Dispatches from the road… Down by the river

 Dispatches from the Road by Bill Poindexter

Montana tales : 

down by the river 

Well, these last few days, been a whirlwind of excitement and emotion. Some days I just want to turn tail and head back to Kansas City other days... Can’t believe how lucky I am to be here. The beauty of this place is just amazing. I don’t know -maybe it’s because I’m a city guy and it’s hard to transition to live in one place like this for three months or more. I’ve been here over a month now and I’ve only been in town once and when I was in town all I could think of is I wanted to be back here. And up here I’ve just been wanting to work, and finally hours are starting to come, which is good, so I work six days this week bartending and then working washing dishes and doing prep line and being a line cook too-figure I better get my skill set up. Sad news -they ended up firing the chef, Ryan for drinking on the job long story, he has a long line of demons that he’s fighting with, it’s pretty sad and he’s in a hell-bent self-destructive mode right now. I think it was the best thing for the saloon as talking to multiple people. They were happy to see him go because honestly the guy was an asshole although he and I got along pretty well he didn’t treat me well, especially in the beginning. He was actually from Kansas City to, but c’est la vie. We all have our own problems. I’m sitting in front of the north fork river at 7 AM on the 23rd. It’s cold probably in the upper 30s. My hands are really cold. I got out of my tent which was really cold and moved over to a sunny spot drinking coffee. 

I met some cool people this week. I’ll share that with you real quick I met three army officers two infantry -one artillery, good guys. We had a nice conversation after work one day I was sitting outside the saloon having a beer, and they came over and sat with me, they’re all West Point graduates and here for a week or so to hike in the mountains in glacier national Park. They went out the first day and the weather was really bad including some snow up in the mountains and rain. It was cold. I saw them yesterday as they came back and got a warm cabin the night before last and they said they were heading out yesterday again yesterday was really nice day. Today’s gonna be a nice day too so they should be OK. I met some two girls who were Bikepacker’s as well. Nice couple for him Tulsa, Oklahoma, and I met a continental divide trail backpacker who’s attempting to do a thru hike his Trail name is Mr. Z. If you want to follow his story, you can go to 2011 Mr. Z he did the Pacific crest trail and the Appalachian trail so he’s going for a triple crown the CDT.

I feel like I need to get my food situation dialed in a little bit better now that Ryan’s gone and Jennifer the new general managers there we get a better selection of food so I can get more salads in my diet and more vegetables so I’m excited about that -Had a couple offers of people to do my laundry for me so that’s good. My friend Kaytee from Colorado sent me a package. I finally got only took a couple weeks to get here and sent me a really cool Hammock which I’m looking forward to using with a bug net on it if anybody wants to donate to a cause I need a door screen, one of those ones you can hang up on the door and then has a slot through the center basically like a mobile screen. Keep the mosquitoes and the flies out -flies are next. They’re starting to come black flies. I think they are. I’m not sure. 

I’ve had a lot of conversations with people up here you know about the world -life, and it’s fun  to chat as most people are up here for vacations, so they just want you to tell them stories and I’m good at that -they want you to send them places where they can see animals and I’m actually good at that too. I sent four men on the road where I knew that they have more chance of seeing a grizzly bear than anywhere else and they took my advice. They came back to the bar couple hours later, with big grins on their face and kind of announce to the bar that they saw two grizzly bears on the road. I told him to go on, and they took a video of it from the car and it sure enough it was too young grizzly bears, probably yearlings, crossing the road saw them stood up on their hind feet then one fell over and then they bolted off into the woods. It was pretty cool. 

I spent the summer solstice with some locals at  home bottom Ranch, Clay, Rachel, Rose, Kent, Danny, and then there were some Tourist folks -was fun to share that time and as I walked up to the bonfire they would say “happy solstice” and raise up their glasses for a dink. Remind me of an episode of that 90 show Northern Exposure…

I’ve been reading meditations by Descartes, on the existence of life and God, the universe -I like exploring philosophy as I navigate my way through this new life here. it’s beautiful here sitting right on the edge of the north fork river you’ll see in the pictures, listening to the sound of the river, I just saw a raven fly overhead. I’m looking towards Bowman lake area and I think one of the glaciers in front of me over in Glacier just me and there’s a kind of a one of those end of the world campers behind me. They’re parked there and they’re asleep in there where I met is a mile and a half from glacier or from Polebridge on the north fork river, and the entrance to glacier national park on the northwest side and I am camped on the left side of the bridge where I have my bicycle and my tent. 

