June 13, 2024
Big Sky Arrival
Whitefish to Glacier NP-It doesn’t get much better than this!
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After meeting Rich and Amber as we disembarked the train, we spent about 20 minutes sorting through and organizing what we would carry on the bikes today (very little) and what would go with the truck (almost everything.) Today Amber, Jim and I are riding and Rich is driving. The weather is perfect; sunny and in the 60’s with no wind.
We have heard many assessments of Going to the Sun Road. The National Park website reports it closed to cars at Avalanche and to bikes a few miles past Big Bend. Kelly and Jacinto talked to someone who thought it was open to the top and would open to cars on the 15th. I asked our waiter at breakfast and he said he had a text app that said it was open as far as Birdwoman Falls. At the park entrance, the ranger said it was open at least to Big Bend and she was unsure beyond that. At our lodging, the clerk just looked it up on the park website, which still shows it closed a few mile beyond Big Bend. So we are curious as to how far up we will be able to go.
After a great breakfast at the Buffalo Cafe, our favorite Whitefish breakfast place, we took off, avoiding the highway. Our route meandered through the town before heading east on a lightly traveled country road. It is green and lush here, quite a change from the “golden” hue and dryness we left behind in CA. We saw a young doe as we left town but not much else in the way of wildlife. The expected 2 miles of gravel never materialized.
The terrain today was rolling gently uphill and not difficult and we made good time. The last few miles to the park was on a bike trail, so we never rode on the highway.
Once inside the park, we tried to text Rich but we couldn’t connect with him. We doodled around Apgar village and the Visitor Center looking for him without success. We almost stopped in the village for lunch but then remembered that there were bike restrictions between 3-6 pm so we needed to get to our motel by 3. So we skedaddled up the road toward Lake McDonald Lodge. We aren’t staying at the Lodge-we booked the more austere Motel Lake McDonald (right next to the lodge) instead.
Austere may overstate our room. It is basic; very small, no in-room coffee, very cramped and outdated bathroom and shower. On the plus side, the towels are plentiful and thick. We have 2 Queens so lots of pillows. We’ve seen worse so we’ll make the best of it.
Kelly and Jacinto are here and the 6 of us ate dinner together at the lodge. The food was good, maybe slightly bland (I have a terrible sense of taste so I am no judge.) Jim had a huckleberry margarita which he liked, Jacinto had a huckleberry lager that he panned and we all had huckleberry pie for dessert which was thumbs up!
We are looking forward to riding up GTTSR as far as we can tomorrow!
Today's ride: 41 miles (66 km)
Total: 41 miles (66 km)
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