Montana
Montana hit world headlines in year 2000 for its terrible forest fires. Our plan to cycle the forest service roads was jeopardized as the forests were closed to all recreational activities. We even bought dust masks from the local hardware store but fortunately didn't need to use them. One night we woke up in our forest camp site to flashes of lightening, and hastily moved to a safer place. Lightening is the cause of most of Montana's forest fires.
During the fires we experienced the friendly nature of the Montanans. Several locals apologized to us, thinking that the smoke was spoiling our trip. One rancher offered us the use of his wall tent and gave us a tour of his 61 huskies! A cycle shop owner stopped us on the highway, drove us back to his beautiful log home, and told us to make ourselves at home while he went out for the evening. We left Montana with fond memories of its friendly people.
Yellowstone and Grand Teton

In one day in Yellowstone we saw a black bear, trumpeter swans, herds of bison, elk and deer. We also got a bit confused about the geysers. We ate our picnic lunch as we waited for "Old Faithful" to erupt. Half an hour later we were treated to a display of water and steam. As the steam was subsiding a lady came up to Dan and asked "Which geyser is that?" "Old Faithful," he replied. "NO, NO, NO," she said and proceeded to ask Juliet the same question, with the same reply. "NO, NO, NO," she said again "Old Faithful is over there." Sure enough we turned around and there behind our backs the real Old Faithful was just starting to erupt even higher than the geyser we'd just seen. Well we did want to get off the beaten track with this trip and see some non-touristy things!

The Teton mountains were beautiful. During the first days of September, we woke up with frost on the tent and were reminded that summer was nearing an end. We were glad to be heading towards the warmth of the south.

Idaho and Utah
We cut through the South-East corner of Idaho and visited Soda Springs. After Dan had dipped his feet in the water and found it to be surprisingly cold, we discovered that you are supposed to drink the water, not bathe in it. Thankfully no one saw his feet before they went in the water.

Heading south again, we crossed the Oregon Trail and saw ruts from carts belonging to the original pioneers who crossed America for the West coast, then crossed the border into Utah.

Salt Lake City
In Salt Lake City we visited Temple Square to learn about the interesting Mormon history of the area. We were also followed into a bike shop by a local couple who were keen to hear about our trip and offered us a bed for the night. Riding up a long steep hill, we were stopped by someone who had earlier given us directions. They had gone home, picked up some fruit for us, and driven after us to ensure we were OK!

The Wrong Olympics
Soon after leaving Salt Lake City, we passed through Park City, venue of the 2002 Winter Olympics. We watched some impressive jumps from the US freestyle team, training into a swimming pool. We also spent some time dreaming about living there - along with international-standard skiing and fantastic mountain biking, Park City has numerous beautiful (and multi-million dollar) log homes.

South to the Sun
We were once again reminded by sharp frosts on the tent that it was time to move south. Our route to Moab took us up some of the biggest hills yet - and of course down them - a fact that helped us to our first 100-mile day, a moment of unreasonable pride for both of us!
We spent a day riding and hiking through the stunning red sandstone scenery of Arches National Park, and descended - exhausted once again - into Moab. Outside a supermarket, we were greeted with "Are you on a long trip?" and "Do you want to crash at my place?" - a dream come true when we were expecting a ride out of town to find a campsite. Again we found the local people amazingly generous and trusting, a great memory to take away.

The National Parks
From Moab, our route reads like a tourist brochure - Arches, Canyonlands, Natural Bridges, Glen Canyon, Capitol Reef, Grand Staircase, Escalante, Grand Canyon, Pipe Springs. Everywhere we turned was spectacular scenery. In Canyonlands we camped in the red sand of the desert with the sun setting over the huge mountains and canyons. Through the parks we experienced extremes of weather - from oven-hot days and nights too warm to sleep, to freezing temperatures and the first snow of our trip, at the top of a 9400 ft (2900m) pass.
Again the friendliness of the people surpassed even the scenery. We were driven into Canyonlands to avoid a "there-and-back" ride. While trying to cook lunch in a ferocious wind we were offered another place to stay from Lynne & Julian, an interesting couple who had erected highway signs reading "Meat is Murder - Live and Let Live" and "Freedom from Religion", not common sentiments in Ranch country.

Arizona and Nevada
Finally we left Utah for the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, and were lucky enough to get a campsite with a view down into the 1800m-deep gorge. From there, we rode through Colorado City (in Arizona), the only US community in which polygamy is practised (no, we saw no sign of it). We then rode back into Utah and on to Mesquite, Nevada, where the shade temperature hit 103 degrees the day we arrived. We stayed with Melinda & Ed, another fabulously welcoming couple who even arranged an interview with the local paper. Fame at last!!!!

Wrapping up the US
With our tiny home packed away on the back of our tent we cycled up the strip, dwarfed by the size and opulence of the Casinos. We weren't in the least bit tempted to gamble our bikes away! We joined Kate, Simon and Richard, 3 friends to tick off the last two Utah parks - Zion and Bryce - equally as stunning as the rest particularly Angel's Point and the Narrows. Our last stop in the US (and as some had threatened civilization!) was San Diego. We bought a Spanish dictionary and a Mexico guidebook, filled up our bottles with tap water and into Mexico we headed...