This was actually the first place I ever camped in Polebridge in 2017. 

I got off my shift last night at -I think -10 o’clock had a couple of beers with a traveling musician and he regaled me with some really good acoustic guitar music and watched the moon and Venus below it and then rode my bike here it was only 1 1/2 miles to get to my camp. Still somewhat light at 11p with the silhouette of the landscape-I think I’m gonna keep this camp for tonight as well and just head into the park and do some exploring because I have to work tomorrow morning, I like the idea of being able to camp anywhere I want to and then head just heading into work rather than staying at the cabin all the time. 

Abbey and Dylan who work next-door at the Mercantile went to town and got me a bag of apples and a couple other things I needed so that was nice. So well that’s it for right now I don’t have anything else to say drop me a note if you’d like. 

If you’re interested in supporting this blog and my words from the road, you can find me on Venmo or just reach out to me on Facebook or directly -always appreciate and I’m grateful for a cup of coffee and a sandwich.

OK, I think I’m gonna head up to the Mercantile and get a breakfast sandwich and a another cup of coffee. I’m glad to have the day off.

Hope you are doing well peace and love from the road Bill Poindexter.

Poem next….

Dispatches from Montana

Ross Voorhees 

Clay

Maddie and Sebastian 

Alex 

Bobik

 Dispatches from the Road by Bill Poindexter

Diary of a novice Saloon keeper, and Adventure Cycling Association Polebridge, Montana days, 22 through 26 

June 18, 7 AM, 50° rain coming down steady. It’s been this way the last few days usually rains overnight and in the morning and a little less during the day or none. I’m feeling more at home here. About four days ago. Another rainy day. I was working in the bar by myself and it was cold enough for rainy enough to where all the customers stayed inside. It was a busy day. Had a lot of fun, met a young couple, both active army, she works in finance and accounting for the army something to do with counter terrorism, and he is a special forces Green Beret. They live in North Carolina and they’re actually getting ready to move to Brussels. Sebastian and Maddie and it was kind of fun and they came in for lunch and then came back later and after I got off my shift, they bought me a beer. We sat down for a couple hours and just talked about life. It was interesting to hear their perspective as military people on what’s going on in the world they seem to be hopeful about AI whereas I’m more skeptical and one of the things I really appreciate is they were outspoken and very optimistic for the future. And although we did not agree on everything, it was just fun to have a open conversation respectful. We gave each other hugs and they were on their way invited me to stay with them in Brussels when I get overseas so if I like that good people. I’ve been meeting a lot of good people. I thought I’d share some more with you. There’s a Doctor who works here. We call him Dr. Bill I don’t even know his last name but he lives here all year round. He has a active practice well one day a week in whitefish very kind man good soul kind blue eyes think he’s around 68. He comes in most days to get his two burger patties in drinks a couple of the claw drinks. Usually talking about working in his garden. And the other day he came in, and I just got off my shift and I was gonna have a beer and we sat outside together and chatted for quite a bit of time he also likes to talk about health and what we should eat and what we should eat. He’s also like me a open conspiracy theorist. He is very open minded, and very practical about some of the not so good things that are going on in the earth in human bodies from a nutritional standpoint. He’s written five books and it’s going to give me one of them his latest. I don’t have it yet, but I’ll share it when I get it. Will review after I read it. There were also two musicians the other day, Drew and Ben got to watch them on the stage here at the Saloon -

I got a video of them and I’ll post a picture of them and I’ll try to post that video at some point. Just give you a flavor for what it’s like to listen to music at the saloon - last night, Ross Voorhees was playing at the saloon, he’s a really good guy too. I’ve listen to him a few times it’s fun listening to a guy up there, with a guitar, harmonica, bells around ankle, singing is heart out. I’m supposed to go on a bike ride later day with Ross Vorhesses a superb local singer / songwriter , a guy named Tom and the owners of the yoga retreat up here Brooke and Clay, but still having issues with my bicycle. The left crank has fallen off now four times and finally put some Loctite on it the other day, and seems to be holding, but I’m a little leery about heading up to far into the mountains. I’m gonna try to hitch a ride to whitefish when I get my next long day off. And just replace the crank. But in the meantime, I’ll try to make it work up here so I can tell people people asked me. “Hey Bill, are you a bicycle mechanic”, And I just laugh and say only when I need to be and I need to be right now. 

