Day 390 to 392 Deer Lodge to Drummond to Bear Mouth to Missoula – 82 Miles

10/7/2015

20151004_130737Mother Nature let the sun out to play. It was a good thing too. At the outset of my day the air nipped at the parts of my skin that were exposed. I ran on a wide road that forked. One road led to the state prison and the other road into some winding mountainous terrain. I accidentally stayed on the road to the prison and added a couple miles to my day. When I righted my course, I encountered rolling, winding, and rocky hills. It wasn’t until Crystal caught up with me that the road became treacherous. It narrowed into cow trails and hairpin turns. She had to inch along with the trailer in order to avoid mishaps. It conjured up images of our adventures in the Arizona desert.

20151004_150658It was the first time I was able to outrun the trailer. I met one person while running that day. He had two kids in a minivan and he was searching for a nearby lake. He stopped to ask me directions but I was not much help. I only knew I had to stay on Stagecoach Rd. After driving around the roads for a little bit, he crossed my path again and decided to strike up a conversation. I’m sure it seemed odd for a person to be running in the middle of nowhere. Tales of my adventure brought a smile to his face. I wanted to give him one of our stickers but when I went to my pocket, I discovered I had forgotten to reload.

20151004_155940I crossed a few clear, rocky, trickling streams and plenty of roaming cattle. Eventually the road took me to a tiny town called Gold Creek. Where the pavement began I passed a deer that didn’t run away from me. The destination was still a few miles away in the town of Drummond (population approximately 300). We had a small motel that was kind enough to put us up for the evening. The Wagon Wheel Inn was also a restaurant. The food must have been good because the place was packed.

20151005_143349The next morning I was eager to try the food at the restaurant. I didn’t deviate much from my usual breakfast so the flavors were nothing foreign. We had to get to the post office before eleven thirty to send out a few boxes of autographed books. It took us a little longer than we planned. I must have hit the road around noon while Crystal stayed behind to call places of lodging and to play her trivia game on the computer.

20151005_151004The roads remained paved on our way to Bearmouth. My destination was just fifteen miles away. Most of the day I ran next to the Rock Fork Creek. It was another warm day. We expected that we’d be camping beside the road that evening so we didn’t rush to Bearmouth. Instead we found a great spot next to the creek and we enjoyed the scenery. The orange and gold leaves on the trees whispered the song of fall. A fallen tree provided a comfortable seat by the trickling water where we stared at the rustic surroundings.

20151005_180705After lunch Crystal drove ahead and discovered The Bearmouth RV resort. It was a spacious campground that had not yet shut down for the season. A tiny community of cabins were being decorated the end of the campground. The grounds were located at the end of my frontage road. When I reached the spot I met the two young brothers that ran the place. Justin and Jason were happy to set us up with a site. With plenty of sunlight left in the sky, I decided to run eight miles on the freeway to the next exit. Justin offered to come pick me up so that we could keep the trailer hitched to the truck.

20151006_112840I could hardly remember running the eight miles along the freeway. My concentration went into my steps and focus remained on the road before my feet. I must have been running at race pace because I finished the mileage in the blink of an eye. It was hard to believe I was only twenty-six miles away from Missoula. It was the last big city in Montana that was on our itinerary. It meant we were close to completing the southern portion of our trip. By pushing extra miles on the prior days, we earned an extra day of rest in Missoula.
The next day I faced a tough road with several curves and plenty of hills. Crystal had worked miracles every time cold weather appeared. She made another one happen by finding us the City Center Motel in the heart of town. The traffic on the road increased as I neared the big city. While most people on the road flashed me thumbs up, there were a couple of young immature males the flashed me a different digit from their hand. Usually I ran defensively but those gestures pulled an offensive side out of hibernation. I was just happy to reach our motel and settle down. Of course it wasn’t as simple as resting at the end of my day. I still needed to fill my stomach. We discovered the original HuHot in the city and they continued to support our journey. We chatted with the entire staff of HuHot. The manager Kyle was especially friendly. He made sure were enjoyed our food and kept me hydrated at all times. The day was topped off with the cream cheese rangoons we had come to love. We counted our blessings and were thankful for our continued fortune.20151006_211525

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