Lake McDonald, MT to Browning, MT

June 28, 1996

: Going to the Sun Road over Logan Pass

Only the spectacular scenery made today bearable. I could not find a comfortable position on the seat no matter how I shifted; it was agony by afternoon. Also, very cold over Logan Pass in Glacier with a hailstorm as we started down the east side. It was painful, especially for Dave who can't turn his face away as I can. We began at 7:45 a.m. and reached the top of the pass at 11:08 (cyclists must be off the west side of Going-to-the Sun Road by 11:00 a.m. due to heavy vehicular traffic). Phenomenal views and snowbanks many feet high. We were surprised by how few (2) cyclists we saw, then read that the road just opened last weekend. The poor tourist died on the first or second day.

Alongside "Going to the Sun road" in Glacier

Even the views in the mirror were spectacular!

(2015 edit) You really couldn't point your camera in any direction and take a bad picture. This was great, because with film cameras you couldn't just look to see if a shot was good. You had to wait until the film was developed later.

We believe this is the section where the avalanche killed the tourist weeks ago. As we climbed through the section, Rhona snapped a picture but we heard the roll of film begin to rewind. We knew from previous experience the picture would not record. Rhona asked if we should stop to load another roll of film, but we were too nervous standing below the snow towering overhead and continued our climb. We stopped above the ravine to take a picture, but the view really didn't show how precarious the snow tower appeared.

The Visitors Center was closed, it was snowed in.

Tugging on as much clothing as we could get on. We started hours earlier in short sleeve shirts.

Starting down the eastern side of Logan Pass in a sleet storm.

St. Mary's Lake framed by the park's mountain peaks.

Heading east out of the park and onto the plain.

We had another long six mile climb outside the park and then up, down, up, down. The road down was very winding and narrow with blind curves. I was not happy with our speed, and some whimpering did occur! We then crossed the Blackfeet Indian Reservation and stayed in a low-cost no frills motel. I asked the owner if I could lay our clothes out in the back yard to dry, in the wind and sun it would have only taken minutes. He said he had an 85 lb. Pit bulldog in the backyard! So he put our clothes in his own drier; people are so nice to us.

WE TOOK THE "MOTHER OF ALL SHORTCUTS' TO BROWNING. WE NOT ONLY AVOIDED A CLIMB, BUT TOOK ADVANTAGE OF A 25 MPH TAILWIND. BY STANDING UP WE COULD COAST FOR A MILE WITHOUT EVEN PEDALING AT DINNER WE SAT NEXT TO A UNIQUE CROSSCOUNTRY CYCLIST. HE WOULD CYCLE FOR A WHILE THEN STOP AND WORK TO EARN MONEY ENOUGH TO GO ON. HE PLANS TO GO TO MAINE AND THEN SEE THE STATUE OF LIBERTY. HE IS PULLING A TRAILER WITH ABOUT 100 LBS. OF EQUIPMENT. HE PLANNED TO GO ANOTHER 30 MILES TO CUTBANK BEFORE DARK.

Today's ride: 70 miles (113 km)
Total: 805 miles (1,296 km)

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