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. 

Aug. 21st Livingston to White Sulphur Springs: 119km 715m climbed

We had remembered to unload all the bike bits before getting rid of the car and had successfully got everything back together in working order so we were able to start on time this morning. After a couple of photo stops we were heading north under a clear blue sky with the temperature rising to 33°C by lunchtime. Along the way we met Steffany who is also riding north to Glacier National Park. She started in Virginia and has spent 50 days on the road, so we don’t expect to keep up with her.

Overall, it was a very pleasant ride but the strong SW winds that built up made the north-westerly doglegs around the end of the Castle Mountains quite difficult and we were pretty tired and dehydrated by the time we rolled into town. At a tourist sign we learned that tests on the springs here showed the mineral water to be almost identical to that of Baden-Baden. So here we are in the Baden-Baden of Montana, I’ve seen the Casino in the distance but I haven’t spotted the Kurpark yet.

Aug 17th to 20th: Duesseldorf-Paris-Montreal-Livingston Montana.

After uneventful flights to Paris and Montreal I arrived at 12:45 and was through baggage collect and immigration in excellent time. TimB picked me up and we were back at his place before 2pm. After repacking my gear from cases to his car we were on our way by 4pm and managed 600km to Milton where we stopped at about midnight for a dry and short night.

We were on our way by 7am and doing well until Immigration at the US border held us up for over an hour. As we had now idea how far we would get before stopping for our first night on US soil we had no address to put on my immigration form. Big problem. We were taken around the back ….. After a lengthy explanation they accepted an address for an overnight stay about 3 weeks hence in Yellowstone!!!! That done, they released us and we were off. Progress around Lake Michigan was a bit slow and traffic was heavy all the way into Iowa so we only made 1200km before we’d had enough and stopped in a motel in Waterloo, Iowa. This time we didn’t turn in for the night before we’d found a bar and had a couple of beers. Did they taste good.

Thursday morning we were off early driving through the rest of Iowa, part of Minnesota and into South Dakota near Sioux Falls heading due west on I90. We took the time for a tourist excursion with photo stops along the Badlands Scenic Loop eventually getting back on the I90 at Wall. By the time we reached Sturgis we’d had enough for the day. Another 1200km and we were still in SD. We picked Sturgis because it holds the worlds biggest Harley Festival where about 100,000 Harley fans turn up in a town with a normal pop. of 6700. This year’s festival was on last weekend and there were plenty of people still in town. It was a lively evening in the saloon and well worth the stop.

After chatting to a few bikers outside the motel we were on our way and with only 750km to go were starting to get excited (aka nervous) about the impending start of the tour. We continued on the I90 through the corner of Wyoming and into Montana at Billings. A quick lunch at a petrol station and another 2 hours of driving saw us in Livingston by 3pm. Then we hit an unexpected problem. Despite offering to stay Friday night and again in a month’s time none of the 4 motels we tried would let us leave the car there for a month. One woman said Homeland Security would not like it and the police would tow the car. I guess that’s what you get when you look like a terrorist. Fortunately, a very helpful young man across the road at the RV Sales business had no problem parking the car for us for a month for a whole $25. He even offered to sell it for us which I thought was very generous of him but TimB said that Joan definitely wants her car back. The evening in the nearest saloon was another good night with a rock band playing, members of which were all older than us two thus showing that there is still hope for Guido if he carries on with his lessons.

Aug 20: Travel to Livingston Montana

Tim G arrived in Montreal at 12:45 on Tuesday Aug 17.  By 4 PM we were on our way to Montana.  After 3 days on the road we arrived in Livingston, Montana.  We had a quick stop at the Badlands National Park in South Dakota.  We start pedalling tomorrow bright and early.

Prolog - The American West

Tim and Tim are about to embark on a tour of Montana, Idaho and Wyoming. On Tuesday Aug 17 Tim Goodall (AKA EuroTim) will fly into Montreal. The two Tims will load the car and head to Montana for a 5 week tour of Glacier National park, Hell's Canyon, Grand Teton National Park and Yellowstone National Park. We will park the car near Yellowstone and do a loop of the three states by bicycle. This is mostly mountain terrain. We are travelling without camping equipment so we can hotel it all the way. The total population of the 3 states is less than 3 million. There may be some long days.

