Wednesday to Lolo was some 40 miles, but not fun to ride. Due to road work ahead on US 93 (which we did not know about), most of the traffic was detoured to our (supposed to be calm, peaceful, and traffic free) County Road with no shoulder. And 12 miles out of Hamilton, the tailwind shifted into a headwind. 

 

Rain

Once we reached the center of Florence, there was a wonderful bike path leading to Lolo. Riding was fine there but again we had to push hard to make it to Lolo before the next thunderstorm rolled through the Bitterroot Valley. The last half mile we got plenty of moisture on us. Over all, this was not a day worth remembering.

After we gave our friends in Wenatchee a call in the evening, we changed our plans for the next day. We had planned to go over Lolo Pass into Idaho and proceed on the L&C Trail into Washington. But to wait out the begin of Mike and Marilyn's vacation, we would have to stay somewhere for nearly a week. So instead we opted to go North into Idaho and ride to Wenatchee via Coeur d'Alene and Spokane. That should bring us to Wenatchee only 2-3 days before their vacation. 

So on Thursday we only rode 13 miles into the town of Missoula. Again we visited at the Headquarter of Adventure Cycling on Pine Street. I talked to Tom Robertson from the Mapping Department, to Julie Huck and Greg Siple, the Co-founder and Art Director. He invited Maren and me to come in the early afternoon for a photo-shoot at the famous wall behind the building. Maybe we (and you) will see our photo one day in the Adventure Cycling Magazine. 

 

Maren's photo shoot at Adventure Cycling

 

After so long time in the countryside and in small towns we enjoyed the life in the bustling city of Missoula very much. We did our laundry, watch the e-mails, got another tire for Maren, and sat in the shade of the many street cafes sipping coffees and milkshakes.

When we returned on Friday morning to ACA to pick up some information regarding our new route across Lookout Pass, we ran into another German couple on their way across North America. It was Wolfgang & Sonja (40/35). We talked for a while and exchanged our experiences. They are heading for Canada and then down the West coast on Hwy 101 down to Mexico. They have time until April 2006!!!! Currently they were staying with a brother of his brother's business partner near Florence, a few miles south.

On Saturday morning, Maren and I were heading to see the famous Farmer's Market in Downtown Missoula. Again we ran into Wolfgang & Sonja, this time with their hosts Roger and Sharon. After a few minute talking about our trip, Maren and I were invited to stay the afternoon and have dinner with them.

We agreed and were picked up two hours later from our motel. Roger and Sharon are our age and they belong very close to the story of the founding of Bikecentenninal (now Adventure Cycling). They knew every detail from "Stage One" of Bikecentennial and are still befriended with the other co-founders the Burdens. (There is also some rumors about an old door!) 

We six spent that afternoon visiting three new houses, the son of Roger and Sharon had constructed recently. They were different but had one thing in common: Compared to European Standard they were HUGE, and I mean really huge. Dinner was with Moose-Bratwurst, salad and delicious red wine.

During our talks I had mentioned, that Marilyn recommended to ride the Hiawatha Trail when we are on our way north to Idaho, because it is situated only a couple of miles away from Lookout Pass. A few minutes later the decision was made to ride the Hiawatha Trail with all six of us tomorrow.

 

Loading the truck for the Hiawatha Trail

On Sunday with sunny weather instead of bicycling up I-90 north to St.Regis, Roger and the crew showed up at our motel at 8 AM, we loaded all of our stuff on the truck and off we took. In St.Regis we left the Interstate, booked a motel room, pushed our stuff into the room and back to I-90 for the last 30 miles to the trailhead of the Hiawatha Trail. This is an abandoned railroad high in the mountains. It is appr. 14 miles long, has a grade of 2%, has 9 tunnels and about 6 or 7 trestles. Most of the tunnels are so long, they require lights on your bike. One of the tunnel is nearly 9,000 ft long, wet and ice cold. (Maren and I did not ride that tunnel.) The scenery was absolutely great on this sunny Sunday. The perfect bike would have been a mountain bike but our unloaded road bikes did well. In the afternoon we all returned to St.Regis and had a final dinner in a nice restaurant, before we said 'Good Bye'.

 

           

On the Hiawatha Trail

Monday was Independence Day and our plan was to stay with the local people in St.Regis (I read in the newspaper in Missoula about their Fourth of July Day). It was a nice parade which reminded me much of my childhood back home in Niebuell, when the so called 'Schulfest' took place. In the afternoon were the Chainsaw Competitions. It was so wonderfully relaxed with those folks, we loved to watch it. I was asked several times to join, but I was able to refuse these invitations. Although it was merely the same guys acting in the different events, the locals cheered and encouraged everyone who took part. Even the ladies tried to throw the small hatchet (and hit the goal!!!). We found the competition "Jack and Jill" the most enjoyable of the afternoon (click here for photos).  In the evening the fireworks started very early. The biggest rockets were started by the local Fire Brigade. And again we made new friends and were invited to stay with them during our next visit.

On Tuesday finally, serious biking was on the agenda. We had to ride from St.Regis 35 miles on I-90, which is a very busy connector across the Rocky Mountains. The weather and the scenery was great. The first 30 miles were a good rideable climb, only the last 5 miles up the pass were a challenge. We were very happy when we made up to the pass and cross the border to our 14th state so far, IDAHO. 

 

 

The downhill into the tiny town of Mullan was short but the fun did not end here. In Mullan is the trailhead for another abandoned railway line, the 'Trail of the Coeur d'Alene'. It is 72 miles long and crosses nearly the whole panhandle of Idaho. It is traffic free, is paved with very fine asphalt and runs through a great landscape. That day we only made it until into Wallace, a former silver mining town, famous for its many bordellos at that time.

Nowadays the downtown is nicely restored and the prices in the motels were (what I believe) below bordello level. So we spent a night only holding each other's hands in this former lewd town to be fresh next morning to run nearly the whole Trail of the Coeur d'Alene until milepost 15 in Harrison, on the Lake of the Coeur d'Alene. There we camped nicely near the shore of the lake.

 

   

On the Trail of the Coeur d'Alenes

On Thursday we rode along the entire eastern coast of the Lake C d'A on a new but very winding highway with many views on cabins and chalets and country homes along the lakeshore, taking every bay the lake does. There was only one serious climb in the morning. The rest of the highway was a nice and easy up and down.  Fortunately there was not much traffic on the road. That made riding more relaxed. But at the end of that stage we had to ride on I-90 again some 12 miles. There were also two climbs on I-90 but by far not so steep as the day before.

Lake Coeur d'Alene  

On Friday we wanted to make it into the state of Washington. So we joined the North Idaho Centennial Trail in the city of Coeur d'Alene which led us all the way to the state line where we entered our 15th state. Right from the Idaho Centennial Trail the Centennial Trail of Spokane connected, leading us after some 25 more miles right into the City Center of Spokane. We booked a small motel Downtown for two nights, because the weather forecast predicted rain for tomorrow.

 

The Washington-Idaho border on the Centennial Trail

 

And so it was. Several showers made discovering the city not too bad. And within walking distance there was enough to see. There was also a very good bike shop but (un-)fortunately we were not in need of anything.

Maren's lunch

Early Sunday morning in a light rain we made out it of town.

 

To Wenatchee