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Current Location |
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Paul
Is Spending The Evening In:
ROUNDUP, MONTANA
At The
America's Best Value Inn
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Live Local Weather |
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Today's Audio Files |
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 Click
Links Below To Listen To Paul's Audio
Files From The Road. Also, To Save Audio
Files You Can Right Click On The Links &
"Save Target As". |
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In Roundup |
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Today's Pictures |
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 Click
On Pictures For Larger Versions
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Today's Videos |
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Note: Some schools were not able to view the
embedded videos due to school Internet filters. So,
we'll be posting links here soon so that you can
download the videos into your computer's media
player.
Click
The Lower-Left Triangle To View
Click
on Triangle Symbol in Lower Left Corner
The Wind
Noise In The Following Video Is Very
Loud And Drowns Out Much Of Paul's Voice.
However, It Gives You An Idea As To How Hard
The
Winds Have Been That He's Battling.
Click
on Triangle Symbol in Lower Left Corner |
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Area Information |
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 Roundup, Montana
is a city of nearly 2,000 people. According to
historians, Roundup got its name because ranchers
found the valley near the Musselshell River a
natural place to "round up" their cattle in the fall
of the year. Some say it was named because it was
the ending point of the Texas Trail cattle drives
into Montana. In the 1800's the valley had not been
surveyed and was mostly uninhabited. Much of the
area was surveyed in 1882 and by 1900 a significant
portion of the land was fenced according to
rancher's holdings. Little open range was left.
Musselshell County was organized in 1911 and Roundup
was named the county seat. Publicity put out by the
railroad and the availability of homestead land
brought increasing numbers of people into the area.
Many European immigrants came to claim land or to
work in the coal mines, making Roundup a veritable
"melting pot" of nationalities. Coal mines near
Roundup coupled with a strong farm and ranch
economy, kept the city thriving in the early years.
Montana's first oil well was discovered a few miles
north of Roundup and a ensuing oil boom caused much
activity in the area. Roundup was home of the Great
Montana Centennial Cattle Drive of 1989. The drive
began on September 4, 1989 when 3,600 horses and
riders and over 300 wagons of every description
drove 3,000 head of cattle from Roundup to Billings.
Betty Wetzel, author and former Roundup resident,
stated in an article for the Roundup Record-Tribune,
"this was more horses assembled in one place in
Montana than the altercation between Custer and
Sitting Bull at the Little Big Horn in 1876."
Beginning in the early morning hours east of
Roundup, the drive paraded down Main Street to the
delight of hundreds of spectators from all over the
world. It took five days for the journey; the
logistics of which were mind-boggling. A fleet of
tanker trucks hauled 200,000 gallons of water and
other trucks brought in 140 tons of hay per day for
the livestock. Portable showers capable of cleaning
up 300 people per hour were set up at the camp
locations where a hot shower could be had for $3.00,
and a towel was included. |
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Learn More |
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Roundup Area Pictures
Roundup
Record-Tribune
Roundup
Information
Learn More About
Montana! |
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Read The Guestbook |
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 Click
Here To Read The 2008 P.A.C.E. Trek
Guestbook! |
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- - - -
DAY 9 - TUESDAY, MAY 6, 2008 - - - -
Today's Distance:
35 Miles
Today's Route:
Melstone to
Roundup, MT
Today's
Weather:
70º, 2
Thunderstorms, Some Sun, Wind!
Current Elevation:
3,215 Feet (275' More Than Yesterday)
Total Distance Traveled:
242 Miles
Total
Distance Remaining:
378 Miles
Paul's
Thoughts For Today:
YEEHAW... I'm in
Roundup, Montana!
 This was quite a
challenging day. Of course, everyday on the road is
challenging. However, today I had 35 miles to cover from
Melstone to Roundup and went through two thunderstorms on
the way which not only got "Bob" and I pretty wet, but also
whipped at us with plenty of headwind. Yep... I got more
wind burn. So, I'll be continuing the treatments to my beat
up skin.
A local
challenger emerged today for my trek across Montana. I was
near the halfway point on the day when on the shoulder of the highway
appeared a turtle! I stopped and photographed it, and even
took some video. With the amount of headwind I had to battle
today I wouldn't be surprised if that turtle beat me to
Roundup!
I've been asked
by several kids how Bob is doing. Well, Bob is doing
fantastic! He hasn't had any flat tires yet and is
functioning just fine. I don't think he minds me pushing him
around all the time. If it weren't for Bob, I'd never be
able to cross Montana all alone. In fact, I believe the
crossing of Montana that I did in 2006 during my run across
America (as well as this east-to-west crossing) are the
fastest documented solo crossings of Montana ever done on
foot. That's possible thanks to Bob!
As I mentioned,
the wind was a factor today. When the wind wasn't blowing
and the rain wasn't coming down, it was very humid as the
sun peeked through the clouds. It was at those times that
the bees came out in full force. I had several riding on Bob
and some that wanted to sink their stingers into me. I was
certainly glad to arrive at the America's Best Value Inn,
which is donating a room for me to stay in. Jean, who works
at the Inn, immediately took care of getting me in my room
and providing a bucket with some ice so that I could get to
my foot treatment. Jean was also here two years ago when I
stayed here during my run across America - which she
remembers. The big news is that I am going to spend two
evenings in Roundup.
