Messages

1

Routes / Re: Lewis & Clark route

« on: August 09, 2012, 04:09:38 pm »

Hi Marshall,

just returned from L & C (St. Louis MO to Havre MT).

What can I say? It all depends on the temperatures and the winds. There were days when I cursed it all and rather would have joined L & C in 1804, days when I loved it and thought, poor L & C didn't have bikes with them and far more often I just loved it). Might sound strange, but I did like the parts riding on the Interstate (rest areas every now and then and I could rest in the shade of overpasses). You are well advised to start in Pierre, no offence meant against Iowa and Nebraska, but sometimes cornfield right and cornfield left for miles and days and no shade is not so exciting.

Liked very much the city parks for camping, mostly with a swimming pool nearby (Pierre with nice swimming in the Missouri, Circle MT, Harlem MT and other places). A detour from Malta MT to Zortman in the Little Rocks is definetely worth while, Fort Peck wasn't so exciting (unless you are dam freak).

All in all, even with the heat (2 weeks with 100+ after noon) and the headwinds (ideal for loosing weight), with the landscapes (prairie in the Dakotas and endless skies in Montana and the ever so helpful and friendly people, it was a great experience that I wouldn't want to miss.

Oh yes, the Williston nightmare seems now to reach places like Dickinson MT (the campground doesn't allow tent camping any more and the cheapest motel I found charged 98 $, but nice breakfast buffet). So prepare for adversities (but the heat wave is over anyway), take your time, be patient with nature and yourself, watch the beetle that wants to cross the road.

Have a good trip.

Karl

2

Routes / Re: Lewis and Clark on the go

« on: July 27, 2012, 06:20:40 pm »

Im just finishing the l&c going east to west. Anywhere near a 100 mile radius of Williston will have no motel space- call way in advance- locals told me Monday through Thursday are filled with workers and Friday through Sunday it opens up a bit. I tried to stay in a motel in glendive but no luck and camped. Williston effect is a real mess!
Have fun and ride safe. David

Had no problems in Glendive (Motel El Centro, 45 $), but Dickinson was difficult. The campground near town doesn't offer tent camping any more and the last motel room in town cost me 93 $ (Oasis Motel, but nice brekfast buffet).


Karl

3

Routes / Re: L & C part 4

« on: July 16, 2012, 11:12:00 am »

Dear David,

thanks very much for your informations. They definitely made my mind easier concerning the rest of my tour (from Medora NT to Havre MT). From the Rand McNally Montana-map you just can't figure, what services you can expect in these little places.

I do drink a lot but sometimes I wish that cold beer would a) be available and b) be good for your riding power.

Hope you have a good finish of L&C and thanks again.


Karl

4

Routes / L & C part 4

« on: July 13, 2012, 05:57:29 pm »

Dear friends,

being on the L & C trail at the moment I sent a few things back home that I didn'nt need any more and  somehow unfortunately and idiotically without thinking also Map # 4 from Dickinson further West. Since I probably won't find the ACA-maps in Dickinson or Medora:

Can somebody please name the towns between Medora ND and Grass Range (I hope that's the right name) MT, where I can find camp-sites/lodging and food-services? The distances I can take from a Montana ordinary road map. 07/14-16  I will stay at the Theodore Roosevelt Park near Medora.

Thank you very much for the help. The precise descriptions in the maps as to services etc were all through Missouri, Iowa and both Dakotas of immeasurable value.


Karl

5

Routes / Re: Glendive, MT to Havre, MT

« on: April 09, 2012, 05:35:47 am »

Thank you, Fred,

so I'll wait till I get the maps with the changed route. Then I'll decide which way to go, so far I favour following the L & C trail from Circle on Hwy 200 to Grass Range, then north to Harlem and west to Havre.

Got a little information about Theodore Roosevelt NP and this really looks very interesting, so I will definetely stay 1 or 2 days at Cottonwood Campground near Medora. That was a very good advice, thamks.


Karl

6

Routes / Glendive, MT to Havre, MT

« on: April 05, 2012, 03:46:37 am »

Dear friends,

some time in July I will be riding from Glendive, MT to Havre, MT (I have to catch the train there to Pittsburgh, PA). From what I see on the map there are 3 possibilities to do this. 1: via Hwy 200 to Grass Range and from there north to Harlem (Hwy 2) and West to Havre, 2: via Hwys 200 and 80 to Fort Benton, following the L & C trail, and then north to Havre, 3: via Circle to Glasgow and then on Hwy 2 to Havre (on the Rand McNally map Glasgow to Havre is marked as "Scenic route").

I take it from "Bicycling the Lewis & Clark Trail" that 1 seems to be quite interesting and without too much traffic.

Can anybody make recommendations which route would be the most interesting (scenerywise)? Would be very grateful for advice.

Karl

7

Routes / Re: L&C; St. Louis, MO to Hartford, IL

« on: March 30, 2012, 07:40:36 am »

The article you saw in the German paper must have been a shortened version of the following article: http://bit.ly/GY57cJ

Not quite, it dealt more with the impacts of this oil-drilling-craze on the environment and deteriorating life quality of the local residents and farmers. But http://bit.ly/GY57cJ surely helped to decide doing the suggested new route.

Havre is the only one of those three stations that has baggage service

Thank goodness you wrote this, otherwise I would have waited at Glasgow station, ticket in my pocket and then been not allowed to take the bike on board (it's not a folding bike). Not funny. After reading your post I checked the Amtrak-site and it says indeed that Havre is the only station with all the services, including even the sale of bike-boxes.

The only thing open to decision is now whether to take the route from Glendive MT to Havre via Glasgow and Malta (mostly Hwy 2) or from Glendive MT to Lewistown MT (Hwy 200) and from there somehow north to Havre.
Does anyone have an idea which route is more interesting? I fear nothing but too many trucks on the road and no bike lanes or shoulders.

Thanks again for all the help
Karl

8

Routes / Re: L&C; St. Louis, MO to Hartford, IL

« on: March 29, 2012, 04:58:38 am »

Thanks a lot for the good advices.

Two more things:
1. In a German newspaper I read an article on Williston, North Dakota, that wasn't exactly an encouragement to visit this place.  However, lookin at the map and following the route as suggested in section 3 of the ACA L&C map there seems to be no way to bypass Williston. Is that so or is there some alternative route?

2. I have always wanted very much to do a train-trip in the USA and now the L&C trail gives me the chance to do this. Since the finishing point of my journey is Pittsburgh, PA, I would like to take Amtrak's "Empire Builder" to Chicago and from there head to Pittsburgh. The most convenient places for me to get aboard would be either Havre, Malta or Glasgow, all Montana. Can anybody suggest, which of these places is the most pleasant (town, surrounding, campgrounds)?

Again I would be grateful for advices, thank you.

Karl

9

Routes / Re: L&C; St. Louis, MO to Hartford, IL

« on: December 10, 2011, 01:56:26 pm »

Thank you, Jennifer,

that link indeed shows a lot of possibilities.

Greetings
Karl

10

Routes / L&C; St. Louis, MO to Hartford, IL

« on: December 08, 2011, 03:58:16 pm »

Hallo there!
Next year I hopefully will be doing the Lewis and Clark bike trail up to Great Falls, MT starting in Hartford, IL. However, first I'll have to get there from downtown St. Louis (I don't know yet which hotel I'll be staying at). From Google-maps I take it that the most direct route is via N Broadway, McKinley Bridge, Cedar St, Lewis and Clark Blvd.
 
Is this route a good choice or a horror trip traffic-wise?
 
Thanks a lot for advices.
 
Karl