Day 22 Monday 7/27/09 Cut Bank to Chester, MT

Day 22 Monday 7/27/09 Cut Bank to Chester, MT 70 Miles 895 total miles After some free mocha Monday samples at the local McDonalds and some fresh fruit for breakfast, Gary and I rode out of town towards Chester, the next stop for us on the Hi-Line. The day went quite well, this being the second farthest in absolute distance that I have traveled during this trip. Gray was anxious to go ahead and thought that he might even push on to a town farther down the line. There hwere some pretty significant headwinds in the last third of the day and by the time I reached Chester, there was Gary, in the shade of a roadside rest-stop awning. We considered camping in this spot, right next to the tracks, but after the previous night's cacophony near the tracks thought better of it. Using a local map, I scouted out the city park and much to my pleasant surprise found a lush, green park where tenters are welcome to stay for free. Simple accommodations next to a picnic pavilion in a city park, but with running water and toilets , so all was good. We even had a watering schedule and location to set up the tents so we knew where to situate so as to stay dry-- a quick trip to the local grocery for a six pack and we were established for the night. Just before dusk another cyclist rolled, in-, "JP" from Deerfield, NH, who has been on the road since June 11 and is making the brave westward-ho trip to the coast pushing his Trek 520 into the wind. Oh to be 22 again! JP was able to share all kinds of road wisdom our way and we learned of a particularly beneficial stop-off in upcoming town of Havre, the next day's journey, as well as general information about crossing Ontario, a route fraught with challenges, as well as scenic beauty.