Hi-Line Hospitality Extends to Young Travelers

Riding the Hi-Line as a freight hopper is a hit and miss proposition at the best of times.

The threat of jail and/or harassment for repeatedly trespassing on railroad property is real enough. The physical challenges of spending one's days around masses of hulking metal where every surface is alternately hot and cold, dirty and bare, sharp and unforgiving, make this pastime a very serious high risk sport.

It's dangerous. It's illegal coming and going. But according to the handful of adventurous (some would say imprudent) young people who stopped in Glasgow from points east and west this past weekend, our city can be a friendly stopover for travelers who never know exactly what to expect when carrying their heavy packs and belongings into any given town.

"I love Glasgow," exclaims Telea Dodge while working on a song with her road companion, Alicia Goodlaxson, in front of McDonald's on Hwy 2 on the afternoon of July 17. "I told [Alicia] that this was one of my favorite towns to visit."

The young women hail from the St. Paul area. They departed the Twin Cities on July 1 for a season of traveling, mainly on the railroad. Upon arriving in Glasgow, they were treated to a pretty good approximation of local hospitality.

"The cops searched our things and ran our names," explains Dodge. "But after they checked us out, one of them said he had daughters and slipped us twenty bucks."

Another friendly local couple paid the travelers a few dollars to scrape their kitchen floors and do a bit of work around their home.

Dodge and Goodlaxson became themselves fixtures around Alley's Palace, where they played music, told stories, and made friends.

Andre Wilson (22), of Seattle, met me outside the Cenex gas station on the evening of July 16. He'd been in town for two days.

"I got on in Whitefish," he volunteered. "I'm headed to Duluth to see the Great Lakes." He reported no difficulties with law enforcement or other riders and seemed in excellent spirits.

Dodge and Goodlaxson rode in from Poplar and Wolf Point with plans to drive a vehicle to Missoula for its owner. "Then we want to get up to Whitefish," Goodlaxson adds, "for the scenery." Their plans may take them as far as California and Washington State this summer.

The pair warn young people interested in following their lead to wait until they're 18 years old to venture out over the road, adding, "Do your research first." They doubled down on one piece of advice: "Find people you trust." They repeated this point in unison with wary looks at my notebook to be sure I was taking them down. "If you can't trust the people you're with, or the people giving you advice," says Dodge, "you're in trouble."

One of this reporter's housemates, Michelle Mulligan (aka Mush), extended some serious hospitality to the young women, opening up her home and even her social network.

"Mush invited us to an after-party Friday night," says Dodge with a grin. "We stayed all night and then she took us to her house to crash." In Glasgow, it seems, trust comes easy.