April 25 Bac Ha Market

We were in Bac Ha for the Sunday market. This market was for real. By 7 AM all the vendors were set up and the market was in full swing. Native women were buying and selling. A few foreigners had slept in Bac Ha and were also in attendance. The livestock market was the best. Ducklings, piglets, dogs, horses and water buffalo were all for sale. There were lots of wiggling sacks around.
There were at least 20 charcoal stoves set up with various foods available. I tried bean curd for breakfast – It was ugly when served cold, but okay when it was hot. There was an impressive choice of meat cuts for sale. The Vietnamese do not waste any part of a slaughtered animal.
Joan and I bought some wall hangings as souvenirs. We are used to bargaining by now, but North Vietnam is different. The first price the vendors ask is triple to 10 times the going price. You need try a few vendors and walk away to find out the lower range of the goods. We bought the wall hangings for one-third the initial asking price and I still overpaid.
In the afternoon we took a motorcycle ride up into the mountains and walked back down. This downhill stuff is easy.

April 24 North Vietnam:

We returned from China and waited in Lao Cai, in North Vietnam, for Katherine to join us. She showed up at 8:00 in the morning after taking the all night train from Hanoi. She had neglected to book early and it was a holiday weekend in Vietnam, so she had to sit on a hard wood bench for the 10-hour trip. She looked a little tired. We got a bus to Bac Ha up in the mountains and Katherine had a nap while Joan and I went for a walk. The north of Vietnam is mountainous and is the home of several hill tribes. Vietnam has 55 minority groups and most are based in the north. We walked about 3km to visit a small village. Around Bac Ha most of the women wore traditional clothing, whether they were working in the fields or selling at the market. The men never wear traditional garb, but they all wore army fatigues. The women tend to carry big baskets on their backs or their baby. Often older sisters will carry younger brothers on their backs. We never saw the reverse.

April 23: Return to Vietnam

We packed up our suitcases and took a leisurely stroll across the China-Vietnam border. It was with mixed emotions we re-entered Vietnam. China was fascinating, but travelling was much more difficult with the Chinese script and the lack of English speakers. It is a police state. Using the internet requires an ID card and my blog was blocked while I was inside China.
We will re-unite with Katherine tomorrow and head into the mountains of North Vietnam.

April 22nd Xiaoquigkou

Joan took a rest day while I headed for a small town 75 km into the mountains. Since Joan was changing hotels I left her with the passports, which are required for registration. I got an early bus and I was the only passenger as we left the station. Within 100 meters we were 5 and then we trolled the city for more passengers and a few boxes to be delivered. Then we hit a police check. I flashed my Quebec drivers’ licence and the police seemed to like it.
The first 16 km took 1 hour. We covered the next 60 km in 2 hours. When I got off the bus, at my destination, I was met by the local police posse (4 of them). They demanded my passport, which I didn’t have, and then gave me a ride to the local police station. I wrote down my intentions (to take pictures of mountains) and they checked my camera and made numerous phone calls. Nobody spoke much English and my Chinese was very, very limited, so after 30 minutes I got to talk to a policewoman on the phone who took down all my details. Then the police photographed my drivers’ licence and medical card and released me with a warning to take pictures and then leave town that day. I agreed. After a brief photo session in the fields I found a restaurant. I was eating my lunch of barbequed potatoes, when the bus came by, so I hopped aboard. I hopped off at the top of the mountain pass and took more pictures. I got the next bus and headed back to town. Unfortunately we hit another police check. The locals all passed verification but my Quebec drivers’ licence wasn’t good enough this time. They told me not to move and then I got 1 question every 3 minutes while they went away and discussed my answer. I was glad they didn’t take me off the bus because I’m sure the bus would have left without me. The bus was boiling and the passengers were unhappy. Finally a police officer that spoke English arrived and she gave me the five-minute lecture on carrying my passport in a border area. I promised Ms. Officer I would never again travel in the border area without my passport and she let me go. I was only 10 minutes late for happy hour.

April 21st Nanxi

We took a taxi 20km up the road to Nanxi. Then we convinced a Tuk-Tuk driver to take us up into the mountains. She was reluctant at first, but got into it as we went higher and started taking pictures. We passed through a banana plantation. The bananas are picked by hand and transported to a central sight by horseback. It seems horses are the main mode of transportation in the area. We ended up at a fish farms/retreat. I couldn’t figure out what it really was and our driver seemed surprised as well. I think she enjoyed her day of sightseeing.