Jennifer who is the new general manager has been here about four or five days now and she and I get along really well. She’s got a lot of experiencing managing restaurants and resorts and bars, and it’s nice to have somebody up here from a leader ship standpoint, as we’ve been kind of just flying by the seat of our pants a little bit if the leadership isn’t around. So I’m super excited about that and makes the job definitely more pleasant, and everybody seems to be less on edge, so I’m hoping that that continues to work out and hope it works out for the season. She’s a kind soul think we’re gonna be great friends as well. She has watched me work behind the bar when it was just me and has seen how I interact with people and she likes it a lot. She says people love me and that I’m good at what I do, so it’s nice to have that feedback from somebody who has a lot of experience in the industry. And I still have a lot to learn so I’m excited about learning it from her. Next week I’m gonna be taking a couple of shifts working as a prep cook in the kitchen, as well as a dishwasher. I don’t consider it a step down. I consider to step up because I want to learn the whole way things work in a restaurant so I’m pretty excited plus I really like everybody I work with especially their kitchen staff. They’re awesome. And I don’t mind taking orders from 20 year olds Who have been very kind to me. Also, I have four days on shift in the front of the house doing the bartending so that will be great hoping that the rain will start letting up and it seems like more people are coming up yesterday I had a good shift and, even though it’s kind of a rainy day most of the day, there were a lot of people that came in for lunch and drinks as it was Saturday and I seem to be handling myself well in terms of ordering food, preparing some foods and working behind the bar, making drinks that I’ve never made before And I’m getting faster every day doing it. Meeting A lot of really nice people and people going up into the local lakes, hiking, biking, rafting and then coming back and having more drinks for food. I’ve also made and created two new drinks for children and young adults one is a huckleberry soda, basically huckleberry juice, and soda water, instead of like a Roy Rogers/ Shirley Temple and the other is a huckleberry sun tea. There is also been some other cool things going on so the chef likes the way I illustrate the menu for the specials and one of the other bartenders. Alex has been having me illustrate letters for him. And he’s going to buy me a journal with clear pages versus just using looseleaf paper for my journaling and my illustrating. So I guess you can say I’m getting paid to be in Illustrator up here. I’ll post a picture of what kind of illustrations I do it’s pretty raw pretty basic. But they tell simple stories… But I generally do it when I send postcards to people and have been doing it often on for years. And I’m writing down a lot of potential stories that I plan to write about after this whole experience.

 My friend Bill Fordyce is now at the area where he’s going to be a Fire Lookout in Salmon Idaho, that’s gonna be exciting. He should be there the whole summer and up until October I think. He showed me a video of how they get supplies and basically he’s up on a mountain ridge and a lookout tower that has four cables holding it steady and a helicopter will bring in about 1200 pounds of gear and then they have to haul the gear from the base of the tower to the top of the tower and to various storage places but it’s just him for the summer and there is like a cabin somewhere away from the tower that he can go to periodically and they there’s a like a group of them I think-three people that take turns being up in the tower. That’s the way I understand it. 

He also told me what the weathers like when he’s up in the fire look out that there’s four cables attached to the lookout tower and when the wind hits about 42 miles an hour, they start to hum and just curious about the what the frequency would be from the Metal cables humming from the wind. 

And I can get updates from Facebook from him in messenger and probably text you so I’ll keep you updated. I think you can also find him on Facebook if you’re interested and friend him Bill Fordyce. 

