First thing we saw out our window this morning was the trees leaning over from the constant wind. Checking an aviation weather website we could see the really tight pressure gradients. It was obvious that we would experience some fairly strong winds. Virtually no traffic was a big bonus as we zipped right along to Milk River.
Wind was a bit gusty, but not too bad. The sky obliterated by smoke. Stopping at 8 Flags RV Park on the way to 3 Flags just made sense.
Twenty minutes later we arrived at USA Customs where we sat in line for 40 minutes. Once at the gate, we were each through in 2-3 minutes.
A few minutes down the road is when the fun started. Winds where strong and completely unpredictable. We were hit from the south, and the west and the east and the south east and the south west. Sometimes it was from multiple directions at the same time as the wind bounced off the surroundings. Sometimes going into a curve the wind was from the left and then suddenly gust from the right. The worst one was as we dropped into a valley, on a sloped bridge over a river, we got blown from the left, then the right, then the left again. We used the whole width of the lane several times before we reached the other side of the bridge. The winds tomorrow should be much better as shown on the gradient map
Finally got to see some sky as we approached Shelby, but it was still hazy. When we were not subject to the winds, it was great streaking along at 135kmph…. and nobody was chasing us.
Lunch at Great Falls and then down the road again. Out of the valley and into the mountains. It could not have been better riding. Beautiful twisting roads, great pavement, and no wind. ALL this at a buck thirty five. Just like living in a commercial.
Ate supper at a terrific restaurant called Hanging 5 Restaurant. If you get to Butte, this place is worth the stop.
It looks like the Butte claim to fame is the area’s mining. Part of its claim to fame is something called the Berkley Pit. It used to be an open pit mine that has been abandoned. Well, the short version is that it is an environmental disaster that is on track to becoming a MAJOR environmental catastrophe.
Read on…Berkley Pit
All in all, a great exciting riding day.
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