Day 18 - Rising Sun Campground to Apgar Campground
Today is the big day, we are going to ride up and over the Continental Divide at Logan Pass on the Going to the Sun Road, which is the main scenic route in Glacier Park. We took the shuttle bus up to the pass yesterday so we knew what we were in for, a long steady climb. Up and at it by 5am, hit the road in the dark and had the pleasure of seeing dawn break on these majestic peaks. Wasn't long before we were grinding away in low gear up a steady grade. Made it up to the pass in about 2.5 hours, and before any real traffic developed. Parts of this road are closed to bicyclists after 11am as the traffic gets really thick later in the day. The Logan Pass visitor center was already a buzz with people, we didn't stay long as we had visited yesterday by shuttle.
The down hill, going west from Logan Pass, was incredible. Freezing cold, but incredible. No traffic behind us and oncoming east bounder cars were sparse. Riding down this road, which is carved into the side of a mountain, with its alpine switch backs and snow peaked views was an absolute thrill. As we descended into the valley the temps got even colder! Eventually we had to stop to warm up as the shivering was impacting riding abilities.
We were making good progress and were able to get past the Lake McDonald area prior to the 11am cyclist curfew. Ended our day at the Apgar Campground on the west end of Lake McDonald. Several Hiker / Biker sites here. What a fantastic day! Tomorrow we will ride on into Whitefish where we will complete our tour.
We started out in darkness and it was cool to see the rising sun light up the mountains.
After reading about this road for years it was amazing to be riding it on a bicycle and in the early morning stillness. At this hour cyclists have the road mainly to themselves.
The view west. As we rode down into this valley we froze our butts off, but the road was completely amazing to ride. I think I've run out of adjectives.