 I've logged 242
miles in 8 days on the pavement... in some pretty extreme
conditions - ranging from a freezing snow storm to some very
hot, dry, windy days on the prairies of Montana. The left
foot tendon pull that I experienced on day 2 is still
bothering me and certainly gets painful during long daily
treks of 30 miles or more. It really bothered me today and I
knew that I had to take one day off the road to properly
treat the foot with ice so that it can continue to carry me.
Yesterday in my journal entry I talked about the need to be
able to make adjustments when needed in order to succeed at
a goal. That's what I'm doing now. If I were to just push on
without giving my body the treatment that it is telling me
it needs, I would simply be setting myself up for failure...
and I don't want that. So, although I'd rather be on the
road tomorrow logging the 40 miles to the town of Ryegate,
I'm going to take one day off the road and give my body the
treatment it needs. You should keep in mind that I log more
than a marathon every day and typically only have one
evening to repair and prepare my body to do it all over
again. In fact, a couple of days ago I logged 67 miles
within 36 hours. That's like doing 2½
marathons in a day and a half. That's a lot of stress on the
body and although I know what I need to do each night in
order to get myself back on the road the next morning, there
comes those times when you know that more time is needed.
This is one of those times. So, I will be off the road
tomorrow. Run and walk tomorrow so that you can either catch
up to me or get ahead of me. When I get back on the road on
Thursday I'll be logging 40 miles... and then on Friday
(when I reach Harlowton, Montana) I'll be halfway done with
this journey!
Tomorrow
morning, Wednesday, I'll be working on posting pictures and
videos from the past several days since I have a high-speed
Internet connection. So, you'll want to check back to see
those. I truly appreciate the kind words that have been
shared in the guestbook and which I've received via e-mail.
I'll be sharing more thoughts about that tomorrow, as well
as some of the team mileage information to show how some of
the teams are doing. I'm very impressed with the effort that
the kids are giving! It sounds like there are many teams
that are just simply enjoying the experience and are more
focused on the benefits of being involved with P.A.C.E. than
actually "racing" me across Montana. That's cool!
 Well, it's time
to ice my feet again and get some rest. Please know that I
am fine and that this journey will continue on Thursday. I
just need a day to get my body better prepared for the next
half of this trek. The Rocky Mountains are looming on the
horizon and those will take a strong effort to conquer. I
need to be ready and I know that a day off the road tomorrow
will certainly help. Take care and keep moving forward!
Today's
Montana "Did You Know?"...
There have been many dinosaur bone discoveries in Montana.
One dinosaur species, Maiasaurs, weighed roughly 3-4 tons
(6,000 to 8,000 pounds). It's believed that they ate about
200 pounds of food every day. Large numbers of bones found
at one location in Montana indicate that there existed a
herd of Maiasaurs totaling about 10,000. Adult Maiasaurs
varied in size from 9 feet to 25 feet in length. However, at
birth Maiasaurs were only about 12 inches in length!
Today's Native
Americans "Did You Know?"...
An Indian food called "Pemmican" was made of animal meat,
which was dried in the sun and then pounded together with
fat and berries. The mixture was packed into skin bags and
used primarily while on the trail.
Today's
Fitness "Did You Know?"...
There is a growing trend in U.S. schools to ban certain
playground activities and to remove particular playground
equipment - typically under the concern of "safety," but
also under the threat of potential injury lawsuits. For
example, the playground game "Tag" has been banned in
numerous U.S. locations. A growing number of schools are
even posting signs that read "No Running On The Playground".
National statistics indicate 34 percent of kids are
overweight, with obesity projected to be nearly 50 percent
in the year 2010.
Your Turn!
Share Your Thoughts With Paul...
Click here to
sign the official P.A.C.E. Trek 2008 guestbook!
Thanks for stopping by this milepost
update. Run back here tomorrow!
Keeping on PACE,
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Along The Way... |
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 On
the way to Roundup today I passed through
MUSSELSHELL,
Montana. It's a tiny village of about 60 people.
The Musselshell River contains many different
species of fish, including: Black Bullhead, Blue
Sucker, Brassy Minnow, Brown Trout, Channel
Catfish, Common Carp, Emerald Shiner, Fathead
Minnow, Flathead Chub, Freshwater Drum, Goldeye,
Lake Chub, Longnose Dace, Minnow, Mottled
Sculpin, Mountain Sucker, Mountain Whitefish,
Northern Pike, Northern Redbelly Dace, Plains
Minnow, Redbelly X Finescale Dace, River
Carpsucker, Sand Shiner, Sauger, Shorthead
Redhorse, Smallmouth
 Bass, Smallmouth Buffalo,
Stonecat, Walleye, Western Silvery Minnow,
Western Silvery/Plains Minnow, White Sucker,
Yellow Perch, and, Longnose Sucker.
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Paul's Current Position In Montana |
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