Day 24: 100 is the new 50 (Not!), Badlands and Dinosaurs

Day 24: Sunday June 29th, 2014.

Sand Springs, MT to Circle, MT.   100.2 miles. 

Overnight, I experienced first-hand the reference to the "wind-swept plains".  After pushing me all day yesterday, and continuing unrelentingly through the night, I awoke to the 40 mph gusts pushing the limits of my tent pole strength. 

Fortunately, those winds were still out of the West, or maybe slightly more West-Northwest.  Either way, it was going to be another day of great progress. I was eager to set sail, and to break down the tent before it broke itself down.  And, being in Sand Springs, there wasn't anyone to talk to, no shower, no coffee, no restaurant, and thus no reason to hang around any longer. 

My morning ride was surrounded by a mix of grassland, wildflowers, and sagebrush. A familiar friend, "Big Sagebrush", or "Great Basin Sage" (Artemesia tridentata), stood out on the landscape with it's silvery-colored leaves and great aroma. Legend has it that cowboys on the prairie would break a sprig off and use it to freshen up their bedding. 

Arriving at the town of Jordan, having made swift progress, I was hungry and stopped for lunch. Then as I headed out of town, badlands topography greeted me with beautifully contrasting layers. 

The road was straight for as far as the eye could see, stretched out over the rolling hills. 

In this region, dinosaurs were common in the past, and several towns, including Jordan and Circle, have museums displaying many fossils found in these hills. 

I came to the turn-off for the road northward toward Fort Peck dam and lake. The man-made reservoir, interrupting the flow of the Missouri River, boasts 1,600 miles of shoreline and was the largest earthen dam in the world for a long time until Russia built a bigger one.  I really wanted to go check it out. But, it was 60 miles North, and thus a 2-day detour.

So, I passed it up and set my sights on the town of Circle, MT. 

I arrived in Circle around sunset.  It seemed later though, as a big thunderstorm was between me and the setting sun, creating a spectacular sunset. 

Another hundred mile day, and I was feeling great.