Day 73: Going to the Sun

Today was a big day - the first real mountain pats of the trip and on an iconic road at that. The Going to the Sun road is an engineering feat. It winds itself through the park, blending into the mountainsides, at a pretty consistent 6% grade. Biking it is A Thing.

I got up at about 5:15 and got rolling a bit after six. Colin had gotten up and out before I even left my tent, but Mike and Wayne were still getting ready and they left a bit after me. The road was quiet, but not dead, at that hour. The winds were really blustery along the first stretch by the lake. The kind that push you around. I was very glad not many cars were around and nervous those winds were going to continue or even get worse as I climbed.

The road headed away from St Mary Lake and as it did, the winds stopped pushing me around. They’d still occasionally come whipping around a corner, but it was very manageable.

I stopped at almost every turnout on the way up. Soaking in the views, reading the educational placards, taking a few photos, eating the occasional starburst. It was a stunning ride through the park. One of the turnouts was an overlook towards the Jackson Glacier, so I can now say I have seen a glacier at Glacier before they all melted (projected to happen by 2030).

As I neared the top, I saw Colin a ways ahead of me and the visitor center off further in the distance. I was close to the top! I continued through a tunnel and past some waterfalls and there I was at the peak of the pass, straddling the continental divide.

Mike and Wayne rolled in a little later and we all hung out at the top, snacking and basking in out achieving. They all climbed their last mountain pass and me my first of our respective journeys.

I went on a very short hike on the Highline trail where I saw a marmot, a gorgeous view of the valley below, and a mountain goat. I then decided that hiking in biking shoes wasn’t the wisest and I’d gotten what I’d wanted out of the hike so turned around. The trail goes for 12 miles and I would have needed to go at least another two in each direction for the view to meaningfully change.

I was the first of our group to start descending. The wind at the top was again blustery, making the first mile or so a very not fun ride. The wind calmed again and I was able to settle into a rhythm of feathering my breaks to maintain a reasonable speed and pulling off at the occasional turnout to rest my hand and enjoy the views. I had very little traffic to deal with on the way down, which I think was just an accident of timing as the other guys said they had a bunch.

We all met up again at Lake McDonald Lodge for a picnic lunch on the beach. After lounging for a fair while we headed to the campground to settle in and clean up then back to Lake McDonald Lodge to steak wifi and eat dinner. Due to staffing, the dinner was an all you can eat buffet and as touring cyclists, we took very good advantage of it. After a dinner, we sat by the lake chatting and enjoying the evening.

Tomorrow, I’m going to explore the west side of the park and maybe head back to Logan Pass by shuttle to do a bit of hiking and experience it from a different perspective.