Well, the rain doesn’t seem to be letting up… So next week is supposed to start getting really busy so I’m excited about that developing relationships with locals and the people that work at the Mercantile and then people to come up on the weekends as well. When I was here in 2017, I met a few people and one was Jim Mount and Jim was kind enough to let me stay on his property in 2017 and multiple times and also in 2018 when I passed through when I was on the great divide mountain bike route. Jim is getting a hip replacement in Arizona this next week and he and his husband Austin and I had a beer the other night and they offered me one of their bicycles to use if mine wasn’t repairable for the short term so it’s nice to have that support here. So I’m gonna go check out that bicycle today and probably bring it to my cabin at some point. And it was kind of cool yesterday when I was working my shift a young couple came in and the woman said she had worked there before and it was Casey and Spencer who I met in 2017 and the story goes is when I rolled into Polebridge the first time I rode my bike from Missoula to Polebridge and I came into the saloon and ordered a double cheeseburger recommendation from the bar keeper, who was working at that time and sat outside and sat at a table with some hikers, and I told the server that I was on a tight budget and told her about the trip that I was on. That was Casey, and one of the guys that was eating at the table didn’t finish his macaroni and cheese and she asked him if he wanted to box it up and take it with him. He said no just throw it away and not want to waste food-I said wall take it, and they all kind of looked at me and it was great though I had it later on that night in my tent by the river. Fast forward a couple weeks to July 4, 2017 I came back in and Casey and Spencer bought me a cheeseburger and a beer and we had a nice conversation and that was the last time I actually saw them until yesterday. They’re actually one of the reasons why I’m up here because of their kindness. So their parents live somewhere in the area and they invited me to come up to the cabin and possibly even do a some rafting with them if I have the time. And Casey was so kind she gave me two big hugs. I seem to be getting a lot of hugs up here from people ..needed hugs..so good souls for sure. I still haven’t done laundry yet although I do laundry every day when I take a shower rinsing out clothes soaping them up so I guess it’s just as good as having a laundry machine but next time I go into town I’d like to take a load in. that’s one of the things of living in an OffGrid community. A laundry machine takes a lot of power as well as a dryer so I have my clothes hanging up on the edge of my cabin out of the rain. 

Well, I guess that’s it for now. Today is Sunday and I think I’m gonna hang out here and do some writing in my journal until the rain lets up a little bit more and I’ll probably head to the Mercantile have a bacon breakfast sandwich and check out that bicycle over at Jim‘s house and as long as my bikes holding up, go for a bike ride some more. Today’s my only off day for the next seven days, so got to take advantage of it

And I’ll leave you with us. So the forest floor right now is lush. Lots of growth coming up lots of wild flowers blooming and everywhere you go. You can smell the flowers and the smell of pine. You smell the pine when it’s wet sad, wet smell of pine and when it’s hot and the suns on it, you can smell the pine then too, it’s always wafting through the air as I roll down the street on my bicycle. We’re up in the mountains. It’s just wonderful to be around nature. Also, it’s great being off grid as well. Don’t know what it is about being off grid but I definitely have less aches and pains than I did when I was in the city, I think that’s from the electromagnetic frequencies… Look it up again for you conspiracy theory doubters. :-)

