Aug 26: St. Mary to Kallispell 139 Km 1167M

We were up at 5 am this morning and all set to start at 6 am.  Unfortunately it was a little dark at 6 am and we didn’t get underway until 6:15.  I had registered and paid the entrance fee the night before, but the ranger had told us portions of the ”Going To The Sun” road were closed to bicycles between 11am and 4pm.  This road goes through Glacier National Park and goes over Logan Pas at 2025 M.  We started early to avoid any problems with the road closures.   We pedalled along a lake for 12km and then started up the “Going To The Sun” to the pass.  The road was a steady 5% climb and we weren’t having any problems going up – the problems was the photo stops along the way as vista after vista opened up before our eyes.   We reached the top after 3 hours of steady pedalling.  The downhill run was long and fast.  There were no stops for photos, just one stop to let the cars get out of the way.  We were descending faster than the cars.  At the bottom of the hill we made 2 stops to check out Lake MacDonald.  After an enormous ice cream we got back on the bikes for the final 40km stretch.  Immediately on exiting the park we both stopped to strip off all excess clothing – the temp had risen to 36 C.  The final stretch was hot and difficult as we stopped often for liquid breaks.  We crawled into the hotel at 6:45.

Aug. 25th Dupuyer to St Mary 119km, 1487m

Dupuyer B&B

This was our last stage before tackling the continental divide and we were not expecting anything too tough, but we were wroooong. An Indian behind the bar told us that there were some good hills to climb when we crossed river valleys to Browning (set deep in Blackfeet territory) but it was what came afterwards on the rest of the stage to St. Mary that nearly knocked us out. We were served a good breakfast in the B&B and set off in good time again under a cloudless sky and the temp. already in the 20’s. It was so unexpectedly warm that TimB was peeling clothes off before we started pedalling. It really was a great day for riding, no wind, warm with tremendous views over the prairies on the right and the Rockies lined up on the left getting ever closer. After just over 50km we did a long climb out of the Medicine River valley and topped the brow of the hill to see Browning lying 11km away in the prairie and all we had was a long downhill and straight run to the town. We set off rolling down the hill (a nice steady 3%) when suddenly the wind hit us and we had to pedal to get down the rest of the hill. We continued pedalling hard until we arrived in town and headed straight to Taco John’s for lunch. I ordered a large Pepsi to go with the burrito and was given a plastic container that would be sold as a bucket at home. It took 2 hours of pedalling to work off that lunch.

On leaving Browning we turned east to do the 20km to Kiowa and that was dead into the wind. It was a nightmare and when we arrived in Kiowa the café at the RV park was closed and up for sale. (For anybody that may be interested: Kiowa Resort Motel, Store – potential B&B, approx. 2 acres reduced to $179,000).

Well, you know what the song says, “when the going gets tough the tough get going” so no coffee break and after I had unloaded a litre of used Pepsi we turned north to cover the last 38km to St. Mary which is when it got really tough. 
The wind was no longer a problem but we had to climb 4 ridges to get there and after each ridge we dropped about 100m only to climb an even higher ridge. The last ridge peaked at 1827m, which was higher than any pass we climbed crossing Canada and it hadn’t even got a name. The reward was a 10km fast downhill dropping 400m in to the middle of St. Mary. Finding a room was easier and a lot cheaper than expected in this resort at the east entrance to Glacier Park and then it was off for dinner washed down by a pint of…………. MILK!!!!!!! We’d picked a dry restaurant. Both of us would have cried but we were too tired. Night night.

View from St Mary of Glacier National Park

Aug. 24th Fairfield to Dupuyer 85km, 600m

The landlady told us when we got up that it was down to 3°C at sun-up so we were in no rush to set off but with a cloudless sky it did warm enough for us to set off shortly after 8. This was a day when you get to see why Montana is called the Big Sky State. We did not see a cloud all day and in stark contrast to the first three days there was hardly a breath of wind and we rode the whole time over rolling hills with fantastic views of grasslands to the right and the Rockies forming the continental divide to the left. As this was a short stage we had time for plenty of photo stops and still got to Dupuyer by 3pm. This is a small town and there was nowhere open for refreshment so we had time to unload the gear, check the bikes and read for an hour before we went over to Pierre’s for dinner. We are nine miles south of a large Blackfeet Indian reservation (which we have to ride through tomorrow) and there were mostly Indians in the restaurant and this was the first time that the pair of us were able to talk to natives about their lives in the US. There are only 1 million Indians left in the USA today. It was a very interesting evening.

Bynum

The forecast is for temperatures rising to 32°C everyday up to the weekend so we will get off early and I must remember the sunscreen because my left leg got burnt today.

Aug. 23rd Monarch to Fairfield 132km, 888m

Fairfield Montana

No breakfast available this morning so we were off before 8 o’clock. Wet roads, heavy clouds and 9°C greeted us, which was a far cry from Saturday’s sun and 33°C. We had to climb up from Monarch 184m over 5km so we were nicely warmed up when the downhill started. Unfortunately, it then chose to rain for a while. We are not sure which is worse, the effort to ride in the heat, or the pain of a cold wet downhill, but we expect to get a few more examples to help us make up our minds. The downhill run was 35km to the main highway where we turned left to head for Great Falls and were hoping to find somewhere for brekky but this is pretty wild and open country so we had to make it all the way to Great Falls before we found somewhere to eat. By this time we had done 75km and, due to several photo stops, it was getting on for 12 o’clock so we skipped breakfast and went straight for lunch. We had an extended break because we had had a strong headwind all the way and there was plenty to come. Instead of the expected 115km to Fairfield it turned out to be 132km and the wind ground us down so much we had trouble standing when we got to the motel. We have seen some rough looking places but this is a very well kept little town with an impressive array of grain silos and the nicest laundrette we have ever used. So, the washing is done, the (banana) shopping is done, we’ve dined and dropped in at the Legion for a beer (and it was only one because we haven’t got the energy to sit up and drink a second) and it is now time for beddy byes. Night night.

Aug 22: White Sulphur Springs to Monarch 87km

Today we biked over our first pass.   The weather was pleasant – sunny, warm and a south wind at our backs.  Kings Hill Pass is 2251 meters and the road passes through a National Forest.  We passed over the top at noon and this time it really was all downhill the rest of the way.  We went down for 35 km at speeds of up to 76kph.  We are overnighting in Monarch.