A long day. Tour de Brad "Alpine" stage. A fantastic day of riding.
Before I got too far, I took these calm morning photos of the Upper Waterton Lake. It was very calm. So much so, that I was able to get these wonderful reflections off of the lake.
Anyone for an early morning swim?
I felt rested after my short ride yesterday. I only rode 37 miles on Day 8 compared with 70 to 80 mile rides for the last 5 days. Typically a rest day should involve no riding, but yesterday’s “rest day” ride was pleasant and easy.
The day was still cool with some lingering clouds. As I turned out off of the main road out of Waterton, I heard some rustling in the woods. I saw a brown bear turning into the forest. There was little time to respond though, I was busy beginning the climb of a steep hill and the bear was busy foraging for berries. We went out separate ways.
The next few miles were somewhat irritating. It was a climb followed by a descent followed by another steep climb, etc. Along the way, I passed a german cyclist who was navigating using his GPS. In a little while, I found myself at the U.S. border chatting with a border guard who is originally from Georgia, but is typically stationed in Los Angeles. Apparently the Chief Mountain border crossing is only staffed during certain hours of the day during the summer. Otherwise, during the winter and during the nights it is closed.
Welcome to the U.S.
Chief Mountain - The name of the border crossing
The road continued in it’s ascending/descending fashion for 15 more miles. Eventually, I reached Highway 89 which lead me to the little town of Babb. I was at the point where my cycling mood was low - I was tired and the traffic was zooming by caused irritation. Refreshing myself with a good meal at a local café, I proceeded to St. Mary.
The original plan for today was to ride for 6 more miles and stop at the Rising Sun Campground. This would give me 3 days to get to Missoula, Montana by July 11.
After my rest day on Day 8, I was ready for a challenge. This was the first time, thought not the last, where I made an inial riding plan, and then scrapped those plans and rode further than planned. Changing my mind in the past, has lead me to keep riding into the dark or led me down a long road that leads through Indian Country. On a whim, I have ridden longer distances through great scenery.
Lake Saint Mary - and a small island.
That same island from a different angle
So I decided to just keep riding. I would try to get to West Glacier which would double the distance I had intended to ride. The goal was to summit Logan’s Pass riding through Glacier National Park on the Going to the Sun Road. There are restrictions for cyclists on this road. They cannot ride the western side of this road from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. during the summer months. I was riding the eastern side of the road, so I would be “okay,” at least in terms of the regulations. But there was another consideration I didn’t think of: because I would be riding later in the day, there would be more traffic regardless of which side of the road I was riding. There wasn’t exactly a wide shoulder along this road. For an overview of the ride, the GIS coordinator for the Montana Office of Tourism has created this useful guide. Also, at the end of the ride, whether or not your ride ends in Missoula, it's a good idea to get a classic poster of the ride.
Sunrift Gorge
The ride though was amazing. Glacier National Park is stunning and Going to the Sun Road is a good way to get an excellent view of everything - the mountain peaks, the glaciers, the narrow valley, the tourists in their RVs, Harleys, and rental cars, not to mention the red and yellow National Park “Jammer” buses.
The climb though was a real challenge. Lucky for me, I was only riding the side that gained 2,000 feet in elevation. The western side gained 4,000 feet. This was quite a push as I had already ridden 50 miles at this point. The going was slow. It took all I had to focuse on keeping the pedals turning over. Every now and then the effort was broken up by a stop to take in a sight or by a passing vehicle.
Jackson Glacier - less and less each year. Ironically, a nice place to drive your SUV.
The small vertical slash in the middle of the forest was the road I just climbed.
The summit was eventually reached. There were many tourists at the top.
Going to the sun...
...and getting there.
I had to take a picture to prove it.
Now the best part began. Going down. The western descent was even more beautiful that the eastern ascent. I guess I could appreciate it more because I wasn’t focusing so hard on my climbing. The descent was so fast that I stayed at the speed of traffic for the next 12 miles. Actually, most time was spent applying the breaks. It was a steep descent. The smell of hot brakes lingered in the air. As I began to get worried that my breaks would wear out, I reached the bottom of the descent.
After the descent, I had a huge dinner at Jammers near Lake MacDonald. Pizza, break sticks, salad, and brownies with huckleberry ice cream. Good stuff.
The little line across the picture is the Going to the Sun Road.
At this point, I didn’t have any camping reservations. But I wasn’t worried as it was a Sunday evening and I reasoned that there would be some vacancies. However, the sun was setting and I kept passing campgrounds that had “no vacancy” or “full” signs. Arriving in West Glacier, I couldn’t find a vacant hotel room. I was getting desperate. Finally I saw the sign to a campground. This looked interesting - 175 sites. There should be at least one site that I could use.
In fact, this campground, Glacier Campground, had plenty of room for a bike tourist and I was charged the very reasonable price of $6 plus tax for the site. This was in contrast to the other campsites that I had passed that wanted to charge from $17 (for a no frills campground) to $35 (for a campground with laundry, shower, and Internet access). I was very excited that I had stumbled on a great campsite. One problem though. The campsite had a restaurant with wonderful food made from scratch. But I had eaten already and I would be up too early to enjoy the food the next morning. Well at least I was able to take a shower and do my laundry.
Another touring cyclist was staying at the campground. She had just finished nursing school and had ridden from Moab, Utah.
Day 9 - Waterton National Peace Park to West Glacier - 104 Miles
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