August 8: Nelson Reservoir

     There were 15 m.p.h. headwinds all day (more of the same for the rest of the week according to the weather people) and it was cloudy and cool all morning.  I even had about fifteen minutes of light rain. 
     Approximately half way across the Fort Belknap Indian Reservation, coming in the opposite direction, there was an organized bike ride of some kind.  A Montana version of RAGBRAI perhaps?  Except instead of 10,000 riders there were, at the most, sixty riders.  Another indicator that it was no RAGBRAI is that none of them appeared to have been drinking.  They were bunched in groups of three or four and I enjoyed exchanging "good mornings" with them.
     The clouds passed to the west and the sun came back out.  I started singing Who Loves the Sun?  To paraphrase Lou Reed and the Velvet Underground:  "Who loves the sun/ who cares that it makes plants grow/ who cares what it does since [it] broke my heart/ who loves the sun/ not everyone.
     Normally I love the sun, and while most of my body has adapted to it, my lips are blistering.  And that, to put it succinctly, sucks.
     I liked Malta almost as much as I hated Harlem.  There was a motel there that looked like it was lifted from Route 66 and placed on lowly Route 2.  I was so tempted to check into it, but I had already set a goal for reaching the B.L.M. Campground on the Nelson Reservoir and, by God, I am going to get there.

     I made it.  I had to go on a gravel road to get there but it was worth it.  I found a nice site five yards from the lake and the second I applied the brakes on my bike there were about 100 mosquitos on my skin.  Again, 100% DEET sent them packing.  Previously the worst mosquito infestation I ever encountered was on Isle Royale with my son Aaron and one of his Jr. High buddies.  But, as hard as this may seem to believe, considering I am on the Great Plains, this exceeded Isle Royale.  Montana mosquitos, however, are considerably smaller than the monsters of Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan.
     On the other side of the reservoir are some nice barren hills.  On the lake are seagulls and pelicans.  I just spent a considerable amount of time gathering enough fire wood to grill my dinner.  I am extremely pleased with my day.




Nelson Reservoir Campsite