April 20th Kunming to Hekou.

Today was our final big bus ride in China. For the most part, riding the busses has been fun and enlightening. The landscape in this province is continuous hills and mountains. On the rural busses there are constant stops for passenger pickup and parcel delivery. At least a quarter of the passengers are minorities in full costume. At times the bus floor is packed with luggage and produce going to market. The express busses are more comfortable and don’t stop for passengers along the way, but the countryside is still impressive.
Kunming to Hekou was an express bus that ran on the autoroute all the way. Unfortunately the autoroute was non-existent for a long stretch (but they still collected tolls). The bus still averaged 50kph, which is good for China.

April 19 Western hills of Kunming:

Today we visited Xi Shan (the Western Hills) on the outskirts of Kunming. There are many temples on the hills and it is quite a climb to get to the top. We covered the first part by minibus and then electric cart. We then climbed up 650 steps to the top- but with many stops! My favourite part of the climb was the corridor and grottoes carved out of the hillside by a Taoist monk and helpers between1781 and 1835. What an enormous amount of work! The tunnel on the cliff face is wide enough for two people. Carved into the cliff face along the passageway there are three grottoes with Buddha carvings and other sculptures. Again, what a lot of work.
There were many picturesque temples to visit on the hillside. The most beautiful was the Huating temple, which had some absolutely amazing Buddha sculptures and sculptures of other beings of the religion. This temple was Tim’s favourite spot because of richness of carvings, murals and colour. There were so many great photo opportunities – but not as many as we would have liked as photography in the temples themselves was prohibited

This was a great place to spend the day!

April 18 Tengchong to Kunming

Another bus ride, another adventure. The bus trip from Tengchong to Kunming was supposed to be 11 hours. The first 3 hours we covered 150km through 2 mountain passes and a police check. Then we hit the autoroute. We arrived in Kunming 30 minutes early. The scenery was good. Several 4,000-meter mountains at the start. Terraced fields running up the mountainside in the lower mountains and bright red soil everywhere. The autoroute was brand new and featured several bridges and tunnels. Most tunnels were over 300 meters in length and the longest was 3 km. This was the first Chinese autoroute we have seen and it was impressive. Not that fast because of the slow vehicles but the best road surface we’ve seen in Asia.

April 17 Visit to farm village

I took a bus to the first farm village I could see, about 7km down the road. The village was not that photogenic since walls surrounded every house. But each house seemed to have a courtyard. The gates were all closed and when I found one open and asked to take pictures she refused and closed her door. In the next street a little old lady invited me in for a bowl of rice, but I wanted to take pictures so I declined. The standard of living is hard to estimate in a village like this. The houses are well maintained and repairs and new construction are happening everywhere.

At the same time several villagers are washing their clothes in the river. Lots of old men are sitting around smoking, yet many old women are working hard, carrying heavy loads of firewood and produce on their backs. China is a complex society.

TENGCHONG08, TENGCHONG09, TENGCHONG10

April 16 Volcano Park:

We visited a large park that had several extinct volcanoes. It was a short climb to the top and then we walked around the rim. We skipped the larger volcano since the stairs went up forever. I found a friendly driver who volunteered to take us on a tour of the park road, which meanders 12 km through the park. He was driving a decrepit motorcycle with a wagon, which held 4 midgets or 2 of us. He polluted the environment going uphill and turned the engine off going downhill. At the end of the road there are stairs leading down into a river valley and a scenic spot called the “Columnar Joint”. We walked down about 600 steps and along the river to the “Joint”.

After a lunch of green boiled eggs we walked along the river to the next parking lot. At this point we realized our friendly driver had stranded us, miles from nowhere. The parking lot attendant flagged down a car, which took us halfway home. Then while we were trying to figure out the second half a Chinese tourist, who spoke English, took us back to Tengcheng in his personal car. In the middle of China he was driving a chevrolet.

April 15 Sea of Heat:

Volcanoes and hot springs surround Tengchong. We took a minicab about 10km out of town to a hot springs area. The head ticket taker spoke English and he offered me the seniors’ half price special. What a nice kid. As we walked along the tour route, walls and concrete surrounded the first 2 springs we saw. We were pleased to find some springs ‘au naturel’ and bubbling out of the ground.

The second half of the walk followed a river and at one point there was a waterfall right beside a spouting geyser.
I liked it.