Peace and love from the road Bill Poindexter

Dispatches from the road day, 20

 Dispatches from the Road by Bill Poindexter

Well, I’ve been up here and remote, Montana and the town of Polebridge for 20 days now. I’m still learning the lay of the land-Learning about its inhabitants, it’s nature and wildlife, the weather, the the feuds locals have. How the government manages the national Park, national forest, and how local biologists with various institutes and fish and game try to control, the animal populations and sometimes mother nature- sometimes they’re right and sometimes they’re wrong. The nice thing about this area is that where I live is off the grid so it’s only run by generators and solar power but even that has its toxic effects, the generators are noisy and they still take fossil fuels. The solar power is better than it was years ago, but still somewhat inefficient . Someone told me yesterday that three locals who live next to each other died of bladder cancer. I’m not sure how many years ago so the water supply might be tainted with something? That’s just concerning. And even though we’re in a remote area it’s not without its politics everybody has an opinion. And so as with any place, I have to watch the lay of the land and be careful and navigate wisely and right now I am being very careful.. especially with my coworkers, bosses and local leaders. Being a man who is outspoken and not afraid to say the truth sometimes it’s really hard to keep my mouth shut. Every time I’ve moved to a community no matter how pristine or beautiful there’s always politics. Just the way of the world. But even with all the negativity and there’s a lot -there’s much much beauty like a hummingbird just came up to me red head with a brown body. I’ve seen bear I’ve seen mountain lion, lots of deer, grouse, bald eagle, various types of hawks I rode my biked up to red Meadow Lake yesterday, which is 5 miles to the north of Polebridge and then about another 12 or so miles up to red Meadow Lake and if you continue onto the road heading south you’ll get to whitefish I didn’t make it all the way up because of a pending storm and I just didn’t have the appropriate gear with me, so I turned around and rode home And I saw some tour divide riders that’s a race that goes from Banff Alberta, Canada all the way to antelope Wells, Mexico, or vice versa on what’s known as the great divide mountain bike route which I’ve done most of a couple of times. So that was fine and the Views are spectacular. On way home my crank came off my bike. I tried to fix it on the side of the road couldn’t get it to work, so luckily I was only a couple miles away from where my friend Bill Fordyce lives at a yoga retreat business. Bill was able to get it back on and we are we got it all tightened up, so I think I’m good to go. People often ask me with my bicycle touring adventures if I’m a good mechanic and I laughingly tell them that I become a mechanic when I’m on the road and that’s what happened in this case too. It was a lesson of humility for sure, and that I need to be more prepared when I go up into the mountains and not be lax With my preparedness and self reliance/ rescue skills.

 It’s about six in the morning on Monday and it’s clear skies. I’m sitting in front of my cabin. It’s probably around 50°. I’m hoping for more work soon! I only had three days shifts last week and this week I’m only on for three days -as it picks up, we’re gonna have more hours so then I’ll probably be wanting less hours but right now money is tight and I’m still paying for everything and Kansas City. So feeling a little stressed out just venting. Still feeling a little bit homesick. I miss my cats I miss my friends there. But making new friends here and getting to know lay of the land. The plan is now today, Monday, I’m gonna hitch a ride into town with one of the other bartenders, Alex, really nice guy, and open up a bank account. And would be nice to go to a grocery store. 

I am just sharing all this with you, humbly, in the early morning just a little self reflection I’ve been here almost 3 weeks -I like it. I like the people -I like nature -I like riding my bike up mountain roads and even just to work and smelling the pine trees, I like looking out my back window of my little cabin and looking at my backyard, which is basically the Flathead National Forest, I’m enjoying meeting people and hearing stories like John Carbone, from Maine, who’s been on the road for two years, traveling in an RV and has been to almost all the national parks east of the Mississippi and making his way west and I believe he’s going to be heading to Alaska shortly on his own spiritual journey. Here’s a man who’s overcome much diversity in his life close to my age. Trying to make peace with his demons, the same demons/issues many of us have in life. I encouraged him yesterday, and a long conversation on the front porch of the Merc, while Huckleberry bear claws to start writing down his tales from the road. John I hope you write them down if you’re reading this. I am hoping to stay here for the whole summer… But that being said, with all the internal politics here in the small hamlet, if I have enough money saved, I may just hit the road in late August. I also still want to do more videos and I’ve taken a few, and maybe even do a podcast still I’m working on it. The reason why I hesitate is because once you go on that route, you’re someone obligated and I kind of like my simple “dispatches” from the road. It suits me now- my writing: it’s been going well but not great, mostly just using all my senses, and again figuring out the lay of the land.

  

Thanks for reading this and all my words. If you like these words feel free to share. Sometimes I post on Facebook you can friend me there. I think you can go to blogspot on the website version and put your email in to get notifications of every time I post. if you’ve been a long time reader, and want to support my writing endeavor, you can find me on Venmo under Bill Poindexter and has a picture of me with the beard ring just reach out to me directly. And if you’re in the area of Polebridge, Montana, this summer feel free to reach out. If you’re a cyclist, I’ll try to help you find a place to stay for a night or two and maybe join me for a cup of coffee and a burger.

Peace and love from the road, Bill Poindexter