondered how far this polite notice would go in eliciting the “understanding and cooperation” of intoxicated customers. I asked Riley about it, and she told me she has only had to “86” a customer once. This was a new term for me, and I learned that it refers to permanently throwing a customer out of the place.

On this stretch of Hwy 200 heading west from Geyser, I met Matthew, from Tampa, FL, who was on vacation. He was hauling a trailer behind his vehicle with an ATV on it but was stranded because his alternator and battery were shot. He said he had called roadside assistance but that it was going to take up to three hours for them to arrive because so few services like that are available in the area. Although he was in a lousy frame of mind, we had a nice conversation and I asked Matthrew if I could take his picture. He said no, and that he never agrees to have his picture taken. I think this is the first instance on this trip that someone has refused when I’ve asked to take their photo.

As I got past Belt, the terrain flattened out a lot, and although the wind picked up considerably, it was mostly hitting me on my right side (from the north, as I was headed west), and I was able to move along a lot more quickly for the last 15 miles. My destination tomorrow (Mon. 6-10) is Conrad, MT (pop. 2,570), about 60 miles away.