Today was a day we'd been looking forward to this whole trip. We've ridden the Going To The Sun highway in Glacier National Park before but it's such a breathtaking experience, we were keen to do it again. We left Shelby around 7am and made our way to St. Mary which is where the East Gate to the park is.
As you head west from Shelby, the Rocky Mountains slowly emerge from distant outlines to defined jagged peaks on the horizon. For me, a Kootenay born girl, the mountains shout "Welcome Home!" and, after all those days racing across North America, all the way to the Eastern most shores and back again through the prairies, my little heart raced at the sight of those magnificent beasts.
As we rode into St. Mary, we entered the foothills of the Rockies and the road became more twisty and hilly. Big chunks of the road are under construction as they work to improve it but Lynn made sure to tell some of the flaggers to tell the crew to leave "some corners" so the improvements don't completely ruin the ride!
In St. Mary, it started to get busy with traffic and LOTS OF BIKES! We knew it would be a busy day today, over Logan Pass, so we were expecting it but still, after several days through the hinterlands of the northern US, it was a bit assaulting to see so many people all of a sudden!
You have to pay to come through the park and, at $30 per motorcycle (US) it is by far the most expensive entrance fee we've paid on this trip. We didn't remember it to be so expensive from our last time through but I guess that's what it was. But - it's worth every penny. From St. Mary, we began to climb and the road twists and winds it's way through hills and valleys, around lakes and along rivers and the mountains get bigger and more jagged and raw. We began to see glaciers on the mountain tops and barren rock above tree lines and still, the road climbed and climbed, scaling these mighty peaks. At times, the mountain rose straight up from the road on the inside and dropped off thousands of feet on the outside, making you feel like an ant in this vastness. Clouds and mist clung to the peaks which create their own weather, being the mighty Gods and Goddesses they are.
At the top of Logan Pass is a visitor's centre which was jam packed. The Pass itself is about 6700 feet and straddles the Continental Divide (the hydrological divide of North America.) All along this 50 mile stretch of road that runs through the park are turn-offs where you can pull off and take in the magnificent views. And the wild flowers!!
I was floored by the variety and the mountain sides were blanketed in great patches of pink, yellow, white, blue, purple and red. It was unbelievably beautiful. We saw herds of mountain goats precariously perched on high cliffs and we held our breath as we watched the kids scamper and frolic up and down the steep rock faces. It was a wonder...
There are also a great number of waterfalls that score the hillsides in ribbons of stark white, including the famous Weeping Wall west of the Pass where "The Carwash" is - a stretch of road that gets wet by the water falling from overhead, especially in the Spring. Bright red tour buses that look like 1930's gangster wagons haul tourists up and down the pass - a great option if you're traveling in an RV because they won't allow RVs over 21 feet on the road. These tour buses pay homage to the fact that this road was built in the 1930s, a mind-blowing accomplishment for that time, given the technology they had. There are also shuttle buses that have frequent stops along the road, great for people coming in to hike one of the many trails in the park.
Finally, we headed down the long, steep descent into the valley below, heading into Hungry Horse and, from the bottom looking up, it was hard to believe we were on that road above, a tiny etch on the sides of these monolithic, towering peaks. If you haven't been on the Going To The Sun highway, we highly recommend you put it on your list. But be aware that it's only open for a limited window of time in the year as it gets royally snowed in. Check the Glacier National Park Website for opening and closing announcements as the dates change depending on the weather in any given year.
We had hoped to stay in Whitefish, Montana because we really enjoyed our stay there a number of years ago but the State campsite was full and there are surprisingly few campsites in the area. The town was bonkers crazy with people and, as luck would have it, we came through when they had a major power outage so all the traffic lights were out. Traffic was gridlocked but, thanks to our handy navigation system, we were able to dodge down some back roads to bypass the worst of it and make our way to Kalispell. We stopped for dinner and booked a campsite just down the road in Marion. It was a lovely evening so we made a campfire and kicked back for awhile and relaxed. What a great day. I'm especially excited for tomorrow as we'll arrive in Nelson, BC at my parents' place where we'll stay for a few days with gathered family to celebrate my dad's 80th birthday.
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